Earlier this month yet another Catholic Church sex scandal made the headlines. This time it concerned Bishop Raymond Lahey.

Now, as many would expect, the crime has to do with the abuse of children. He stands accused of possessing and importing child pornography.

This man’s actions have understandably shattered the realities of many parishioners and, therefore, Lahey should be subject to criticism for his deceit. But by no means should he face accusations that he is a fatal blow to the Catholic Church, although this is what many writers in the media would like you to believe.

Personally, I practiced the faith until the age of 17. I find that the church has many problems, but almost all can be traced to the core of the institution. So when headlines like, “Lahey scandal: huge blow to Church credibility,” are popping up on major news outlets, perhaps a reality check is in order.

Let’s address the major themes of the issue first to get a reality check.

We have another priest committing a sexual crime. We have the media calling him a monster and telling Catholics to be angry and disgusted. We have a 2000-year-old institution. We have the essence of Christianity: Forgiveness. And we have pop culture and Catholic priest sex jokes.

There are a few points to make out of all this. Although the man has disappointed and disgusted many, he is not cutting the Vatican’s Achilles tendon of support. Lahey’s transgressions will not dent the majority’s perception of the church’s reputation. As an ancient religious institution, it doesn’t take a singular blow to fatally damage its reputation. It does, however, have to deal with the gradation of events and societal reactions that weather away at its image. This erosion has been eating away at the church’s ability to gain new members for a long time, especially in the Western world.

Continuing on, let’s consider the calls for justice and reality. There seems to be a lot of demand for justice for priests like Lahey; that somehow, by getting them the punishment they deserve, priests will realize they shouldn’t be looking at naked boys anymore. But isn’t that thirst for revenge the dead end Catholics keep hitting with the recurring issue of child sexual abuse in the priesthood?

One influential writer proclaimed that every “right-thinking” Catholic “should be furious at what’s happened to the institution that guides and nourishes their faith.” But isn’t that a useless point to make? Isn’t a “right-thinking” Catholic supposed to forgive and work to better what has been impaired?

Isn’t a right-thinking Catholic supposed to look past the easiest reaction and commit to the ideal of peace to strengthen bridges?

I was always taught that it’s easy to go to church every Sunday, but it’s hard to stay on course when you have to use what you were taught. Catholics should use this incident as leverage to bring about socially progressive changes to the institution and to bring about alterations to policy that address the “why” of the problem. Why do priests look at child porn? Why do priests abuse little boys?

Reactionary measures will only end up being a call for Big Brother to make sure priests don’t look at child porn.

Instead, the answer must be widespread progressive change to the dogmatic institutionalized rules of the Catholic Church. So let priests marry. Let women be priests. Let priests be allowed sexual expression. Let what is beautiful be accepted.

Matt Austman is a politics student at the University of Winnipeg.

Published in Volume 64, Number 8 of The Uniter (October 22, 2009)