Priests' actions don't harm
faith
By Emily Baldauf
Senior
Writer
Recent national reports of child molestation in
the Roman Catholic Church have left many Catholics around the world
searching for answers and finding comfort in their personal faith.
For Ted Mauch, a Catholic and a junior in the University
Studies Program, the recent news reports were another sad reminder of
a problem that has continued to pervade the Catholic Church.
"My first reaction was sadness that this problem
affects our church and those people who minister most intimately with
people in the church," Mauch said. "I was also sad the media
chose to, and continues to choose, to dwell on it so heavily with so
many things going on."
Mauch, who has considered becoming a priest himself,
does not believe these few cases are a true reflection of the majority
of the work priests do in the Catholic Church.
"I still believe it is a noble life because
God has called these men through the priesthood to serve in the name
of his son for his people," he said. "There are challenges
in that, and one challenge right now is that sick individuals have entered
the priesthood and abused the people of God, but it doesn’t change
the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of priests who are doing
good on a day-to-day basis."
Like many Catholics, Mauch agrees child molestation
is a problem in the Catholic Church. According to a new Gallup poll,
72 percent of Catholics say the church has done a bad job in handling
the problems of sexual abuse by priests.
However, most Catholics are quick to point out
child molestation is not something that only occurs in the Catholic
Church. The same Gallup survey reported that only 10 percent of Catholics
believe the rate of sexual abuse is any higher among priests than among
the general population.
"I don’t think it’s a few cases
or it’s a huge widespread problem within the church," Mauch
said. "It’s a disease that runs equally through our society."
Father Andrew Pavlak, an associate pastor at St.
Thomas Aquinas Center, agrees. He said that he believes that most people
understand that a small percentage of people have this illness. He also
pointed out that although these cases have gotten a lot of media attention,
these few cases would not have a profound effect on the Catholic Church.
"The church is so much more than a few people
that are bringing us down," he said.
James Davidson, a professor of sociology who has
studied Catholicism, said the issue of abuse of young Catholics and
older teenagers is something that goes back into the early 1980s.
"It is only recently that the widespread (impact)
of this has come to the nation’s attention," Davidson said.
Davidson said in the past the church would first
seek counseling for the priest and the priest was then usually considered
"cured."
"That solution to the problem is now understood
to be inadequate, and the church is fully aware the behavior is not
something that can be cured," Davidson said.
Although many Catholics are saying this news is
negatively affecting their orientation to the church, many say it will
not affect their personal faith. Only twelve percent of devout Catholics
said they are less likely to follow the church’s teachings on matters
of faith and morals due to the impact of the recent scandals, according
to a Gallup poll.
"I think there is a clear distinction between
the personal faith of Catholic people and the behavior of the hierarchy
and priests - this will embarrass and disturb any number of Catholics,
but I do not think it will effect their personal faith," Davidson
said.
Purdue students who are members of the Catholic
Church seemed to express similar attitudes.
"The Catholic Church has been through a lot,
and the sins of certain priests does not discredit the priesthood,"
Anthony Sisto, a junior in the Schools of Engineering, said. "It
is a church of humans, and priests are human. The amazing thing to me
is that the church will survive and stand for the same things regardless
of what happened to it because it is bigger than the human part of it."
Bethany Weeden, a senior in the School of Nursing,
said, "I think it’s a shame that Catholic priests are doing
this, and they should be punished, but I don’t want all Catholic
priests to fall into a stereotype of these bad doings because I think
most of them are here to help us."
In the end, many Catholics agree the church will
overcome these challenges through their strong personal faith.
"The church believes in forgiveness and loving
one another," Father Pavlak said. "Both the pedophiles and
the victims are in need of prayer right now."
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