by Sharon Jenson

Created on: March 17, 2009

Unfortunately, the Catholic Church is one of many religious organizations choosing to abuse religious power and privacy. Although their reasons vary, I have read and researched the Catholic religion specifically due to the fact that I am a Catholic myself, although not currently practicing. My findings are shocking.

Most troubling is the church using lawyers to protect them from having to comply with search warrants in an effort to gain information regarding child sexual abuse charges. Protecting clergy who repeatedly abuse children is a disgrace and should be against the law, no matter who you are or what religion you belong to. This type of abuse is so extreme and damaging on many levels. It is for this reason alone that all Paperwork, financial or otherwise, should be subject to audit, review, and available to law enforcement. Not just for Catholic, but any other religious organization. Just because you have the freedom to religion in our Constitution, I am quite sure our founding fathers did not intend for this to allow for improper or unethical handling of church funds, protecting and hiding clergy who repeatedly abuse children, or anything else that is considered criminal and against the law for every other business, organization, and human being.

We as Americans have already learned, especially recently, how it affects us all when such large organizations or corporations commit crimes with money. We the people must pay for the greed and selfishness of others. No one has mentioned that this is not a Christian way to behave.

But more troubling is the lack of protection for many children in churches all over the world. Recently, Catholic bishops in Ireland agreed to sign a child protection commitment. Shouldn't that be a natural, assumed protection within the church? The attending Catholics of any parish trust their priest, and most certainly their bishop, sometimes more than anyone else in their lives. Should they feel better or worse now that the bishops have signed such a commitment that should be an assumed virtue of clergy. If you cannot trust your religious leader, who can you trust to have strong moral ethics and values that they preach!

I urge Catholics never to see this as an invasion of privacy or even against the constitutional rights of the church. Trust that a second set of eyes having no relation to the church will only keep them honest. This is an example; setting a precedence that all religious organizations should note. Fraud, molestation, and the like are not acceptable for anyone. These are things against the law and anyone who commits these acts should be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There are many more CE-Os on and around Wall Street that should face prosecution for the financial strain they have placed on this country. Just as anyone who violates the trust and bodies of children have left broken hearts and spirits that cannot be repaired. The pain and mental anguish the children and their families suffer cannot be measured or imagined. This too strains all of society but in a different, more emotional manner.

Whether you run the corner deli or a large, wealthy religious organization, you should be subject to investigation, audit, and search warrants by our government and law enforcement. There are reasons that regulation is necessary and if the current financial situation we are in has taught us anything, no one should ever complain about it!

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