Priest Scandal Could Set History in Motion

Will every one of the 195 Catholic diocese in the United States be tainted by the priest-pedophilia scandal? Probably. Will investigators, prosecutors and trial lawyers pick through every new and old allegation? Absolutely. Will more priests end up in jail? Obviously. And will huge financial settlements push the American church toward bankruptcy? Quite possibly.

A huge historical wheel is turning. The Catholic Church in the United States, which created its first diocese in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1565, is going to be transformed; call it the Episcopalianization of the Roman Church.

What does that mean? In 1534, Henry VIII of England, furious at the pope for refusing to grant him a divorce, took control of the Catholic Church in his kingdom; he named himself “supreme head on Earth of the Church of England.” That was anathema, literally.

The organizational essence of the church is that all believers follow the guidance of the bishop of Rome, who, in the words of the Dogmatic Constitution, is recognized as “the perpetual and visible source of and foundation of the unity of the bishops and the multitude of the faithful.”

So Pope Clement VII excommunicated Henry, and a minor civil war swept across England for the next two decades.

Of course, other issues were involved, too. All across 16th-century Northern Europe, a backlash had been building against the corruption, arrogance and, yes, sexual abuses of the church.

Alexander VI, pope from 1492 to 1503, flaunted his four children. In Germany, a defrocked priest, Martin Luther, had already given voice to what would become known as the Reformation.

And so back in England, King Henry had plenty of support for his oftentimes ruthless anti-Catholic campaign, in which monasteries were burned, church lands were seized and dissenters such as Sir Thomas More were executed.

It was a triumph for civil authority; the new Church of England, which Henry called “reformed,” was in fact totally subservient to the British nation-state.

And to this day, the formal title for the monarch of Britain includes defender of the faith--as in defender of the Church of England against a Catholic comeback.

Episcopalians, of course, are the American cousins to the Church of England. And while Episcopalians here are theoretically spiritually subordinate to the archbishop of Canterbury, England, as a practical matter, the prelate has minimal authority; American Episcopalians run their own church.

Which has not been true for American Catholics, who have built up a vast network of churches, schools and other institutions, all of which are run from Rome.

That’s not to say that American Catholics have had no domestic power; indeed, they have been numerous enough--and certainly politically potent enough--to create a bureaucratic and dogmatic structure that could maintain a distinct Catholic identity amid waves of modernism, sectarianism and ecumenicalism.

But if Catholics have benefited from the upside of hulking institutional power, they’re now discovering the downside, which is that nontransparent, nonaccountable institutions are subject to the most vile kinds of corruption.

And it has been the inability, or unwillingness, of the church to deal with pedophilia over the last few decades that has led to the current crisis. In the 21st century, as was the case in the 16th century, if the keepers of an institution can’t respond adequately or adroitly to outside pressure, eventually the outsiders will step in and do the job themselves.

When the foul smoke of this scandal clears, the American Catholic Church will have less prestige, less wealth and, most profoundly, less autonomy.

People joke about cameras in every confessional and rectory, but the unfunny future reality won’t be much different from that. Just as corrupt unions and bankrupt companies get special masters to supervise the cleanup, so the church will have state-designated overseers.

But what of other proposed changes within the church, such as the ordaining of women or allowing married priests?

Here’s a prediction: In the wake of the years, maybe even decades, of legal-criminal-doctrinal convulsions to come, all those ideas will be tested on American soil.

And what will happen then? Will a new round of confrontation, and possibly schism, come between English speakers and the infallible bishop of Rome?

Maybe. That’s how Protestantism, including the Episcopalian Church, got its start 500 years ago.

*

James P. Pinkerton writes a column for Newsday in New York. E-mail: pinkerto@ix.netcom.com.