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Please allow me to write and reflect with you about an issue which
is so delicate and sensitive, but which concerns everyone of us
even today, both priests and Catholic lay faithful.

In the past six years or so, the Catholic Church in general, and
the Catholic priests in the United States in particular, (including
Filipino Clergy who are incardinated and adjunct serving in the
different Arch/Dioceses of the US) have been constantly pounded in
the media, whether in the news dailies or in television talk shows
and news reports. The headlines are horrible: "Priest
Pedophile," "Church Cover-up," "Millions paid out," "Sins of the
Fathers," etc. As one priest said, "the headlines are screaming at us
and we feel like we have no recourse but to read the news stories and
remain silent."

Six years ago today, we cannot forget the headlines that were
captured by the very sad news that perhaps up to one hundred thirty
priests in the Archdiocese of Boston have abused young people whom
they were consecrated to serve. This was followed in by a news report
that a Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, Bishop O'Connel, resigned
from his post due to a similar accusation and scandal. We remember
Bishop Daily of Brooklyn who was accused by an ex-priest of covering
up or not reporting molester priests from his Diocese to civil
authorities. A number of priests from other different dioceses in
the United States were and are also currently being investigated by
civil authorities concerning accusations of child molestations and
other sex scandals. Can we forget that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
allegedly paid about $600 million dollars to some victims of abused?

Whether these horrible allegations are true or not, we cannot deny
the fact that the Church in America even today , particularly the
Catholic Church, is still currently undergoing a `crisis' of some
sort. And priests, whether of good standing or not, and catholic
lay faithful are all affected by it. If all these allegations are
true, then certainly this is a terrible scandal which can never be
condoned in anyway. Pope John Paul II, who weighed in on the
controversy has denounced it as a `"grave scandal" caused by
the "sins of our brothers" who have betrayed their vows and succumbed
to evil.' And so, today, I'd like to write something about this
issue, as one of our priests, a Filipino priest, had been recently
incriminated. And I'd like to discuss what our response should be
as priests and faithful Catholics.

I think the first thing we have to do is to pray together. Fr. Ver,
the FILCAA President, has been asking us to pray for a brother
priest who had been incriminated recently. We have to pray for all
the priests who have strayed in their ministry, especially those who
have been accused and convicted of sexual immorality and `moral
suicide.' Although we will never condone anyone who commit these
said crimes, we have an obligation as Christians and priests to pray
for the conversion of sinners and those who have gone astray.
Equally, we have to pray for the victims as well. That in spite of
the horrific tragedy that happened in their lives, they will find
some hope and comfort, and some sense in living.

But prayer is not enough. As a community of faith, we need to work
together to address the issue. We cannot be silent any longer. We
should see to it that those who really committed crimes against the
innocent, and those who prey on the young be brought to justice,
whoever they maybe. We owe it to our sense of justice and moral
responsibility. On the other hand, we should also caution ourselves,
especially the media and civil authorities, so that this current
investigations would not become a "witch-hunting" expedition. While
it may be true that some priests have committed these said crimes, it
is also true that there are thousands of men and women who are
dedicated in their ministry- and who have spent their whole lifetime
serving the Lord and serving His people faithfully, with honesty and
integrity, with often heroic self-sacrifice. Therefore, to make a
sweeping generalization that all priests are the same, or to
discredit the image of the Universal Church and the Catholic
Priesthood because of the crimes committed by some priests is a
misjudgment. Hence, it is simply unacceptable.

Secondly, I'd like to address the issue of priesthood and formation.
One of the questions being asked today is this: How did these
men who committed such horrible acts became priests in the first
place? Well, I think it is important for our spiritual leaders in
this country to re-examine once again the kind of formations we have
in our seminaries. In this country and many parts of Europe, we are
getting less and less vocations for the priestly ministry and
religious life every year. Because of this vocation crisis, some
leaders in the Church may have overlooked the importance of
screening process of applicants in the seminary. When I entered the
seminary, I remember a very strict and rigid screening of applicants.
A background check, examinations, interviews, constant evaluations
while in formation should be a must for all candidates for the
priesthood. I wonder if this process is being undertaken by our
current formators in our seminaries today, considering that we need
priests desperately. In Catholic seminaries we need to train and
form candidates for the priesthood who will be spiritually prepared
and emotionally and psychologically mature.

Thirdly, I'd like to address the issue of collaboration in the
ministry and fraternal correction. In our ministry as priests, we are
called upon to work together to promote God's kingdom and service to
others. But this issue of collaboration is not only limited in terms
of our ministry and service, but sometimes it extends to our personal
and community life as well. The problem arises when a group or
community of priests try to cover up one another on problem issues of
personal lifestyles and liabilities. More often than not, when a
brother priest has committed some wrong, it is either covered up by
others, or is simply not discussed in any given forum. So the result
is that, the "problem- priest" continues to harm himself and
scandalize others. I suggest therefore that in each Diocese, there
should be an established committee whose function is mainly to "spot
and check", study and review cases of so called "problem-priests,"
to initiate fraternal correction and/ or recommendation to the Bishop
for immediate and proper action.

Fourthly, I'd like to address the issue of priests as human beings.
We have to be aware that we as priests, although consecrated, are
not gods. We are human beings like any else. And as human beings, we
are also liable to sin. Of course, being human should not be an
excuse for anyone, even with us priests, to commit such horrible
acts. But in spite of the priest's humanity and fallenness, what
makes him special is that he was called and chosen by God to serve
Him in the Sacrament of Priesthood. God may call up certain people to
serve as His priests, who maybe unworthy, but He can always use them
as His instrument to bring about a greater good.

Fifth, I like to see this `crisis' as a challenge. When these
scandals just broke out, Bishop Daily of Brooklyn said something like
this , "these are trying times, and all of us who are members of this
Body are suffering." But we should know that scandal such as these
are nothing new for the Church. There have been many times in the
history of the Church when she was much worse off than it is now. As
Reverend Landry writes, "The history of the Church is like a cosine
curve, with ups and downs throughout the centuries. At each of the
times when the Church hit its low point, God raised up tremendous
saints to bring the Church back to its real mission. It's almost as
if in those times of darkness, the Light of Christ shone more
brightly." I'd like to believe that the Church here in America is
also undergoing not only a crisis but also a renewal. I'd like to
believe that this time of crisis can also become a blessing in
disguise. I believe that this crisis is a wake-up call for each one
of us. These alleged scandals committed by some of our priests
should make each one of us pause and ponder about the challenges and
difficulties that we face in trying to live our Christian faith. We
should ask ourselves constantly the question, Is our faith strong
enough to withstand the test of time? Or do we easily surrender and
ran away when we are faced with same challenges and difficulties.

The last point I would like to address is about the stand of our
Catholic Church leaders(especially our bishops) as far as
safeguarding and supporting their priests, even those who
have `fallen.'

It cannot be denied that with these alleged scandals being talked
about, and continued to be discussed in the media, our priests have
been thrown to some kind of a defensive position. What do I mean by
this? It simply means that our priests, due to these allegations,
have become an easy prey, an immediate target for decimation. A
mere letter of accusation, or an alleged report of scandal to the
Bishop, immediately removes the priest from his respective
assignment, while the case is being investigated. Is the accused
person already judged as guilty before being proven innocent, or vise
versa? The sad part is, and I am speaking in reference to some cases
I know of(but it may not be true to all), the priest is not given any
support whatsoever from his respective Diocese(whether financial or
otherwise), to battle his case. The question I raise is, if this is
true, where is the sense of compassion and charity that we Church
leaders had been proclaiming about in the pulpit? Yes, we do not
condone evil or the acts of evil. But, as we say, "it is not the
person we condemn, but the evil committed by the person." Granted
that the person who was allegedly accused really committed such a
horrible act, does this negate us of our sense of compassion, charity
and love to those who have committed some wrong? And when I speak of
compassion and charity here, I am not just speaking of some
hypothetical sense(as some leaders of the Catholic Church tend to
do), but I am speaking of practical, concrete and tangible helps and
support that we can extend to our brothers who have gone `astray.'
Recently, one of our brothers in the ministry had been allegedly
accused of some wrong doing. Whether there was some truth to the
allegation or not, that is not our concern to probe. Let the court
makes its judgment and decision on the case after weighing its
evidence. But what is disheartening to hear is that: when the very
institution in which we are called to serve does not lend any support
or compassion to us—if we have gone wrong(as the case maybe)—then
we begin to question about the credibility, truthfulness and
meaningfulness of this Institution in which we are called to serve.
My opinion is, after the Bishops of the United States have come out
with these documents like .."Protecting God's Children," and "Walk in
the Light: A Pastoral Response to Child Abuse,"etc. as their
response to these mounting scandals of priests…they overemphasized
too much the other side of the ladder, the victim's rights and
privileges, to the detriment of the priests rights, even those who
have not been accused of any wrongdoing. For this, I would like to
call the attention of our Church leaders, especially our bishops, to
evaluate their current position, and create some kind of "mud
guards" to protect their priests from the onslaught of false
accusations and judgmental attitudes.


As some of our priests said, "it's a tough time to be a priest
today." Indeed it is. I read once in the front page of New York Post
this message, "priests told the Post that the long running scandal
has turned their collars into symbols of shame, making them self-
conscious in public and targets of derogatory remarks." Yes, it's
also a tough time to be a Catholic today. Whether you like it or
not, I know that each one of you are affected by these alleged
scandals. But who is not? We are all hurting because we are all
members of the One Body of Christ. When a part of the body is in
pain, so is the rest. But as someone said, despite all these, `it's
also a great time to be a priest and be a Catholic today' because it
strengthens our resolve and deepens more our faith as it is being
tested. As they say, `a crisis can either break you or make you.' I
hope that this crisis in the Church can make us a stronger and
better Christian in the end.

Fr. Landry said once in his homily that `some people are
predicting that the Church in this area is in for a rough time. Maybe
she is, but the Church will survive, because the Lord will make sure
it survives. Christ will never allow his Church to fail. He promised
that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church. The
magnitude of this scandal might be such that people may find it
difficult to trusts their priests in the same way they have in the
past. That maybe so, and that may not be a completely bad thing. But
never lost trust in Him. It is His Church. Even if some of those He
chose betrayed Him, He will call others who will be faithful, who
will serve their flock with the love with which they deserve to be
served.' Yes, there may be some Judases who are willing to betray
Him and His church, but the rest of His apostles were ready to
proclaim the gospel and died for their faith.


It's a tough time to be a priest today. But as we enter into this
coming Ash Wednesday , I call each one of you, brothers, to bend our
knees and pray that after we have gone through this `Good Friday' in
our lives, we can also look forward for Easter and Resurrection.

May God bless each one of us.