Isn't it a Pity, Isn't it a Shame

(or When Shepherds Become Wolves)

by Bob Hostetler

Pope John Paul II has officially called the sexual abuse of minors by priests a "crime" and "an appalling sin."

No kidding. The mere fact that the pope had to say so indicates the depths to which we've sunk as a culture, and the degree to which our moral malaise has infected the church. Why, the recent "summit" between the pope and the Cardinals of the United States and the leadership of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops couldn't even produce agreement (after two days of talking) that a priest who grossly abuses his position of spiritual leadership by sexually abusing a minor should be summarily dismissed from the priesthood. Not executed. Not excommunicated. Not even prosecuted. But defrocked.

I know that dismissal from the priesthood is a big deal. I know that priesthood, for many, is a high calling and a sacred privilege. All of which makes more appalling (to me) the cardinals' recommendation for (in their own words) "a special process for the dismissal from the clerical state of a priest who has become notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory, sexual abuse of minors" and (again in their own words) "a special process for cases which are not notorious but where the diocesan bishop considers the priest a threat for the protection of children and young people, in order to avoid grave scandal in the future and to safeguard the common good of the church."

As a follower of Christ myself, and an ordained (albeit Protestant) minister, I am stunned on a number of points by the cardinals' and bishops' statement, but I will address only three:

That the cardinals' and bishops' statement eschews the opportunity to communicate to their priests that sexually molesting or violating a single member of their flock constitutes a choice-on the part of the priest-to reject the calling and privilege of priesthood. As the pope stated (and the cardinals and bishops quoted), "there is no place in the priesthood . . . for those who would harm the young." Jesus himself said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy . . . . The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:10, 11, NIV). The man who steals the innocence of a child or adolescent, who kills and destroys that person's trust in spiritual leadership, has become a thief, and not a shepherd.
That the statement calls for a process to defrock "notorious" and "serial" sexual abusers of minors implies some degree of tolerance for those who are not yet notorious, whose sexual abuse is more of the hit-and-miss variety. I can't believe that was the cardinals' and bishops' intention, but it does raise the question: how many kids can be abused before one becomes "notorious?" Jesus spoke far more stringently of the person who harms even one: "There will always be temptations to sin, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting. It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck than to face the punishment in store for harming one of these little ones" (Luke 17:1-2, NLT).
That the cardinals and bishops cite as their objective "to avoid grave scandal in the future and to safeguard the common good of the church" without specific mention of their concern for children and adolescents as members of the flock of God. "Avoiding grave scandal" certainly pales as a priority in comparison to safeguarding the youngest members of the flock of God. God said through the prophet Ezekiel, "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD . . . because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths" (Ezekiel 34:8-10, NIV).

Whether Catholic or Protestant, whether priest or minister, whether notorious or not, when shepherds become wolves, they cease to be shepherds. They should be shown mercy (for "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one'" (Romans 3:10, NIV)), they should receive counseling and ongoing pastoral care themselves, they should (if repentant) be restored to full fellowship with God and other members of the flock (Galatians 6:1). But the flock must be rescued from them. Anything less is a pity and a shame.

This article appeared in the Hamilton Journal-News on May 3, 2002.

More articles by Bob Hostetler...