For O.C.’s Sinners, a New Idea: Penance

It’s vital to our democracy that church and state remain separate -- except on bingo nights.

That’s what I thought before reading that 16 Roman Catholic priests in Orange County are beginning acts of public penance to show contrition for the misdeeds of other priests.

They hope their shows of remorse to sexual-abuse victims around the country will spread to other parishes.

You talk about reviving a great tradition.

Suddenly, whole new opportunities arise for wayward public figures who want to replenish their souls.

The Roman Catholic Church thought of penance hundreds of years ago; why didn’t government? The best it could come up with were jail and fines and the occasional flogging.

The priests have it right. They announced last week a series of acts of self-sacrifice and service designed to humble themselves.

Included on the list are doing janitorial work at schools, going without their cars for a while, or giving their clothes to charity.

Oh, if only public officials who stray would get the sacramental urge. I realize that “humble themselves” and “public officials” are disharmonious, but imagine how good their penitential deeds would make the rest of us feel, if not themselves.

Just nine days ago, former Seal Beach Councilman Shawn Boyd was fined, put on probation for a conflict-of-interest charge and barred from ever running for office.

Appropriate punishment, but how about some penance? Since he wronged the city, why not volunteer to clean the unsightly pigeon excrement from every public building in Seal Beach over the next few months?

Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas was chastised by the Orange County grand jury for vindictively targeting political opponents. If Rackauckas agreed to fix each of them a meal this week, finish their Christmas shopping for them and take down their trees, it’d be steps in the right direction.

In the old days, before it fell out of favor among sinners, penance included such things as fasting, public humiliation and the wearing of sackcloth. If only former Congressman Bob Dornan had considered penance for his multitudinous attacks on our sensibilities -- how a month of silence from him at any point during his tenure would have made this a better place.

Or, take actress Tawny Kitaen. Please. She agreed to enter a spousal-battery program after making mincemeat of her husband, former Angels pitcher Chuck Finley. While wearing sackcloth would be great penance for the clotheshorse Kitaen, she could perform no greater public service than agreeing never to act again. As for Finley, well, he’s been humiliated enough.

Former Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer must consult his conscience and ask if he wronged anyone by abruptly resigning from the board last month, leaving at least one would-be candidate out in the cold. If the answer is yes, Spitzer -- a lawyer -- might want to provide pro bono legal advice to an organization.

I’d suggest the Airport Working Group.

Not to be negative, but I doubt any of these people will become penitents. Or, at least, not very convincing ones. For starters, you must truly think you’ve erred, and I doubt any of them do.

Where’s the Council of Trent when you need it?

That august body declared in 1551 that “as a means of regaining grace and justice, penance was at all times necessary for those who had defiled their souls with any mortal sin.”

These folks’ sins don’t rise to mortal status, but would it kill any of them to repent? Failing that, how about a good flogging?

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.