For The Good Of His Holy Church

If the phrase sounds familiar, it's because you've heard it at Mass. You know those long stretches where the priest runs through the litany of saints and he's praying like mad up there at the altar and you're trying not to doze.

At every Mass, the Catholics pray for the good of the Church. Little did they ever guess how far their Church leaders would go to ensure that goodness.

This is no left wing conspiracy. A letter has come out, typed up in perfect Latin by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. In plain words, he states that he isn't going to rush right out and defrock a pedophile priest.

Why not?

He had to consider what was best for the good of the Church.

What's best for the abused children? Well, what ever is best for the Church, of course. If it's deemed ideal to swear the victims to secrecy, to shuttle the offending priest from parish to parish and not warn anyone he's coming, then that's the approach to take.

All those years that passed between Father Kiesle's sentencing in an Oakland, California, court and the Vatican's decision to strip the man of his collar, why, that time was needed to reflect and decide how best to react. Wouldn't want to upset the parishioners, after all. Some rash act, like coming down on the priest with fury, might make people turn away from their Church in horror.

Pity that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger didn't think to poll a group of mothers, to get their opinion. He might have learned that covering up the abuse of children by trusted clerics is considered a worse sin than kicking a convicted pedophile to the curb. Taking quick action to separate abuser and victim would have been a plus, actually. A bunch of old men, noses in prayer books, wouldn't understand such an attitude.

By stalling from 1978, when the crime was prosecuted, until 1987 when the priest was defrocked, the current Pope managed to do the wrong thing while seeking the right path. He needed all those years to figure out what approach was best, for the good of the Church.

And in all that time, he managed to inflict more damage on a Church already crumbling because that which was hidden was revealed, and the faithful were horrified by the Vatican's concern for its image.

So when you're half-listening to the Mass, and the priest makes mention of the good of the holy Church, you might want to insert your own prayer and ask God to look out for the members of the Church. Protect them from their clueless leaders for they know not what they do.