As it turns out, ephebophile congressman Mark Foley, former altar boy, was raised in the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach, FL, a diocese that has had not only nine priests named as buggers, but two bishops as well. Palm Beach seems to be the sort of place that those who accuse the church of harboring rings of homosexual clergy, a "lavender mafia," point to and say "See! I told you so!"
In addition to scandals of a purely sexual nature, the Diocese of Palm Beach has also recently been hit by the revelation that over the years, two pastors of St. Vincent Ferrer embezzled 8.9 million dollars from the parish. Well, leaders who won't do anything about ephebophilia won't do anything about any other problems. In fact, molestation scandals are just the tip of an iceberg of miscreance in the church.
Palm Beach charities closed down for lack of funds while the two St. Vincent Ferrer birds blew money on sex, gambling, real estate (including an Irish Pub), cars and other trappings of a playboy lifestyle. They also used the money to pay off people--presumably lay people whose involvement, some argue, is supposed to prevent church troubles--when the latter discovered the fathers' malfeasance.
Said malfeasance was probably not hard to discover. I would bet that there were telltale signs. The pastors probably seldom wore blacks, especially when they ventured off the parish premises. They probably never turned down an invitation to the local country or yacht clubs. They probably had quirks such as being fastidious about the rectory decor or their hair. Perhaps they even repaired to manicurists to keep their fingernails immaculate. They were probably loath to do menial tasks and "too busy" to visit the sick at local hospitals or nursing homes. They probably committed as many floutings of the virtues of poverty and humility in public as they committed of their vows of chastity in private.
Unfortunately, St Vincent Ferrer parishoners, like most Catholics, have been conditioned to think of religious life as a job, a career (This is thanks to religious who behave as if their lives are careers). They couldn't see the yellow and red flags. Why shouldn't Father have nice things or a bit of fun? After all, sex is not in his job description. And if he doesn't always act like a priest, well, as one priest actually said, "We're very, very human. We have our weaknesses."
The latter quote was uttered by the current pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer to TCPalm.com reporters.* While the latest bishop of Palm Beach has ordered biennial audits of all parishes, a step in the right direction, there is still an attitude problem--and training problem--when priests are speaking variations of the oversimplified truth: "We're all sinners."
Not only is "We're all sinners,"an oversimplified truth (There are different degrees of sin; there is sorrow for sin and efforts to repent of it or no sorrow and no repetence.), it has become an excuse for not trying to fight sin in oneself or in others, for not preventing others from doing harm. Hypocrisy has come to be regarded as the worst of sins--a misconception no doubt fortified by Sunday Lectionary readings about hypocrites--to the point where people are paralyzed from stopping evil.
As Aquinas wrote in Summa Theologica, IIa, IIae, q. 111**, hypocrisy may be a mortal sin or only a venial sin according to the end intended by the hypocrite. Hypocrisy is only mortal sin if the end is directly opposed to charity. In other words, hypocrisy committed with an eye to charity, which includes doing the right thing, ain't so bad.
*"Palm Beach diocese has one of nation's worst records"
by Thomas Hargrove and Michelle Sheldone, TCPalm.com, 10/5/06
** as paraphrased on p. 259 of Glenn, Msgr. Paul J., A Tour of The Summa, TAN Books, Rockford IL 1978
Copyright © 2006 by Neal J. Conway. All rights reserved.