Austin Daily Herald

The Roman Catholic Church is currently embroiled in a messy web involving sex, lies and juveniles.

It's a public relations nightmare no organization ever wants to experience and it's a crisis that doesn't affect just the Catholic Church, but churches of all denominations and religions.

"What I always feel is that whenever one part of the Christian religion universal, one part of the body is wounded in any way, it affects the whole body," says Patricia Toschak, pastor of Austin's First United Methodist Church.

Orlin Mandsager, interim senior pastor at St. Olaf's Lutheran Church in Austin agrees and adds it's a situation that ought to be damaging to the church.

"I think every time something like this happens in the community the credibility of the clergy is hurt. It is damaging and it ought to be," he says. "Everything the church claims and believes, follows the idea that we should love one another, respect one another, don't manipulate or abuse those you love and when a member of the church does abuse that, it's hypocrisy. And just like a company, like Enron for example, whenever there is a scandal and abuse of power, we should take our lumps as deserved."

Father Bert Boschert of St. Edward's Catholic Church in Austin says "people have been very, very supportive and they have been thanking me for being a priest."

He adds, "It is something that not only impacts fellow priests, but it is something the whole faith suffers. I know there is suffering, frustration and anger and I know some will leave the church. All that is regretful, but the life and death of Jesus was also painful and regretful."

However, the most important thing for people to do, Boschert says, is remember and sympathize with the victims and the accused. "We have to make sure we are mindful primarily of the victims … none of us like to hang our dirty laundry in public.

"I think we have to protect and support anyone in our society who has been wronged and we also need to protect from society those who have wronged," he says. "The big thing is that I encourage people to look at the whole picture."

If a priest or minister of any faith commits an act of sexual misconduct, "society is not safe because they were kicked out. They need parameters and they need support so they are not free to abuse anymore," Boschert says.

His determination to keep the big picture in perspective has made him wary of the possibility of a zero-tolerance policy. Though he says a zero-tolerance policy "sure is a simple way out. It's clear-cut, black and white with no grays, but I do not like the baldness of a zero-tolerance policy. I've seen all the difference in someone who did something 30 or 40 years ago and never repeated that mistake. Of course, if a man continues to commit such acts, then for the sake of his victims, he should be removed."

"The church should try not to bury its head in the sand and ignore the wrongdoings, but we need to look at the overall picture," Boschert emphasizes. "It's so easy to judge things that happened 20 years ago with the insight we have now."

Those church officials involved with the accusations of sexual misconduct "may have made some stupid judgments, but they were using the lights they had at the time," he says.

It also is important to understand pedophilia is not a condition that only exists within the Catholic Church. People of all religions and all professions suffer from pedophilia. "Percentage-wise, the clergy is no worse than other professions, and really, the vast majority of pedophiliacs are married. It's not celibacy that causes this," says Boschert.

The realization that pedophilia exists in the Catholic Church and in all other churches, is not new. "For the past 20 years we have been taking steps," to address the issue of pedophilia in the church, he says. In fact, "the Diocese of Winona is rewriting their policy for the third time."

Boschert says his understanding of the Diocese's policy is that it encourages anyone who is the victim of sexual misconduct by a clergy member to report it to the authorities.

If that person's claim is substantiated, then the clergy member is removed from his position in the church until the case is examined by law enforcement officials and the church and appropriate action is taken afterward.

The policy is similar to the one used by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Mandsager says "if there's an accusation of pedophilia or sexual abuse or of a misuse of power, that person is immediately removed from active service." If the allegations are proven, the person is permanently removed from the clergy roster, he says.

The United Methodist Church also has established a strict policy against sexual misconduct by the clergy, Toschak says. "At one time these things were swept under the rug and the clergy member was moved to another church," she says. "Now we have in place … a process, a procedure to follow when a grievance of this nature is brought against a clergy member and we have what I would consider a zero-tolerance policy at this time."

"I think people are looking for honesty and openness in how the church handles grave concerns of this kind," she says. "I think if people feel it's being dealt with in an honest way, a just way, a way which cares for the victim and the perpetrator and removes the perpetrature from office, they'll respect that. I think it's when we do not address it that people become disillusioned."

"Hopefully, the clergy will be better and stronger because of going through this. I hope the people of God will be stronger and better as I've experienced in the parishioners who are not angry, but are quick to be supportive to me. That's really growth, real strength."

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com