As many of you know, the college football world is currently being rocked by scandal. Coach Joe Paterno of Penn State’s football program has been sacked after allegations of covering up an alleged child molester. The public has almost unanimously approved of the firing, saying that it is morally reprehensible to protect somebody who takes advantage of children. Whilst Paterno did nothing criminally or legally wrong, morally his actions were unforgivable, and I agree that he should have been fired. It sends a message to other people who were thinking about putting the “brand” of a college over the life and mental health of a child. But there is a problem to this logic. There’s a sort of elephant in the room that we all seem to be overlooking. Yes, Paterno should have been sacked for covering up the case of one child molester. But what of a man who has covered up the cases of dozens, maybe even hundreds of child molesters? Surely he, too, should be sacked after a public outcry against his morally wrong actions? Sadly, I am here to report that this is not the case.
The man in question is Pope Benedict XVI. He has helped cover up dozens of priests who have sexually abused small children across the globe. It took him until 2010 to finally put out a policy in the Vatican that priests should report when other priests sexually abuse children, but only if it is the law. In essence, if it is not the law to report sexual abuse, a priest should not do it. Better to deal with the priest inside the Vatican and simply move him to another church than hand him over to the secular authorities. As of writing, the Catholic Church still has no zero-tolerance policy on child abuse. If a child is abused in a country where child abuse isn’t against the law, it’s a non-issue in the Church’s eyes.
So I ask you, why should a religious leader get any different treatment than the coach of a football team? Both have consciously kept mute about child abuse cases (one many more times than the other), yet only one has been sacked whilst the other is revered by almost a billion people worldwide. Please, if somebody could explain to me why this is right and just, I would be eternally grateful.
