Deliver Us From Evil : Amy Berg

Here is an interview with the Amy Berg, the director of the moving documentary that addresses one of the most notorious pedophiles in the churches history, Oliver O'Grady. Berg had previous experience in investigating the sex scandals in the Catholic Church for CNN.

The interview briefly talks about how O'Grady was moved from parish to parish. Roger Mahoney, th Archbiship of Los Angeles oversaw his transfers. Here is the actual trailer for the documentary. Listen carefully, this is part of an eye-opening interview that is sickening to say the very least.

The Wake of the Scandal: Tarnished Priests

In discussing the damage these priests have done to families around the country, I realized I need to address the bravery and dedication of innocent Catholic Priests. These individuals must now be cognizant of their every move around young people. A simple hug could be perceived as an act of foul conduct. Many priests have most likely been wrongfully accused in the hype of the media. Guilty priests have inadvertently derailed the careers of many innocent men in the priesthood. The stereotype of the Catholic Priest that has been created by countless violators, which has made the vocation less desirable for residing and potential priests.

Philadelphia Fr. Bob McLaughlin was caught up unfairly within the facts of the scandal. A popular religious leader, he assured his community that the Philadelphia diocese was handling the situation differently than others, which meant no cover-up. McLaughlin felt betrayed by his leaders when a 400-page grand jury report was released that stated quite the opposite. McLaughlin unknowingly lied to his entire community because of what his religious leaders had assured him.

"For the first time in my 60 years, I felt ashamed to be Catholic," McLaughlin said, "Their crime wasn't a crime of passion, where you fly off the handle and do something stupid, like commit a murder. This was a cold, calculated series of lies, designed to protect the church's assets at the expense of protecting children's lives. It's just chilling. I've seen them fire priests for having their hands in the collection basket, yet they never fired a priest for having his hands down an altar boy's pants!"

Money Talks

Boston Archdiocese- $80 million to 500 victims.
Los Angeles Archdiocese- $660 Million to 550 Victims
Dallas Dioceses- $121 million to eleven victims
Bridgeport Diocese (New York)- $21 million to 40 victims
Santa Rosa Diocese- $5.4 million
Kentucky Archdiocese- $25.7 million to 243 victims

The total (there are many cases I did not list) comes to almost $2 billion in settlements in the United States alone.The church has actually obtained insurance for " any act of unlawful sexual intimacy, sexual molestation or sexual assault" up to $1 million from Evanston Insurance Company. The cost only comes out to about 2,500 per cleric a year! What a deal! This tactic appears to ensure a quick and quiet process. The only catch for the victim and their family is their silence. Now that doesn't seem too hard... does it? In recent years, the situation may seem like it has slowly dissipated, but the Catholic Church has merely figured out a fast and effective solution to covering up permanent damage.

Surprisingly, this has not emptied out the pockets of the church; they still have $15 billion in assets. Besides the sexual abuse education videos, the Church has taken insufficient action to rid itself of this disgusting behavior. Though the issue appears much less in contemporary news, priests are still violating young children. What step can the church take to permanently fix the ongoing situation? Weed out the bad apples and let them get married.

Though it doesn't have to do with this specific post, this is one of my favorite cartoons.

The King of Cover-Up

"As your archbishop, I assume full responsibility for allowing Baker to remain in any type of ministry during the 1990s. I offer my sincere, personal apologies for my failure to take firm and decisive action much earlier." Roger Mahoney wrote this in a two-page letter that he faxed to 1,200 hundred priests in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Throughout the early investigation of the pedophile priests in parishes that he was involved with, he completely denies involvement. There is compelling evidence that negates his claims. Oliver O'Grady and Michael Baker are two of the priests that he transferred from parish to parish to avoid confrontation with their inhuman habits. Michael Baker even contacted Mahoney in search of guidance with his issue. Baker inquired, "Should we call the police now?" Mahoney responded in a quick "no, no, no." When criminal investigations furthered with Baker, the archbishop denied even knowing him.

If there is this level of corruption and unethical behavior occurring within this rank of the Catholic Church, we must question how much further the corruption extends. Is allowing priests to marry the answer to eliminating the problem entirely? Probably not, but it is a huge step in the right direction. It is a step of progress, a step of reform. The change could bring about a series of transformations within the church that could eventually lead to a religious organization free of this level of unethical behavior.

An Insight to Mister Transistor

Growing up, the Christian faith and values were strategically instilled into my mind. I must admit, as a child, I really was just doing what I was told; my faith was a byproduct of an obligation to Sunday school. Through the latter half of elementary school, I stopped attending weekly church. This was mostly due to my father's narcissism; He believed the family didn't have to attend church anymore because he thought he knew about what he needed to when it came to religion. He obviously didn't get the point of church.

My personal faith blossomed in middle school and high school when I began to attend weekly youth groups (for those of you who don't know what this is, it's a gathering of young people who get together to talk about God and his role in our daily lives). I couldn't get enough of them. Throughout high school, I attended probably seven different youth groups. The youth pastors kept me in line' they even made sure I was reading my bible on a regular basis. These religious figures were individuals who I could trust and confide in about my personal life. Not to mention, we had a ton of fun and I made dozens of close friends.

Here is my point for sharing this with you, people of the internet, I am greatly offended and disgusted to know that religious leaders are taking advantage of this trust and turning it into an obscene and immoral act of sexual abuse. Take this into consideration, a bishop has an immense influence on families that youth pastors like mine could most likely never achieve. Catholic religious leaders are spiritual icons to their community. They are essentially a symbol of God. Can man be trusted with this sort of responsibility? Obviously not.

Connecting the Dots

Many people question the connection between a priest's option to marry and the sexual abuse cases within the Catholic Church. Many consider sex to be an outlet for repressed emotions and thoughts. It makes a guy wonder what that level of sexual repression will do to his natural behavior. "There can be no doubt that while it is a gift for some, celibacy is a terrible burden for others, resulting in loneliness, alcohol and drug abuse and improper sexual conduct," even said the U.S. Bishops' National Board Review in 2004. Though the board questions the connection between sexual conduct and celibacy, they admitted the "lack of sound formation in sexuality and celibacy in seminaries appears to have been one of the significant problems underlying sexual abuse of minors after those seminarians became priests " (CatholicNews.com).

When a priest takes on such a life-altering (no pun intended) endeavor, the drastic change may spark irregular behaviors in his subconsciousness that would not otherwise arise. Some people have suggested that priests begin to room with each other in living quarters to maintain healthy relationships with the Catholic community and "ensuring oversight of priests" (CatholicNews.com). This is a great step in the right direction for reducing sex scandals in the church, whether with a confused woman or an innocent child.

Weeding Out the Weirdos

If the Catholic Church allowed their priests to marry and have a family, a wider pool of potential priests would be allowed to join the priesthood. The shortage of Catholic Priests has forced the church to accept priests who are possibly not mentally fit for the occasion. A wider selection means less pedophiles. Although, I must admit, that pedophiles exist within married families, but there is no way the ratio is comparable between married and non married individuals. Married priests in the parishes will not only serve as role models for the Catholic community, but help create a new image for priests in general. The new image may attract a different candidate for the priesthood.

Milingo: The Disobediant Archbishop

There subtly lays a historic hipocracy in the Catholic Church concerning a priests vow of celibacy; the first pope, St. Peter, was married. Another influential member of the church, once Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of Zambia, ordained four bishops who were already married without a papal mandate, which warranted an automatic excommunication from the church.

After his departure from official practice, he found the Married Priests Now organization. The group welcomed married priests and assisted each in reintegrating them into the ministry. In response to Milingo's efforts, the Vatican organized a high level conference that would discuss the role of marriage in the priesthood. Emmanuel's extensive work in the cause has brought purpose back into the lives of married priests worldwide, and how does the Vatican reward him? By revoking his Vatican passport, which revoked his diplomatic protection from the Vatican City State.

Survival of the Fittest: The Decline in Catholic Vocations

As time progresses, long-standing organizations must make the necessary changes to survive in a progressive environment. Evidence of these changes can be seen in the Mormon Church's decision to denounce polygamy in 1890 and the Jewish adaptation to allowing, but not condoning, intermarriage among different faiths. These religious groups understood that, in order to survive, they must conform to the perceptions of society and adhere to newly accepted approaches to issues. A study on the amount of men joining the priesthood revealed a drop 15,000 priests from 1968 to 2004 (a four percent decrease worldwide, but fourty percent nation wide). Also in America, almost half of the priests will be 55 of older. Experts have concluded that this trend will continue with the present state of the church.

The Catholic Church needs to allow their dedicated and devoted priests to enter the holy institution of marriage. The numbers show there is a steady decrease in joining priests, therefore the church must conform to allow a broader range of people into the religious vocation, namely people who want to be married. Is it so hard to believe that a priest can juggle a religious responsibility with his community and a fulfilling life with a family? A priest that can achieve this dynamic relationship between religion and home will prove to be a role model for the institution of marriage, which has suffered greatly in success rates in the last 40 years.

A Priest's Alter Ego

As a sexually active individual, I would find it enormously difficult to place all urges behind me for the purpose of complete spirituality and holiness. Though spirituality is a strong aspect of many people's lives, the human (maybe more so male) condition tempts us strongly with sexual inclinations. I do believe, however, that it is possible to gradually remove ourselves from sexual attachments and the temptations that accompany it. Countless Catholic Priests have successfully achieved celibacy in their quest to emulate Christ, so why is it so hard for certain members of the priesthood to keep from sexual temptation? The answer is simple, they aren't ready for the commitment to God. But we must ask another question, is this tradition fair to devout priests who have to deal with natural human emotions related to sex on a daily basis? Priests and bishops who achieve this separation should be held in high regard, but they should also have the choice of marriage to uphold the institution of marriage by example and relieve priests of the internal hardships associated with sex.

Now that we have addressed marriage and the priesthood, what is the connection between a priest's celibacy and pedophilia. In recent years, the Vatican and subsiding branches of the church have made various efforts to cure the situation with the 550 plus accused priests under the jurisdiction of Roger Mahoney in the Los Angeles Archdiocese alone (no data has been calculated on how many nationally). Aware of the abuse, Mahoney supervised the transferring of numerous priests to different parishes to avoid confrontation. One could argue that the pedophilia is a variable in society in general, and that the media is fueling and encouraging basically a witch hunt of these priests. But why has there not been substantial accusations in other religious institutions where the leaders are permitted to marry. It would definitely be a newsworthy story.