The 56-year-old mother of nine, who is a member of Holy Family parish near Newark and president of Catholic Scholars of Delaware, sees the anguish from many angles.

Rae Stabosz is president of Catholic Scholars of Delaware. News Journal file / Suchat Pederson

She has a friend who is a priest and was relieved of his ministry for one charge. She has other friends who have been victims of sexual harassment and sexual abuse. Other friends are ministering faithfully -- day in, day out.

"I know priests that I respect very much, and I've seen the absolute pain on these poor guys who now are made the subject of ridicule and jokes," Stabosz said. "And listening to my friend, I understand what it was like for anybody who was victimized. For anyone who was victimized by a person who ought to be above suspicion, it's just horrible."

It's horrible for all Catholics, she said.

"You cannot be Catholic and escape the swirl of emotions around the scandals -- no matter whether you're a faithful Catholic or not," she said.

Some see the continuing series of allegations, revelations and press coverage as evidence of anti-Catholic sentiment. Though other professions and faiths have incidents of scandal, they are not reported the same way, said S. Allen Wolf, a deacon at Holy Rosary parish in Claymont.

"A lot of papers -- especially Gannett [which owns The News Journal] -- put it on the front page," he said. "Let it be another minister, and it goes on page two, three, four or five. We're not saying it shouldn't be reported. We're saying be fair about it."

W. Edwin Cole Jr., president of the parish council at Immaculate Conception Church in Elkton, Md., said the scrutiny is reasonable.

"The church has taken the brunt of it because priests are supposed to be celibate and are held to a higher standard," he said. "Because they're held to a higher standard, because the following of the Catholic Church is so strong, it has put more light on it, and rightfully so."

'Here we go again'

When the scandal first broke nationally in 2002, the reaction among priests was, "What are people going to think?" said the Rev. John P. Hopkins, pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland parish in Glasgow and executive officer of the Priests' Council in the Diocese of Wilmington.

As revelations unfold -- as they have again this year in Wilmington, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Hartford, Conn., and elsewhere -- the response has changed to, "Here we go again," Hopkins said.

Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli and Vicar General Monsignor J. Thomas Cini declined to be interviewed for this article. And most priests in the Wilmington diocese did not return phone calls. St. Mark's High School officials refused to allow a theology and social studies teacher to discuss the impact of the issue on her work.

Cole does not believe silence is the proper approach for the church to take. "I feel in a lot of cases, they have taken the attitude, 'If we don't talk about it, it goes away,' " he said.

While he understands that the diocese has installed new policies and regulations for youth ministry, Cole does not believe officials have followed through sufficiently. "The church has to be held accountable," Cole said. "It has to set the highest standards and see that they're followed through on."

Much work has been done behind the scenes, Hopkins said, and priests have addressed the issue from the pulpit.

"You don't ignore it, but you continue to build on the good things," Hopkins said. "I think the majority of priests in this diocese really feel that." He said the church's understanding of abuse has changed for the better, and notes that many of the offenses took place decades ago.

4 percent accused

A recent study commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and done by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that 109,694 priests served between 1950 and 2002. In that time, 4,392 clergymen -- about 4 percent -- were accused of abusing 10,667 minors.

About 75 percent of the abuses occurred between 1960 and 1984, the report said, and Wolf said some of the criticism of the church also comes from a misunderstanding of the times. Many then believed a man could be treated successfully for pedophilia and returned to ministry, he said. They know better now, he said, and changes have been made in how such allegations are handled.

Stabosz said her faith has not been shaken by the scandals. The way she sees it, even Jesus Christ had a deadly betrayer -- Judas -- among his 12 hand-picked disciples.

Why should the church -- or any institution -- consider itself immune?

"The church has always been and always will be a church of sinners," she said. "Judas betrayed the Lord, but Peter said, 'No, I don't know this guy. I have no idea who he is.' That's our first pope. From the very beginning, we've had ecclesiastical scandals."

Contact Beth Miller at 324-2784 or bmiller@delawareonline.com.