In Theory:

Pope Benedict XVI is under increasing pressure to directly address the sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church worldwide. Questions have been raised about the actions of Benedict while he was archbishop of Munich. The latest reports from Europe are from Italy, where three men say they were abused as boys at a Catholic school for the deaf. “To the Point,” a news program on KCRW-FM (89.9), posed these questions: Is this a smear campaign, as the Vatican claims, or is it time for the pope to explain his actions, in the interests of restoring his dwindling credibility?

What do you think?

The pope should most especially be a protector of children’s innocence. But more to the point, the pope, and the church, in all its denominations, needs a far greater understanding of the dangerous ground that clergy live on, where some boundaries are lifted and others are blurred, and the rules are far too fluid. We don’t understand half of what we’re up against, but it’s time we try harder to do so.

The moment that I suddenly understood the nature of the sexual abuse epidemic in the church — the whole church, not just the Catholic Church — was when I was in seminary, learning how to do hospital visits and other pastoral counseling. Our class of wannabe ministers was complaining to our teacher about how difficult it is to walk into the room of a total stranger and ask deeply personal questions about the inner workings of their soul. The teacher said something like: “Yes, but that’s your job now. The boundary lines of socially acceptable conversation have shifted for you; you are now an official crosser of boundaries.”

Holy crap, I thought, no wonder priests lose their way. “An official crosser of boundaries”?! That’s just asking for trouble.

And here’s another thing: In the Episcopal Church, where most of the clergy misconduct in the church is with adults, clergy training programs in Sexual Misconduct Prevention focus on issues of power. It’s not fair, they say, to use your leadership role as pastor to take advantage of people in their weakest moments, or trick them when their guard is down, assuming their safety with you.