I'm angry. I'm angry, I'm mad, and I'm furious. And I never get angry. I was flipping through a Time magazine the other day, like I do every week.This time, something caught my eye. The article was titled "Pilfering Priests," and it discussed the rising U.S. trend of priests who have stolen millions of dollars from their parishes during their tenure as pastors.
A quick Google search of this concept produced hit after hit: "Survey Finds Embezzlement in Many Catholic Parishes," "Priest Pleads Guilty in Embezzlement Case," and "Arrest Warrant Wanted for Catholic Priest in Church Embezzlement" topped the list.
The New York Times Web site alone produced 10 articles summarizing the scandals of priests who pickpocket throughout the nation since 2004.
One priest in Nebraska was found to have stolen more than $120,000 from his parish. Two priests in Florida were found to have jointly pocketed more than $8.6 million. Another pastor in Virginia was caught after he robbed his parishioners out of $600,000; a priest in Connecticut used the $1.4 million he lifted from his parish to support a lifestyle filled with cars, condos, and vacations.
The Church has faced scandal in the past: Its most recent scandal came in the form of a sex-abuse scandal in 2002, when decades of sexual molestation by priests were revealed. Lawsuit after lawsuit emerged, with hundreds of individuals claiming they had been raped or violated in some way by Catholic priests. Most prominent in the news was the Boston Archdiocese, a diocese that seemed to be built on years of abuse covered by secrecy and terrorization of young boys.
I am angry because I, like millions of Catholics throughout the world, put my faith in the institution of the Church and in its leaders. What do actions such as these say about the culture of the priesthood in America today?
The misappropriation of parish funds, spent toward things like the sexual misconduct scandals, are too widespread to be ignored. I am angry because the leaders of my national Catholic community are not rejecting the material world: Rather, they are leaning toward it.
These embezzling priests seem to be in the minority, but these are not isolated incidents, and the number of these abuses continues to grow.
I am angry because these scandals are driving people away from the Church and from Christianity in general.
If one cannot rely on the leaders of a church, how can one rely on the Church itself?
The bad examples of these priests are damaging the faith of the United States and destroying the mission of the Church.
I am angry because these scandals have diverted the world's attention away from the many good works of the Church. People not looking at the priests who are faithful servants and who minister to their parishes and communities.
The attention is not focused on the Catholic missionary priests who focus on justice in the Third World, or on those who devote their life to education in universities throughout the world.
What are Catholic laypeople in America to do about these crises in their communities?
How do we deal with this betrayal and with our own anger?
There are no easy answers to a situation such as this. We must attempt to hold our religious leaders to higher standards-parishes must tighten security on their Sunday collections and more carefully monitor each other's actions.
Catholics must put their faith in the Holy Spirit and pray that clergy members are led in the right directions.
Another step we can take is to celebrate the amazing members of the clergy who live out the virtues and mission of the Church in everything they do.
Lastly, Catholics can reverse the fate of the Church by living Catholic and Christian lives-our lives can be the only illustration of the true Church.
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