Pennsylvania’s Pedophile Priests ... and You

In my part of the country, whenever a mass shooting occurs, we always hear a single explanation: lack of gun control.  In fact, however, these shootings have many causes, lax gun laws being but one of them.  Let’s not forget the pathetic way that our society deals with mental health – stigmatizing, rather than treating it – or the extent to which the “entertainment” industry floods the market with violent video games, TV shows and movies.   The truth is that it takes a dysfunctional village to continually ignore the scourge of gun violence, and no one single industry (or political party) is to blame.

Similarly, whenever we encounter yet another exposé of Catholic priests sexually abusing children, most of us turn to the same explanation: the requirement of priestly celibacy.  Personally, I’m no more a fan of that antiquated rule than I’m a fan of assault weapons.  But once again, priestly celibacy is not the sole culprit here.  There are far more pervasive and profound issues at play, and what they tell us about the human condition is sobering to say the least.

To understand my point, ask yourself this question: what troubles you the most about the Pennsylvania Catholic Church abuse scandal – the number of Catholic priests who are alleged to have sexually abused children or the way the Church elders repeatedly covered up this conduct?  For me, the cover-up is far worse.  That was the responsibility of the entire Church leadership, not simply the actions of a minority of priests.  Moreover, if it weren’t for the cover-up, the problem of sex abuse would have been addressed early on.  But because the Church leaders consistently chose to bury their heads in the sand, they enabled countless lives to be ruined in state after state, country after country, decade after decade.  So much for the “holiness” of organized religion.

You can lay much of the blame of the sexual abuse itself on the requirement of forced celibacy.  But that doesn’t explain the cover-up.  Indeed, I don’t think it’s fair to lay the fault of the cover-up on the Catholic Church or, for that matter, on religion generally.  The real problem is that we’re dealing with the species known as homo sapiens.  Whenever that species is involved -- regardless of whether you’re talking about Catholics, Jews, Muslims, atheists, men, women, tall short ... -- it’s the rare specimen who is willing to stick his or her neck out and blow the whistle.

This latest scandal is, above all else, simply a reminder that Catholic clergy form a clan.  Like other clans, the members take care of one another.  Call it clan loyalty.  You see it whenever you deal with families (“What kind of father would call the cops on his own son?”), or with corporations (whose employees often tell the same exculpatory story even when the documents suggest something more sinister), or with political leaders in a polarized, lemmings-like environment.  It would appear that we the people would rather lie and cover up a clansman’s problems than serve as the “rat” who brings him down and brings dishonor on the clan. 

If you disagree with that analysis, perhaps it’s because you see something uniquely debased about the Catholic leadership.  It is, after all, chic in some contemporary circles to point to clergy (Catholic or otherwise) as being especially egotistical and power-hungry, and thereby unwilling to put their own good names at risk for sake of principles like “justice” or “universalist ethics.”  Maybe there’s a bit of truth to that explanation, maybe not.  But I’ve seen enough in my life to realize that whether we’re talking about the most narcissistic clergyman or the most modest corporate employee, you won’t find many heroes.  People tend to look out for their own personal reputations and the well-being of their friends, co-workers and family members.  And when you weigh those factors against “the greatest good for the greatest number,” I think we all know what is likely to prevail.

These days, we hear a lot about the need for educators to improve so-called “STEM” instruction, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math.  Ironically, though, we already have plenty of stem instruction.  By contrast, we have precious little values instruction.  And I suspect we provide virtually zero education about the paramount importance of whistleblowing to any civilized society.  Supposedly, our obsession with the GNP doesn’t allow us to waste time teaching our children that the real “rats” among our species are the ones who sit in silence or in perjury to hide the abuses of their pack, rather than to stand up and toot their horns for the sake of truth and for the good of God.

Really, if you want to know who is most responsible for the Pennsylvania Catholic Church abuse scandal, just look in the mirror.  We’re all to blame.  For we all live in societies where tax dollars are being used to teach our children far more arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics than what we Jews call “menschkeit,” which means how to live with a noble, dignified character.

The recent Pennsylvania scandal effectively indicted the leadership of the Catholic Church for their lack of menschkeit.  But to be fair, I think any of us would be hard pressed to find many organizations that would hold up very well according to that standard.  We simply don’t expect that from one another. We consider it to be supererogatory – above and beyond the call of duty.

So yes, let us pray that the Catholic Church does away with the policy of forced celibacy for their priests.  But let us also pray that the schools around the world start giving values instruction its due.  And if and when they do teach values, let us pray that they talk about whistleblowing as the solemn duty of all ethical human beings, and not merely the province of heroes ... or rats.