Judge by the good priests

by Editor · June 20, 2001

It is an indication of the often unreasonable expectations many Catholics (and non-Catholics) have of our priests and religious, that when one exhibits human failings, all risk being tarred with the same brush.

There are lapsed Catholics who attribute their apostasy to an affront perceived or real at the hands of an unsympathetic priest or bishop. In such cases, the whole Church of Christ is held accountable for the actions of an individual.

A more far-reaching backlash to the transgressions of some in holy orders is reported this week on page 5 in our article on the fallout of the recent reports of sexual misconduct involving some priests and nuns in parts of Africa. One nun reports being randomly and publicly defamed as being a “prostitute” as a consequence of these reports. The deplorable conduct of some is projected on the whole; an entire category of people, an institution even, is tarnished by association for the transgressions of a few.

Likewise, anti-Catholic propaganda will have gained new ammunition with the conviction in a Belgian court of two Rwandan nuns on charges of assisting in their country’s genocide. Malevolent and ignorant minds will conceivably hold the failings of these two individuals against a whole group.

When faced with the quandary of how to reconcile our intrinsic esteem for priests and religious with such appalling events, we should keep in mind the self-evident guiding principles articulated by the Vatican: “All members of the Church who sinned during the genocide must have the courage to assume the consequences for their actions against God and neighbour,” the Vatican’s spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said after the Belgian verdict.

In other words, the responsibility for sinful conduct is that of the individual; the Church cannot and must not be held collectively accountable.

In any institution there will always be some members whose actions may offend. Holy orders are no exception. We can draw comfort, however, from our knowledge that the large majority of our priests and religious are virtuous and generous in their self-sacrificing service.

Let their office be judged by the majority that does good, not by those who fail.