'It's almost like God is cleaning house'

Many find church to be a place of comfort. People find themselves at peace, gently cradled between the stained-glass windows -- the colors beaming down and embracing them in their warmth.\nThat's why it comes as a shock when these walls seem to crumble -- when tales of corruption among those entrusted invade churchgoers' comfort zones.\nPriests, holy leaders who have frequent contact with youths, have promised lives of celibacy. They preach the Bible, telling others to live lives as God would want them to live. But when nearly 200 of the country's 46,000 Catholic priests have been accused of sexual abuse, people start to notice.\n"A great work of art may be blemished, but its beauty remains," Pope John Paul II said in an April 23 speech to the American cardinals in the Vatican City. "This is a truth which any intellectually honest critic will recognize."\nAs many might see this statement as true, its verity will shine even greater depending on how the Church deals with this outbreak in the future.\nFor that very purpose, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops met at its semi-annual general meeting in Dallas June 12-14 and approved a new "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." This document outlined national standards and policies to deal with sexual abuse cases and the guidelines for how future cases will be handled.\nThe charter calls for special services for abuse victims, including counseling, spiritual guidance, support groups, etc. to be provided by the dioceses. Also included is a zero-tolerance policy as well as background checks given to those who have regular contact with minors. Dioceses are required to report any and all allegations of abuse of a minor to the proper authorities; this rule goes against what many dioceses have practiced in the past.\nBefore these incidents unfolded, bishops were known to relocate priests to other dioceses when rumors and accusations arose concerning their insubordinate actions. \n"There has been a lot of attention to those cases in which a priest was reassigned to a ministry after having abused a child," Bishop Wilton D. Gregory told the media in Rome April 13.\n"We see now that many of those decisions were tragic, and there is a very high reluctance on the part of the Bishops today to continue that practice."\nOne can take note of this "tragic" result by looking at the case of Father Paul Shanley, a priest from the Archdiocese of Boston. \nShanley was transferred from the Boston Archdiocese because religious leaders were aware of the past allegations brought against him concerning his sexual activities with minors. According to www.thebostonchannel.com, Greg Ford, an alleged victim of Shanley's illegal activities, uncovered more than 800 records that indicate the Church knew of the incidents since 1967 including his outspoken acceptance of sexual relations between men and boys. \nFord is suing the archdiocese as well as Cardinal Bernard Law for allowing Shanley to remain at his Newton, Mass. church despite knowledge of the situation. Church officials then transferred Shanley from Boston to California 10 years ago after telling the bishop there that he maintained a perfect record. \n"In the past, secrecy has created an atmosphere that has inhibited the healing process and, in some cases, enabled sexually abusive behavior to be repeated," the charter states. "As bishops, we acknowledge our mistakes and our role in that suffering, and we apologize and take responsibility for too often failing victims and our people in the past."\nWe also take responsibility for dealing with this problem strongly, consistently and effectively in the future."\nFather Joseph Moriarty, priest at St. Paul Catholic Center in Bloomington, said he thinks these bishops should be held responsible.\n"If a bishop moved a priest and knew problems existed there, he should most definitely be held accountable because he basically perpetuated the problem," Moriarty said. \nJason Gries, a seminarian at Saint Meinrad, Ind., thinks in the future, fewer cases of such sexual abuse will go unreported.\n"I think we'll see less protection of perpetrators, more action taken and more public access to information about these incidents," Gries said. "Bishops have stated a zero-tolerance policy. Priests are to be taken out of the ministry even if it's a one-time occurrence."\nGries cited an incident within his diocese, the Diocese of Evansville, in which a priest was accused of sexual misconduct about 25 years ago.\nThe congregation was made aware of the situation in May of this year, and decided as a whole, they wanted to keep the priest in practice. But since the zero-tolerance policy was put in place in June, the priest was ousted despite the congregation's wishes to keep him in place.\n"The vast majority of our priests are faithful in their ministry and happy in their vocation," the USCCB charter states. "Their people are enormously appreciative of the ministry provided by their priests. In the midst of trial, this remains a cause for rejoicing."\nGries agreed.\n"It's a bear now, but it'll be a blessing for the future," he said. "It's almost like God is cleaning house"