Another Priest Scandal - Father Was A Terrorist

The past year had been designated by Pope Benedict XVI as the “Year of the Priest,” an opportunity to celebrate the service provided by the thousands of dedicated men to the global Church. Unfortunately, it has been the year that the clergy sexual abuse scandal was revealed to be happening in Ireland, and Europe. Now the British press, including the BBC, has been reporting that one of the suspected IRA planners of the 1972 Claudy bombing, one of the worst acts of terror during Northern Ireland’s Troubles; was a Catholic priest. Not only that, but a government investigation also revealed that the British officials of that time, with Catholic Church officials hushed the matter up, and transferred the priest, Father James Chesney, to the Republic of Ireland. He would die there in 1980.

Now there have been cases throughout history, where priests have been more warriors than shepherds of their churches, but that a priest could be involved in act of terror is mind boggling. And the story of Father Chesney is another scandal that the priesthood and the Church could have done without.

Reporting on the Church Scandal

The clergy sexual abuse scandal is once more being reported through newspapers, radio, television and the Web. Only this time, it involves Catholic clergy in Ireland and Europe. The New York Times has been publishing stories that brings into question Pope Benedict’s knowledge of the abuse, as an Archbishop, a Cardinal in the Vatican, and as Pope; and his failure to act on that knowledge. John Allen, on the National Catholic Reporter Website, has been offering clarifications on the story, that all should keep in mind. In America magazine, Web columnist, Michael Sean Winters, blasted the New York Times for inaccuracies in their reporting.

After reading all this, and listening to radio and television interviews of Allen and Father Thomas Reese, SJ, I suddenly realize that there is a difference in the reporting of these current scandals, compared to the reporting of the American Church scandals. Back then, some of the newspapers, the Boston Globe in particular, had religion reporters who could provide context and deep background. They were religion literate, who knew their subject and could get beneath the surface of a story. Now, most news outlets no longer have such reporters on their staff, and you can tell this in some of the reporting.

This means that those of us who are concerned about the Church, need to look at the reports that have come out, and will come out; with open eyes and minds.