Op-Ed; It's a long journey back to trustworthy

THOMAS M. KEANE JR.
771 words
18 January 2002
Boston Herald
All Editions
023
English
(Copyright 2002)

Here's a story bound to provoke a few smirks.

In the summer of 1970, five boys, three not even in high school, piled into a car and set off for a three-week tour around the country. The driver was the Rev. Donald Sullivan, and the ostensible purpose of the trip was to visit the clergyman's former parish in Oregon.

The real purpose was to open the eyes of five kids to the world. There were no chaperones. They rode in an aging Ford Falcon, three in front and three in back, with no seat belts and no air conditioning. With almost no money to speak of, they stayed in rectories along the way, usually in sleeping bags on the floor.

I was one of those boys.

It was the first time I saw the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore and Disneyland. It was the first - and last - time I shot a gun. I traveled through the Mojave Desert and visited an Indian reservation. Underage, I surreptitiously put a nickel in a slot machine in Sparks, Nev., getting two coins back.

A cloistered New Englander, I marveled at seemingly simple things such as raised lane markers on the highway, something possible only in southern states that never worry about plowing snow.

Consider that trip in the context of today's headlines. John Geoghan, for 31 years a priest until he was defrocked in 1998, stands accused of molesting 130 children.

It is true, as they say, that the church is more than one individual. Yet, if so, why does my trip with Father Sullivan today seem so inconceivable? Why do some now mock priests, whispering about them as they pass? Why are we disturbed at the notion of allowing a boy or girl to be alone with a priest?

In most circumstances, we understand that evil is an individual act. The murder convictions of Drs. Richard Sharpe and Dirk Greineder do not make me fear my own doctor.

Not in this case, however. Geoghan's actions have brought disgrace upon the entire priesthood. But that's not Geoghan's doing alone. As culpable, if not more so, are those who tolerated him.

The evidence coming out now makes it increasingly clear that those in authority within the archdiocese, from Bernard Cardinal Law on down, knew of Geoghan's depredations. Rather than notifying the police, they attempted to hide the problem.

Treating his alleged rapes of children as aberrations rather than crimes, they went to doctors to get Geoghan cured. Instead of confronting ugly truths in the parishes in which he served, they moved him from place to place, hoping the past would never catch up.

By its actions - and inactions - the archdiocese not only allowed Geoghan to harm others, but it also caused much harm to the entire church and, in particular, to the priesthood.

Priests were once the pillars of their community. Now those bonds of trust, built up over decades, if not centuries, have been severely damaged. The moral? When we tolerate crime, more than just the victims are hurt.

That is something cities have learned well over the last decade. The attitude once was that urban crime was inevitable. Visitors to large cities, including Boston, would bring along with them something they called "mugger money" - cash to be handed out to robbers.

The effect was pernicious. People stayed away, residents moved out and communities collapsed into decay.

To be sure, those who robbed were clearly the criminals. Yet, those who tolerated the robberies, who ignored them, were complicit as well - and in a more far-reaching way.

Tolerance is not always a virtue, a truth cities now know and the Catholic church is just beginning to understand. Sure, tolerance may be a great thing when it comes to matters of ethnicity, religion or race. But when it comes to public safety, the opposite is true: Crimes beget crimes. By doing nothing, by tolerating evil and hiding it under a veil of secrecy, we create an environment of distrust, one in which people fear the worst.

The archdiocese now finds itself in that circumstance.

Three decades ago, Father Sullivan's act of kindness gave five boys a dream trip that remains etched in their memories. The shame of the church's actions with Father Geoghan is that today such kindnesses are suspect. Now, we fear the worst.

Tom Keane can be reached at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.

Caption: JOHN GEOGHAN: Archdiocese let a sinful priest take it down the wrong road.

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