Tough Questions For The Church

In a special issue on the priest sex abuse scandal, the Boston Archdiocese's official newspaper said the Roman Catholic Church must face the question of whether to continue to require priests to be celibate.

In its lead editorial published Thursday, The Pilot newspaper said the celibacy issue raises tough questions such as whether there would be fewer scandals if celibacy were optional for priests and whether the priesthood attracts an unusually high number of homosexual men.

"Even if our present woes in the archdiocese were suddenly to disappear, these questions have taken on an urgency that will not quietly slip away," the editorial read.

Also included is a defense of Cardinal Bernard Law by former Boston mayor and ambassador to the Vatican, Raymond Flynn, as well an article on what parishioners should tell their children about sex abuse.

The church has been under fire after it was revealed that officials knew about child sex abuse allegations against defrocked priest John Geoghan, but did little to stop him. Geoghan has been accused of molesting more than 130 children in six parishes over 30 years. He is serving a nine-to-10 year prison sentence for fondling a 10-year-old boy.

As part of new "zero tolerance" policy of sex abuse, the archdiocese has turned over to prosecutors the names of more than 80 current and former priests suspected of child abuse in the past 50 years.

The Boston archdiocese said it printed the special issue of The Pilot hoping to improve communication with parishioners about the latest developments.

The Rev. Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese, added that church officials wanted to offer an alternative to traditional media outlets.

"One of the things that came out of the listening sessions, especially with the priests, was the concern that everyone seems to be getting their information from the local media, and not from the archdiocese," he said.

More than 100,000 copies of the 28-page supplement to the weekly paper were printed, and will be distributed after Mass in parishes Sunday.

The lead editorial, written by Monsignor Peter Conley, the paper's executive editor, opened by cautioning Catholics not to "breathe a sigh of relief" that a lawsuit by 86 alleged victims of Geoghan was settled this week, because so many serious issues remain unresolved.

The editorial says the New Testament "clearly prizes" priestly celibacy, but notes that most Americans don't understand it. It also says that married clergy would not be a "panacea," noting the divorce rate.

Pope John Paul II has strongly supported priestly celibacy.

"Would abandoning celibacy be the proper answer to new data from the contemporary sciences or would it be surrendering to popular American culture?" Conley wrote.

The paper also encourages greater attention to the question of homosexual orientation and the priesthood, and asks if there are truly valid ways to screen priests for sexual orientation.

The editorial says that "evidence now seems to indicate that (homosexuality) is a genetically inherited condition." It adds that though the church puts a high moral value on its teachings about sexuality, including its teaching that the practice of homosexuality is wrong, it is not a higher value than its teaching on truth and honesty.

The supplement also includes articles on church policy, legal issues, information on how settlements will be paid for, and an interview with a sex abuse expert entitled "Frank answers to hard questions."

Don Martelli, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Friday he did not know what role Law had played in the editorial but said, "Obviously the cardinal's publisher and if he wanted something pulled he could have had it pulled."

Conley did not immediately return a phone message.

Philip Lawler, editor of The Pilot from 1986-88, said he rarely consulted with Law on editorials. "My considered judgment having been in that seat, is this isn't Cardinal Law's work. I feel quite sure of that," said Lawler, now editor of Catholic World Report.

Lawler called the editorial "very unusual" for raising questions about church doctrine instead of just administrative issues.

By Justin Pope