Thursday, March 9, The Irish Times carried an article by Patsy McGarry entitled “Over-strict” Abuse Guidlines Anger Priests. Following the most recent allegations of sexual abuse of children by Irish priests, the article said that a growing number of priests are protesting “over-strict” interpretation by bishops of Catholic Church guidelines on dealing with those accused of child sex abuse. And so Ireland has once again joined The United States, The United Kingdom, France and many other countries in attempting to deal with one of the great dilemmas of our time, the abrogation by our moral leadership of their responsibility in favor of their rights.

        Some years ago, the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina was quietly removed from his position because, after receiving a salary of $80,000 annually, a very large salary at that time, and a discretionary fund of the same amount, he was found to have converted his discretionary (poor) fund to his own use, robbing the poor, as it were. It was right and appropriate that he was removed by his Session. He was obviously not qualified to be the moral and Spiritual leader of a congregation of some 1,200 Christians. What was wrong was to cover up this hypocrisy and theft. I only found out about the incident because a member of that Session was a friend of mine, and the miscreant was never prosecuted.

        Not long after that incident, I resigned from Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina because my Session invited Rev. Jane Spahr, a practicing, unrepentant lesbian ordained by New York Presbytery, to preach to our congregation. It was then that I found out that this event was instigated by our associate pastor who was, himself, homosexual. When he confronted me, attempting to get me to stay, I told him that I could not support a church that set up such a person, who flaunted their deviance, as a role model for our children. Rev. Gene Robinson, a homosexual Episcopal bishop, apparently is prepared to split his entire world-wide denomination in order to defend his perceived right to pursue his deviant sexual preference.

        We have been recently bombarded with hundreds of cases of sexual abuse of children by clergy in several U.S. denominations, and there has been a shameful cover-up of these incidents by bishops and other denominational leaders, as well as a determined assault by clergy who are homosexuals on the bastions of Christian morality. The integrity of the Church is often overlooked as it seems that the attitude of many Christian leaders is to protect the institution of the Church by hiding scandals so that the Church can continue to claim moral purity that it does not possess.

        Certainly, priests and ministers are entitled to be considered innocent until proven guilty, both in secular and in canon law. But some of the clergy seem inclined to consider themselves above the law, as if their ordination made them Holy. It also appears that the courts and prosecutors, mindful of their political images, are reluctant to hold clergy to account for their crimes. I am not aware that any of the current crop of American clerical child abusers have gone to jail. But ordination confers additional responsibility to set a moral and Spiritual example in every facet of a clergyman’s life. Those who are proven guilty of moral turpitude, especially when they callously victimize children, should be subjected to the most extreme punishments. It seems to this writer that a lengthy prison sentence would be appropriate, after making sure that the other prisoners know what the clergyman was convicted of.  In our local vernacular, put the suckers under the jail, and see that they get a little jailhouse justice.  Failure to provide moral leadership merely creates an issue for radical bigots to use to destabilize and to further divide Christ’s Church. And before you condemn me for failing to be merciful, remember that even Christ himself required repentance and confession before granting absolution.

        But then on Sunday, March 12, Debra Douglas wrote in the Belfast Telegraph, reporting on an attack by vandals on an East Belfast Catholic Church, and told us of the gracious and forgiving response by Fr. Paddy Delargy, the support by the Belmont Council of Churches, and by Rev. Richard Hill of Garnerville Presbyterian Church, all of which refreshed my soul.