Mainers react to church abuse policy Parishioners differ on ‘zero tolerance,’ effects of allowing married priests

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MADAWASKA – The St. John Valley has been close to the problem of priests and sexual abuse plaguing the Roman Catholic Church in the last few months. Two area priests were removed from their parishes over revelations of sexual abuse of minors.

For many in this part of the state, the problem has become personal.

Several people approached this weekend would not talk about the most recent removal of a priest in Maine for sexual abuse. The Rev. Leo James Michaud, a native of nearby St. Agatha, was removed from the St. Joseph parish in Ellsworth on Thursday.

Some here have followed the unfolding scandal closely and hoped last week’s meeting between U.S. cardinals and the pope in Rome would bring answers. The outcome of the meetings surprised few.

Some believe the cardinals did very little except agree that priests who abuse children should be removed. One local man thought the clerics acted like politicians.

“It looks to me like it was more of a cover-up than anything else,” said Bernard Michaud of Frenchville. “They didn’t do anything except reinforce what some bishops have already done.”

Michaud was referring to a zero tolerance policy, like the one adopted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which is headed by Bishop Joseph Gerry. Michaud is afraid the policy could open up a witch hunt on priests.

Kevin Lavoie, a member of the parish council in Frenchville-St. Agatha and Sinclair, where the Rev. Michael Doucette was removed last month, said the cardinals “seem to be standing on the side of caution, removing the offending priests. It’s already the policy in our diocese.”

Eldon Paradis of Madawaska said, “Most of it went the way I was hoping,” referring to last month’s removal of the Rev. John Audibert. “Cardinal [Bernard] Law will not resign, but he may change places.”

Law leads the nation’s fourth-largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, in Boston.

“Zero tolerance is a good idea,” Paradis said. “It should have been in place years ago.”

The three men also had varied opinions on the nature of the priesthood.

Michaud doesn’t believe that allowing priests to marry or ordaining women will remove the problems the church is experiencing. He said other denominations have gone through the sexual abuse problem, yet their ministers can marry, and some have female pastors.

At least one expert on sexual abuse of minors has said the evidence suggests there is no relationship between mandatory celibacy and sexual abuse of minors. Instead, key predictors of pedophilia tend to be isolation and lack of accountability – elements in place in many of Maine’s churches.

Unlike Michaud, Lavoie favors allowing priests to marry. And he’s not sure that would have diminished the problem the church is facing.

“It could also bring the church other problems,” he said. “Like what to do if the married priest divorces. Every coin has two sides.”

He looks at other denominations that allow ministers to marry. He said if it works for them, why not for Catholics?

Like many people, Lavoie thinks married priests could have a different outlook on problems facing married couples. “They could share their own lives in counseling,” Lavoie said. “I think it would be positive for the church.”

While Paradis thinks married priests may not be the solution to the problems of the church, he said marriage might make them understand some situations better.

“The solution to the problems of the church is normal morality,” Paradis said. “Some things are wrong and should not be done.”

“The church has been harmed by its own people who walked away,” Michaud said. “A big door has been opened and it will be hard to close.”

Michaud said the way the church handled sexual abuse cases in the past was wrong. But he believes the church must put its problems behind it and move on.

“I am not as upset as I was a few weeks ago, but I am still somewhat upset,” said Paradis. “What I was most upset at was that the bishop said he would listen to us and then ignored what we said.”

Bishop Gerry sought the views of parishioners after Audibert and Doucette told their congregations about their episodes of abuse. The parish councils had recommended they be allowed to retain their posts, but Gerry removed the priests from their ministries.

“People need to understand that we did not want to keep the priests because we condone child abuse,” Paradis said. “They were counseled for what they had done, and they were doing good work as pastors.

“For many of us it was like losing a son or father to an auto accident,” he said.

“The problems of the church are complicated, and I don’t know what the solution is,” Michaud said. “It’s a sure thing that the church needs to think before they act.”

Lavoie, however, is optimistic.

“I don’t know where it will go, but from this point it can only go up,” he said.