Justice ... Some Food for Thought

A letter written to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace:

Hello,

I offer this letter to you as some food for thought.

I am a convert to the Catholic Faith. My conversion was in the summer of 1988 and I was welcomed to the Catholic Family at the Easter Vigil of 1989.

I come from a background of no faith, and many forms of being abused by my biological parents as well as many others.

Jesus has taught me the meaning of Justice and fairness. He has brought priests and lay people into my life that helped to develop my sense of Justice.

I see that our Church is very much on the forefront of Justice for the Poor, the helpless, the Unborn, and others.

However, there is currently a situation of injustice at the hands of one bishop towards his priests in a diocese here in Canada. One of the priests affected by this is someone very instrumental in bringing me closer to Christ, and is the key to the healing of my person.

I trust him implicitly and explicitly with myself, and with my young family.

He is not capable of doing what he has been accused of. His bishop has not given him any form of due process canonically or civilly. I ask you, is this Just?

I do not believe so, and it is a cause of great scandal to me to see the pain and anguish an innocent priest is being put through by his Bishop.

I realize that you may not have anything to do with this process, as I believe it is the C.D.F. that takes care of these things.

However, I still need you to understand that there is something happening right now in our own Church, the false accusation of priests, their faculties removed, and then their being laicized without due process that is a cause of great scandal to those of us who know these priests.

It breaks my heart.

Peace to you in Jesus and Mary,

J.

We speak metaphorically about pendulums when we look at many things. It swings one way, then back the other way, eventually settling down in the centre. When it comes to justice for our priests, the pendulum has swung very far in the other direction.

The current "justice" system's application when a priest is "accused" by certain members of the episcopate is cruel and unjust. Period. Having to minister in an environment where one false whisper can trap a priest in this situation is unjust. Imagine living with that kind of pressure in your day job. How many of us would keep it?

I do hope and pray that we are better able to deal justly with those accused, and with those who level the accusations. I do hope that we can better facilitate the healing and forgiveness that is needed to mend this terrible wound on the Heart of our Mother the Church, Her priests.

Pax vobis (Peace be with you)

J.E.