In Texas, a Roman Catholic priest named John Fala has been arrested on charges that he solicited a hit man to kill a teenager who had accused him of sexual abuse. He had negotiated a price of $5000 for the murder before he was arrested.
Who do we trust, America? Who can we trust?
Ethics Alarms 
Jack,
Luckily, cases like this are the exception, not the rule. Statistically, the number of priests charged with inappropriate conduct is WELL below the national average of men as a whole and cases of further violence are even fewer still. When it does happen, however, even this holds little comfort ..
-Neil
Neil…indeed, I’m not arguing otherwise. Still, the fact that even one priest could behave like this takes a big chunk of trust and respect away from the Church, just as even one U.S. President lying under oath undermines trust in the Presidency, Hence the post’s title.
It is hard not to think that there is something systematically wrong when you look at the worldwide picture, though.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10407559
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/10/belgium-child-abuse-catholic-church
There is undeniably something systemically wrong, and good reason to believe the problem is worse that the data we have so far shows. The clergy clearly attracts a disproportionate number of pedophiles and sexual predators, and the Church has a warped tendency to protect them and the institution rather than the victims and the tenets the Church stands for. A least a hit-man/ molester gives the monsters in collars the “it’s not the worst thing” rationalization to use: “We’re bad, but come on…we’re not as bad as THIS guy!”
I worked at a renowned Jesuit institution for many years, and left with the conviction that the corruption, dishonesty and hypocrisy in the Church was so thick you’d need a buzz saw to cut it. But as Alexandra keep telling me: who am I to judge, unless I walk in the child molesters’ shoes? Ewwww.