Bishop Lahey Admits Possession of Child Pornography, Father Marshall Goes to Prison for Child Sex Abuse

Bishop Lahey proceeding to the Ottawa court
through a throng of journalists

Photo courtesy: The Montreal Gazette

Bishop Raymond Lahey, 70, on May 4, pleaded guilty to importation and possession of child pornography and voluntarily offered himself to live in Ottawa prison while waiting for his sentence hearing on June 24. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of one year in prison and a maximum of ten years, reports The Catholic Register of Toronto.

Raymond Lahey, the former Bishop of Antigonish Diocese in Nova Scotia province, was arrested in late September, 2009 and later released on bail when he landed in Ottawa Airport after his travels to several countries in Asia and Europe infamous for child-sex tourism and production of child pornography. In the initial check of his laptop computer, some of the pornographic images caught the attention of some customs inspectors.

Later, during the elaborate forensic investigation of his laptop, separate hard drives and USB devices, police detectives found a total of 588 pornographic images and 60 videos where young boys, as young as 8 to 10 years, engaged in sexual acts with each other as well as with adult males. Besides, there were a number of visual stories showing adults sexually humiliating, degrading and torturing young boys.

Bishop’s defense counsel Michael Edelson told the court that day, “My client feels very deeply and profoundly remorseful for what he has done. He is asking to be incarcerated this morning to signal to the court the sincerity and genuineness of his remorse.”

The Vatican, in a statement, condemned sexual exploitation in all its forms, particularly, crimes against minors. The statement also said, “Although the civil process has run its course, the Holy See will continue to follow the canonical procedures in effect for such cases, which will result in the imposition of the appropriate disciplinary or penal measures.”

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), in a statement, condemned “all forms of sexual exploitation, especially involving minors.” It also said, “It continues to work to prevent such behavior and to bring healing to the victims and their families.”

Bishop Raymond Lahey is believed to have been involved in possessing other forms of child pornography for many years, even from his priesthood days.

Father William Hodgson Marshall of Windsor, Ontario, Jailed for Child Sex Abuse

Father William Hodgson Marshall in Windsor

on the day of his sentencing

Photo courtesy: www.cbc.ca/

In another case in Windsor of Ontario province, Father William Hodgson Marshall, 88, a retired priest – who was a math teacher and basketball coach in Catholic schools – has been sentenced to two years in prison for a number of sexual assaults against boys, dating back to the 1950s, reports the CBC News.

A member of the Congregation of St. Basil, also commonly known as Basilian Fathers, Father Marshall pleaded guilty on June 8 in the court to 17 counts of sexual assaults against 16 boys and one woman in Toronto, Windsor, Cambridge and Sudbury of Ontario. Between 1952 and 1986, Father Marshall molested his victims in their homes and in schools and churches.

After his two-year prison term, Father Marshall’s name will be added to the sex-offender registry and his DNA sample will be taken by police for future reference.

In the court, it was also revealed that Father Marshall himself was a victim of sexual abuse by a teacher when he was nine years old.

After his guilty plea, the Basilian Fathers, through their spokesman Father Timothy Scott, issued a statement saying, “The Basilian Fathers wish to express our deep shame that one of our members has acted this way. These criminal acts against children are a violation of our religious vows and are grievously sinful…This should never have happened,” reports the Toronto Star.

For about 60 years, none of the victims reported Father Marshall’s sexual abuses. Only in May of 2010, a 43-year-old Windsor man was the first person to lodge a complaint with the police. Then other victims came forward with theirs.

The Photo Meditation of the Month (November, 2009): CHILDREN: A SYMBOL OF INNOCENCE

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Children: A Symbol of Innocence

A girl child from near Tuital in Bangladesh
Photo (Oct. 14, 1995) © Jerome D'Costa

Renowned Bangali poet and 1913 Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote: "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet tired of man." Children are a wonderful gift of the Creator. Children bring hope, happiness and vitality. Children are the future parents, leaders and dynamism of the society.

Children bring about smile, happiness and empathy in others by their giggling, guileless smile, playfulness and their naivete. They act as a bonding gum between parents, siblings and other people.

Children are innocents. Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, placed a special emphasis on children. He said: "See that you never despise one of these little ones. I assure you, their angels in heaven constantly behold my heavenly Father's face," (The Bible: Matthew 18: 10-12). Once, when Jesus was preaching, a number of people brought their babies to be touched by him. His disciples, however, scolded the adults and were not allowing their babies near him. When Jesus saw this, he called for the children, saying: "Let the little children come to me. Do not shut them off. The reign of God belongs to such as these. Trust me when I tell you that whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a child will not enter into it," (The Bible: Luke 18: 15-17).

The most unfortunate and sad thing is, the innocence of uncountable number of children is robbed daily by unscrupulous people -- both men and women. These are child nappers, child traffickers, child pornographers, child abusers, child pimps and the like. Sometimes parents and close relatives are also unpardonable enemies of children.

What children receive in their childhood, always give it back to the society later in their life. If they are treated well, they will treat others well, too. If they are treated badly, they will later do the same to others.

Let's not destroy the innocence of children. Let them grow up normally with proper love, care and upbringing. They, then, will brighten the future of a family, society, country and the world.

Bishop Lahey Affair and the Question of Catholic Priesthood and Celibacy -- 8

Some Observations (Contd.)

• Clergy sex abuses not only ruin the lives of the victims, but they also bring about irreparable damage to the Catholic community around them. It is so sad to see how the clergy sex abuses adversely affected the victims as well as the Catholic Church. The worst effects were on the children who were molested and raped by many priests. Many of these children, when grown up, cannot still cope with real life. The trauma is still haunting them. They are so much affected that they cannot maintain a decent relationship with others and lead normal sex life anymore. Another unpardonable effect was on the Church funds. Victims, especially in the USA, filed lawsuits against many priests and won financial compensations from various Catholic dioceses, because the rogue priests were in the employ of those dioceses. In 1998, the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Texas, was forced to pay US$31 million to the victims of Father Rudolph Kos. In 2002, the Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts, reaches a $10 million settlement with victims of Father John Geoghan. In 2003, this same archdiocese agrees to sell land and buildings, including some church buildings, to raise $100 million to fund legal settlements to more than 500 abuse victims of several dozen sex-abusing priests. In 2004, the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, files for bankruptcy because it is unable to pay millions of dollars in compensation to abuse victims. In 2004, the diocese of Orange County, California, settles $100 million lawsuits brought by 87 victims. In 2005, the Diocese of Sacramento, California, agrees to pay $35 million and the Diocese of Oakland, California, agrees to pay $56 million to 45 victims. In 2006, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, agrees to pay $60 million to 45 victims. In 2007, the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, agrees to pay about $48 million. In the same year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, settles 508 cases of clergy sex abuse for $660 million! The Diocese of San Diego, California, in the same year, agrees to pay $198 million to 144 victims. Thus go the power, pomp, and pecunia (money in Latin) down the drain for unchristian, unpriestly, and unpardonable behaviour of some unsupervised priests! Who suffers? First, the victims. Second, other priests who want to remain loyal to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Third, the faithful (laity -- the common Catholics, who were duped by those perpetrators).
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• Every country and culture has its own version of clergy sex and sexual abuses. Clergy sexual abuse and sexual misconducts know no boundaries, know no cultures. These are present in every country -- more or less -- each country having its own version of clergy sex. In some countries, where society is more conservative and sensitive to illicit sex, examples of priestly sex are less in number.

• Papal apologies for clergy sex abuses. In the past decade, both late Pope John Paul II as well as present Pope Benedict XVI deplored the clergy sex abuses in different countries and apologized for these serious indiscretions: (1) Pope Sends First E-mail Apology (November 23, 2001), (2) Pope Laments Sexual Abuse by Priests (July 28, 2002), (3) The Pope Lands in the US, Apologizes for Priest Abuse (April 15, 2008), (4) Pope Apologizes to Australians for 'Betrayal' of Clergy Sex Abuse (July 19, 2008), (5) Pope Offers Sympathy for Residential School Victims (of Canada) (April 29, 2009).

• Blogs and websites dealing with clergy sex and sexual abuses. In these days of worldwide digital media, nothing can be kept a secret from others. The same is true of the clergy sex abuse cases. Now the digital media are in everybody's reach. Secrecy works only in a society where most of the people are illiterate or half-literate or under severe persecution. There are innumerable websites and blogs, devoted to dealing with this subject. Only a few are mentioned here:
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• Restoring Trust: Response to Clergy Sex Abuse (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
• The Catholic Church and Sexual Abuse by Priests Archive
• Abuse in the Catholic Church: The Boston Globe Spotlight Investigation)
• BishopAccountability.org
• Abuse Tracker (of BishopAccountablity.org)
• Clergy Abuse Tracker (of Poynteronline)
• LifeSiteNews.com: Child Abuse Crisis
• Church in Turmoil (Growing abuse scandals and cover-ups within Catholic Church)
• The Voice of the Faithful (Keep the Faith, Change the Church)
• Joshua Children Foundation (Child Sexual Abuse by Priests and Clergy)
• Sexual Abuse of Males (Prevalence, Possible Lasting Effects & Resources)
• SNAP (Survivors' Network of Those Abuse by Priests)
• John McKiggan's Sexual Abuse Claims Blog
• Prime Time Crime: Catholic Church Abuses
• Clergy Sexual Abuse in Australia
• John McKiggan's Sexual Abuse Claims Blog
• Speak Truth To Power
• Jurist: Clergy Sex Abuse
• A Mother, a Sick Son and His Father, the Priest
• Sharon's Rose (The Voice from One Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivor to Another)
• Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders
• Excluding Homosexuals from Catholic Seminaries
• Homosexual Orientation Among Roman Catholic Priests

• Books on clergy sex and sexual abuses. There are a number of books on the subject of clergy sex abuse. These books, available for purchase over the Internet, provide an increased understanding of the issues and problems on this subject. Some of these books are:

1. The Changing Face of Priesthood: A Reflection on the Priest's Crisis of Soul by Father Donald B. Cozzens.
2. Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church by Father Donald B. Cozzens.
3. Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption Into the Catholic Church by Michael S. Rose.
4. Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church by Leon J. Podles.
5. The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture by Philip F. Lawler
6. Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church by Russell Shaw.
7. A Gospel of Shame: Children, Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church by Frank Bruni and Elinor Burkett.
8. Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church by the Investigative Team of the Boston Globe.
9. Sexual Abuse and the Culture of Catholicism: How Priests and Nuns Become Perpetrators by Myra L. Hidalgo.
10. Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children by Jason Berry.
11. Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus by Bishop Geoffrey Robinson.
12. Understanding the Impact of Clergy Sexual Abuse: Betrayal and Recovery, edited by Robert A. McMackin, Terence M. Keane and Paul M. Kline.
13. Unfair Advantage: Sexual Abuse by Psychotherapists, Priests and Police by Terri Austin.
14. Our Father, Who Art in Bed: A Naive and Sentimental Dubliner in the Legion of Christ by J. Paul Lennon.
15. An Irish Tragedy: How Sex Abuse by Irish Priests Helped Cripple the Catholic Church by Joe Riqert.
16. After Asceticism: Sex, Prayer and Deviant Priests by Patrick Guinan (Guynan).
17. Sex, Priests and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2000 Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse by Thomas P. Doyle, A.W.Richard Sipe and Patrick J. Wall.

(The End)

Bishop Lahey Affair and the Question of Catholic Priesthood and Celibacy -- 7

Some Observations (Contd.)

• A priest's life is lonely and totally sacrificing life. To understand a Catholic priest's life, his celibacy, and his chastity, imagine yourself as a person who formally promised to remain unmarried and chaste (no sex with yourself or with any other person) for the rest of your life. You have none around you to share your intimate thoughts, none to confide to. You are supposed to have a spiritual director in the person of another priest, but he may not be near you -- he may be in another parish or institution -- in some regions of the world, dozens of kilometers away. As a priest, you are the leader of the spiritual life of your people, numbering a few hundred to several thousand. You are the administrator of the church and schools under you. Every week, you hear the confession of hundreds of Catholics. At the dead of the night, someone may come to take you to the seriously sick person several kilometers away. You can't say no, you have to go to hear confession or give holy communion to that sick person. Every day you come in contact with scores of people -- male and female. You have to listen to them, you have to counsel them, you have to nurture them spiritually, you have to help them financially, if necessary. You are for them, but there's none for you particularly. The more people you deal with, the more sexual temptations and urges you might be facing. At night, you may be all alone in the whole church compound. You are to pray, meditate, and make sacrifices to sustain you spiritually. How do you feel about it? It is easy to blame a priest for any transgression, but very difficult to live a life like him.

• There's none to guard the guards, to inspect the inspectors. The Catholic Church places an inordinate emphasis on sins because a person's spiritual salvation depends on whether he or she lives a sinful or sinless life. The Church emphasizes that its members avoid masturbation, abortion, fornication, incest, adultery, murder, stealing, and lying and observe the Sunday obligations, fasting and abstinence from meat during the season of Lent and the like. It also suggests that its members go to frequent confessions to keep themselves spiritually clean for receiving Christ in their hearts through holy communion. The priests are the vanguards and they are supposed to look after these affairs of the laity (common Catholics). But, what about the "Sins of the Fathers" --- sins committed by priests and bishops? There is no sufficient check and balance about them as they are the implementers of the Church laws, rules, and doctrines. There's none to inspect the inspectors, so to say.

• Priestly chastity and celibacy, at what cost? Non-Christians, especially Jews and Muslims (who do not have celibacy in their religious practices) wonder aloud as to how Catholic priestly celibacy (unmarried state) and chastity work. They have difficulty in understanding how a man or a woman can live without marriage or sex. I vividly remember one event in my village church compound. Some Catholic teens were sitting on the football field. Another Muslim teen who happened to be there, at one time, pointed towards the convent and said that our foreign parish priest had so many wives (meaning local nuns living in the convent). At that time there were about half-a-dozen nuns living in that convent. I said that the priest is not married and he cannot marry. Then he wondered how a priest could live without marrying. I told him in my own way: "Catholic priests take special training to lead an unmarried life. So do the nuns!" By his body language, I could understand that he was not convinced. The Catholic celibacy evolved in the Catholic Church in imitation of Jesus Christ, who remained unmarried throughout his earthly life. St. Paul, an important apostle of the Catholic Church said that those who can accept and remain unmarried, let them do so, and those who can't, let them marry. The celibate life is a v-e-r-y v-e-r-y difficult life. It's a constant struggle on a daily basis because sexual temptations and urges are part of human nature. The unmarried priest has to take on that challenge because he willingly accepted the celibate life. Through prayer, sacrifices and keeping oneself busy, he has to keep discipline in his personal and sexual life. In youth, priests, like any other males, experience the production of testosterone in high gear and spermatozoa in over-production mode. Many priests let Mother Nature take its course in this matter. As a result, these priests get relieved from sexual tension through 'wet dreams' or night pollution. Sometimes, this struggle seems to be long-enduring as if there is no end to it. This group of priests does want to remain honest to their priestly promise of celibacy and chastity. In the Catholic Church, there are examples of saints who struggled extremely hard in this regard. Some resorted to self-flagellation and others to more painful means to get rid of their temptations and urges. St. Francis of Assisi is said to hurl himself onto thorny bushes -- getting all scratched-up and bloodied! There are other priests, who fall short in this effort. They go for self-sexing (masturbation, onanism, self-abuse, auto-eroticism or whatever name you want to call it). They don't want to wait for the natural fallout. They want to finish the job immediately. They know that they violated the Church's prohibition on masturbation, but go to confession and legitimize their status. Although they act against their promise of chastity, they at least maintain their celibacy. They choose the lesser evil. Finally, there are few who can be called 'daredevils.' They go for other-sexing (sex with another person -- male or female). Child sexual abuse, raping, and consensual sex with an adult male or female fall in this category. Some of them soon realize what grave sins they have been committing against their celibacy and chastity. They go to confession and cleanse their souls and commit such sins no more. They return to the fold. From this group, there are remaining ones, although very few in number, who lose control of themselves and persist in this third act. They suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. They are incorrigibles, they are renegades, you might say. They badly need psychological and other help. What role does pornography play? Any male, whether married or unmarried, is attracted to pornography. A person may use it for self-stimulation only, another may use it both for stimulation and a prelude to sex-act on another. Those who go for child-pornography, they are extremes -- they are sick in the mind.
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• The subject of clergy sex and sex abuse needs to be a part of regular seminary training and orientation. The clergy sexuality and morality with legal repercussions and responsibility should be an integral part of the Catholic major seminary curricula throughout the world. Seminarians need proper orientation and guidance regarding this important matter. This orientation is all the more necessary now because they need to learn how to behave with common Catholics who are more aware of and alert to clergy sex abuses. This orientation is imperative because some of the priests, although not involved in any wrong-doing, are not capable of facing any question raised or comment made by any lay Catholic on clergy sex abuses. Either these priests completely avoid the questions or get very sensitive and upset. They never learned to handle the issues on this subject. This shows their immaturity and uneasiness. Seminary orientation on the subject will give confidence to future priests to face the questions of priestly sex abuse.
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• Unmarried Catholic priests do not hold monopoly of clergy sex abuse, married Protestant ministers and pastors also fall for it. The news media give the impression that the clergy sex abuse is the monopoly of the Catholic Church. It is not so. Protestant clergy and ministers have the same problem although they are married.

(Continued)

Bishop Lahey Affair and the Question of Catholic Priesthood and Celibacy -- 6

Some Observations (Contd.)

• Mother Teresa knew of unholy priests, that's why she made an earnest appeal for holy priests. Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1980 spoke to the World Synod of Catholic Bishops in Rome. The theme of the synod was "The Family." She was already aware of priestly indiscretions. That is why she told Pope John Paul II and 202 bishops present in the synod: "What I am going to say is inspired by the Holy Spirit. I'm not worthy to speak to Your Holiness and the Bishops. I've accepted the invitation to come here so that I might bring a request of the rejected people, who are lepers, poor, dying, sick, neglected and abandoned...They told me that they needed holy priests." In October of 1980, in the light of Mother Teresa talk to the synod, a spiritual retreat of several thousand priests was held in Rome where Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa were two main speakers. Addressing the priests, Mother Teresa said: "This world needs holy priests." To the priests worldwide she reiterated: "Be holy like Jesus." The priests are supposed to be holy and alter Christus (the other Christ). Why was then Mother Teresa insisting on having holy priests? It is also noteworthy that Mother Teresa later started the "Adopt-a-Priest" programme among her Missionaries of Charity nuns. Each nun was told to adopt an individual priest and pray for him and remember him in the holy Mass so that he might be more holy and worthy of Jesus Christ. Mother Teresa also founded the Corpus Christi Movement, a private association of diocesan priests approved by the Congregation of the Clergy in the Vatican, to foster priestly holiness and the spiritual renewal of the Church. Mother also said: "Pray much for priests because we need holy priests. The holier the priests are, the more holy we religious will be. Then, too, the more holy will be the families who are longing for God. If we have holy families, we will have many holy vocations."
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• The Church document insisted on dealing with clergy sex abuses secretly. In the past, bishops and priests kept clergy sexual abuse cases secret from the common Catholics as well as a government authority. Some allege that this was done according to the 1962 instruction of the Supreme and Holy Congregation of the Holy Office in the Vatican. This 39-page instruction, called Crimen Sollicitationes (the Crime of Solicitation), was addressed to "All Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, and Other Diocesan Ordinaries, 'Even of the Oriental Rite'." This document gave instructions on the manner of proceeding in cases of the crime of solicitation by priests. It told them to deal with the issues of criminal solicitation of priests secretly. Local Church authorities dealing with this matter as well as the persons who bring allegations against the clergy were to keep everything secret under "the penalty of excommunication." This is the reason why, perhaps, clergy sex abuse cases were not reported or publicized. Ordinary Catholics also dared not come forward with allegations of such abuses. Others, mostly Canon Lawyers, contend that this Vatican instruction was not intended to keep sexual abuses secret from criminal prosecution by the government. By this time it is amply proven by examples from many different countries that the secrecy on abuse cases and transfer of priests from place to place spawned repetitions of sexual misconduct and the consequences of the abuses on the victims were never given importance. The lessons learned from the past sexual clergy misconducts give urgency to the Catholic Church to come up with a completely revised and redone instruction on dealing with such cases in the future.
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• It takes years for building up one's character, but it takes minutes to ruin it. Can you imagine how all prestige, position, fame, and respect can go down the drain in a matter of minutes? That's what happened to Bishop Raymond J. Lahey at the Ottawa airport. Before submitting his passport to the border services agent there, he was considered a holy, respected and highly-placed Church official with thousands of Catholics under his jurisdiction. He had access to unlimited funds. He was considered an intellectual in the Catholic Church. Within a few minutes, everything is gone, caput! A great lesson to be learned from this event.
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(Continued)

Bishop Lahey Affair and the Question of Catholic Priesthood and Celibacy -- 5

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Retired Bishop Raymond J. Lahey of Antigonish Diocese,
Nova Scotia, arrives at an Ottawa police station to turn
himself in on October 1, 2009
Photo Courtesy: http://www.cbc.ca/

Some Observations

Instead of beating around the bush or creating a smokescreen of highfalutin theological jargon, let's come down to earth and be real with the issues involved with the Bishop Lahey affair. Let's keep our heads cool and think clearly through these issues.

• Bishop Lahey's action is both sinful and criminal. What Bishop Raymond J. Lahey did with regard to child pornography, is not only against the Catholic priesthood and the office of a bishop but also against common morality and decency. According to the teachings of the Church, such actions of his are sinful -- 'mortal sins' to be precise. Every time he offered Holy Mass in a state of mortal sin, he committed another mortal sin, although his Mass was valid for the Catholic attendants. This load of sins compounded or added on and on until he confessed his sins to another priest or bishop with proper contrition, asked his forgiveness and promised not to commit these sins again. Moreover, his sins were not forgiven until he got rid of the occasions of sin -- in this case, his child pornography materials (in print, photo or digital form). Apparently, it seems that he was in possession of some kind of child pornography. On the other hand, in the country's law, Bishop Lahey also committed a crime by possessing and downloading child pornography. For this crime, he is facing the court at present.
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• Bishop Lahey's fragile position needs a prudent response. At present, Bishop Lahey is in his most fragile and vulnerable position. This is the time he needs the most help -- psychological and otherwise. Jesus Christ came to this world for this type of people -- the sinners, persecuted, poor, marginalized and sick. He was beside them at such situations. We see in the Bible (John 7:53 - 8:11), when Pharisees and scribes brought a woman, caught in adultery, in front of Jesus and asked his opinion on what type of punishment should be meted out to her. Jesus replied that the first stone should be cast against the woman by a person who does not have any sin. All the accusers then left the place one by one -- there was none to cast the first stone at the woman. Then Jesus told the woman: "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again." We see in Luke 19:1-10 that Zacchaeus was a chief tax-collector under the ruling Romans. Although he was a Jew, other Jews considered him a thief (stealing money from his tax collection) and a lackey of the Romans. Jews used to shun him, but when Jesus found out that Zacchaeus was genuinely interested to listen to and meet with him, he went to his house and had a meal with him. In Matthew 9:9-13 we see Matthew, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, was a tax-collector. Although tax-collectors were reviled by the Jews, Jesus called Matthew to be his disciple. Matthew left everything to follow him.
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• It's proven time and again that persons of most holy office also fall into sinfulness. The problem of priestly sins is not new in the Catholic Church. Even after hands-on training for several years, Simon Peter (see Mark 14:66-72), the most trusted disciple, denied Jesus Christ at the time of his trial. Judas Iscariot (Matthew 26:14-16), another disciple, betrayed Jesus to the Roman soldiers for only 30 pieces of silver. Thomas (John 20:19-25), another disciple, did not want to believe in the resurrection of Jesus until he placed his hand in the wounds of Jesus. Christians in Rome were severely persecuted by the heathen Roman emperors. When Constantine the Great converted to Christianity in 312 A.D., he removed all the restrictions on the Catholic Church. Christianity was declared the state religion. The pope, bishops, and priests began to receive state patronage and support. The Church started to get grants of lands and other properties. With the increased flow of money and material, the sins of priests and bishops also began to escalate. Many married priests committed adultery and kept concubines. Many unmarried priests also involved themselves in fornication. Married priests and bishops also, in certain cases, gave away Church lands and properties to their own descendants. All these chaos and unpriestly activities gradually led to strict compulsory celibacy and chastity for all priests in the Latin-rite Catholic Church.

(Continued)

Bishop Lahey Affair and the Question of Catholic Priesthood and Celibacy -- 4

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The Catholic Priesthood

According to the Catholic Church teaching, Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Orders. Through this sacrament, men receive the power and grace to perform the sacred duties of deacons, priests, and bishops.

The first or highest degree of the Holy Orders is the office of the bishop (episcopate). They have the fullness of the priesthood. The second or middle degree is the office of the priest (presbyterate). The third or lowest degree is the office of the deacon (diaconate).

We will deal here with the second degree -- the presbyterate or priesthood.

Jesus Christ himself gave power to his disciples who are considered priests to offer the sacrifice of the Mass saying: "Do this in remembrance of me," (The Bible: Luke 22:19).

On his resurrection day, Jesus gave his disciples power to forgive sins by saying: "As the Father has sent me, I also send you...Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained," (The Bible: John 20:21-23)

Before his Ascension, Jesus gave his disciples the mission to preach the Gospel and to dispense the sacraments: " All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world," (The Bible: Matthew 28:18-20).

The Effects of Ordination to the Priesthood

1. An increase of sanctifying grace: The priesthood being a high calling, God gives more grace to the priest.

2. Sacramental grace: Through this, a priest gets God's help in his sacred ministry.

3. A sacramental character: Priesthood lasts forever and it is a sharing in the priesthood of Christ, and it gives supernatural powers (the power to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ in the holy sacrifice of the Mass and the power to forgive sins in the name of God in the Sacrament of Penance). Even if a priest leaves his priesthood and becomes laicized, or leaves the Catholic Church (apostacy) and joins another Christian Church or religion, or is excommunicated from the Catholic Church, he still remains a priest. He retains the power, although not the authority, of the priesthood. In case of serious accident or danger of death, if a laicized priest listens to confession and absolves sin, it becomes valid. If a laicized priest wants to return to the active ministry of priesthood, he would not need to be ordained again. With the pope's permission and completing other requirements by his bishop or other Church authority, he can do so.

Two Classes of Priests

a) Diocesan (or Secular) Priests: They belong to the diocese, whose head is the bishop. They are bound to obey the bishop. Generally, diocesan priests are in charge of parishes as 'parish priests'.

b) Religious (or Regular) Priests: These priests are members of religious orders or congregations (for example the Augustinians, Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, and the like. These priests willingly take the three evangelical vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They live in communities with other members and they are obedient to their own Superiors. These priests generally are devoted to prayer, and to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. They run schools, hospitals, orphanages, and charitable institutions. They organize missions and retreats and engage in media work (publishing newspapers, magazines and books, and producing radio and TV programmes) and other religious publicity work. The pope usually sends them as missionaries to different countries. These priests work in dioceses with the permission of the local bishops, who, for serious reasons, may also tell them to leave their dioceses and move elsewhere for work.

Dignity of Catholic Priesthood

He is a representative (or agent) of God on earth and the dispenser of his mysteries. He can call down God upon the altar and convert bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. He can absolve the sins of others in the name of God. God's angels even don't have these powers as the priests have. The priest is also called the alter Christus (another Christ).

St. John Chrysostom (De Proditione Judae 1, 6, PG49, 380C) says: "The priest, a figure of Christ, pronounces these words, but their efficacy and the grace are from God."

"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus." --St. Jean-Marie Vianney

"I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ's words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord [Jesus Christ] in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labors, their tireless and hidden service, and their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as 'friends of Christ,' who he has called by name, chosen and sent?" --Pope Benedict XVI (in his letter proclaiming a "Year for Priests", 2009)

"Without priests there could be no real Church of Christ." --Father Francis B. Cassilly, S.J.

Priesthood is Completely Voluntary

The Catholic priesthood is fully voluntary. No one is coerced to become a priest. Years of training are given in the seminary to make him appropriately knowledgeable and to form his conscience solidly so that he can distinguish between good and evil regarding Catholic faith, morality, ethics and the like. On the very day of ordination to the priesthood, the candidate is formally asked for his consent in presence of hundreds of Catholics. If at that very moment, a candidate opts out, he will not be punished.

Sources: 1. My Catholic Faith: A Catechism in Pictures by Bishop Louis LaRavoire Morrow, pp.330-337.
2. Straight Answers (Vol. II) by Father William P. Saunders, Ph.D., p.77.

Priestly Celibacy

The word celibacy means the unmarried state. It's not dogmatic teaching but only a Church law that candidates for the priesthood and already-ordained priests in the Roman Church (also called Western Church or Latin-rite Church) require to be celibate. Some of the Oriental Churches (also called Eastern-rite Churches) that are united with Rome maintaining allegiance to the pope, allow married men to receive Catholic holy orders and live with their wives after ordination. They can't marry once they are ordained a priest. Those who are priests, belonging to religious orders and taking the three evangelical vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, have to remain celibate. Bishops, in these Churches, are always selected from the unmarried priests. There is another exception for formerly-married Protestant and Anglican (also called Episcopalians in the U.S.A.) clergymen who convert to the Catholic Church and, with the pope's permission, subsequently get ordained as Catholic priests. They are allowed to remain married.

Among the reasons for celibacy are: 1) To imitate Christ, a priest is expected to be holy. Through celibacy, a priest can fully devote himself in pursuit of holiness and imitating Jesus. 2) For offering prayer and sacrifice of the Mass with a clean heart and pure mind, he must ever be ready. Celibacy helps him do it most worthily. 3) Celibacy helps him preach the Gospel by his own example and words. 4) A married priest has his heart divided between his own family and his priestly work. He could not expose his wife and children to the hardships of missionary life, and he would dread bringing contagion to them from visits to the sick. (Religion: Doctrine and Practice by Father Francis B. Cassilly, S.J., p.298)

Some Biblical quotations on celibacy: (a) Jesus Christ invites one to practise perfect chastity when he says to his disciples: "There are those who refrain from marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who can understand, understand it" (Matthew 19:12). (b) St. Paul tells the Corinthians: "Given my preference, I should like you to be as I am. Still, each one has his own gift from God, one this and another that. To those not married and to widows I have this to say: It would be well if they remain as they are, even as I do myself; but if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. It is better to marry than to be on fire," (1 Corinthians 7:7-9). (c) St. Paul further states to the Corinthians: "I should like you to be free of all worries. The unmarried man is busy with the Lord's affairs, concerned with pleasing the Lord; but the married man is busy with this world's demands and occupied with pleasing his wife. This means he is divided," (1 Corinthians 7:32).

If we look at the history of the Catholic Church, we see that most of the disciples of Jesus Christ were married, but they left everything, including their wives, to follow Jesus, who himself was a celibate. As celibacy was being accepted by some, in the early centuries of the Catholic Church, we see both married and unmarried clergy. The first legislation enacted by a local council of the Church was in Elvira of Spain in about 306 A.D. and it prohibited bishops, priests and deacons and other ministers to marry. After this, other local councils followed suit. By the 12th century, marriage in major religious orders and congregations became unlawful. The Second Lateran Council in Rome in 1139 had the first universal Church law made celibacy compulsory for all. In 1563, the Council of Trent confirmed the law and made it enforceable in the Roman Church. That practice is still in force.

Demand for Married Priests and Women Priests

After the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) brought about certain changes in the Catholic Church, many priests left the priesthood and became laicized. The number of vocations to the priesthood is also in decline, especially in the western world. More and more priests are reaching retirement age, but there is not a sufficient replacement for them by young ones. In the recent past, the clergy sex abuse scandals in the western world came to the limelight and there was widespread condemnation of it. In light of these situations, the demand for married priests is growing.

In the past several decades, the feminist movement was strong and more women were becoming aware of their rights in different spheres of life. Some women, especially nuns, have been at the forefront in their demand for women priests in the Catholic Church. Their logic is that the male-dominated Church can't keep the half of its Catholic members, who are females, inactive in the Church ministry of the priesthood. They feel that the Church would be invigorated if the women are allowed to serve as priests. They would also bolster the number of priests in the world.

In spite of all these demands and movements, the Catholic Church is still holding on to its position of celibate and all-male priests.

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Bishop Lahey Affair and the Question of Catholic Priesthood and Celibacy -- 3

Catholic Church Teaching on Pornography

The English word pornography comes from two Greek words porne (prostitute) and graphos (writing), meaning writing about prostitutes. In the present day, pornography means writing, pictures and films intended primarily for sexual arousal.

We use below excerpts from the article "What does the Church teach regarding pornography?", published in Straight Answers (Vol. II) by Father William P. Saunders, Ph.D., 2003, pp. 260-261:

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC#2337) defines pornography as "removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties."

Pornography is a billion-dollar business throughout the world. They come in the forms of written materials (articles, booklets, books, and magazines), photos, video films, movies, and television programmes.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC#2354) cites three reasons why pornography is wrong and sinful: First, pornography offends against the virtue of chastity. Each Christian is called to lead a chaste life, each Christian must respect the sanctity of his own human sexuality, which involves the integration of his physical and spiritual being. He must also respect the holy state of marriage. Pornography leads to the spiritual disintegration of the person and may lead to illicit sexual acts. Second, pornography offends the dignity of the participants (actors in photos and films, sellers of these items and the public). Each one has exploited himself or exploits others in some way for personal pleasure or gain. In all, the dignity of the human being -- whether the person posing, the person producing, the person distributing, or the person enjoying -- is debased. Finally, those who engage in pornography immerse themselves in a fantasy world, withdrawing from reality. While genuine love always involves self-giving for the good of others, pornography entices a person to withdraw into a selfish world of perverted fantasy which may later be acted out to the detriment of oneself and others. This problem has increased dramatically since the internet offers "virtual reality" sexual interaction.

Father Saunders adds that pornography may become like spiritual cancer that corrupts the person. He mentions of Dr. Victor Kline (1996) who posited four progressive effects of pornography: (1) Addiction: Viewing or reading pornography gradually leads to addiction and the person loses free control over his own behaviour. (2) Escalation: From soft pornography (depicting nudity and sexual touching), the person progressively moves on to harder pornography (portraying sexual intercourse) to attain the same level of sensation and arousal. (3) Desensitization: Then the user of pornography is no longer morally sensitive to the shocking, illegal, repulsive, perverted, or immoral quality of the material, but instead views it as acceptable and begins to look upon others as objects. (4) Acting Out: Finally, the person's fantasizing becomes overt or no-more-hidden behaviour. He acts out his fantasy in real life.

To know more about the Church's teaching on pornography, visit Pornography and Violence in the Communication Media.

The Latest on Bishop Lahey Affair

The CBC reports that, on September 15, 2009, when Bishop Lahey landed in Ottawa airport, border services agent Venessa Fairey inspected his passport at her counter. She noticed from his passport that the bishop had made several trips to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Spain, and Germany since 2005. These countries have international notoriety for facilitating and producing child pornography.

The agent then asked the bishop if he had any lap-top computer, but he hesitated before replying "Yes." Then the bishop was flagged for a second inspection for the following reasons: 1) He was a male travelling alone; 2) He had travelled extensively to source countries for child pornography; 3) He had evasive responses to questions pertaining to his possession of electronic media; 4) There were changes in his vocal tone during specific questions. 5) He avoided eye contact during specific questions.

On inspection of the computer, a second border services agent, viewed three images on Bishop Lahey's computer and arrested him for smuggling prohibited material into Canada. During a later interview with an Ottawa police officer, Lahey said he was attracted to males aged 20 to 21.

Since, at the time, the officers could not determine the ages of the males in the images, the bishop was released unconditionally, but his electronic devices were seized. Later another search revealed five more sexually explicit images, which featured males aged eight to 10 years old. Then the police obtained a search warrant for Bishop Lahey's laptop, four memory sticks, three memory cards, two cellphones and a portable hand-held device.

On September 25, he was charged with possessing and importing child pornography and on next day he announced his resignation as the bishop of Antigonish. He turned himself to Ottawa police on October 1 and was released on $9,000 bail the same day. His next court appearance is on November 4.

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