Joe Cahill, I don't mind using his real name, was an ass. Perhaps he had positive characteristics but I hadn't known any. Before I knew what a Republican was, I knew that he was a Republican. It was just after the election of John F. Kennedy and every day produced a tirade against Kennedy. He tried to teach us world history, perhaps tried as best he could, but he wasn't very good. "You throw shit against the wall and usually some of it stickes." He used to say. "But with you, guys, none of it stickes." I suppose I do remember something from that class. Perhaps his better qualities were in University administration because he became the President of St. John's University in Jamiaca, New York.
Joe Marin taught us Latin- kind, young and handsome. He would come into the class with his Latin book, open it up and actually get excited about Caesar's Gallic Wars. He loved giving us the Latin words for all of the war munitions of the Roman army and talking Roman strategy and famous battles. Even though I found Latin very difficult, I enjoyed is relaxed manner and easy laugh. Here was a priest who like people and young people in specific. The difficulty would come when he gave us a test. The Monday after the test he would walk in truely crestfallen. He would sit down at his desk and put both hands over his face. He was very quiet. Then he would slowly rub his face up and down slowly, then a few groans. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong," he would say. Then he would repeat it several times. Then he would pull out the test papers. It was an effective teaching technique. We felt so bad for disappointing him that we actually tried a little harder next time.
I was on the Internet yesterday looking for a photo of Joe Cahill for this blog. One would think that the former President of St. John's University would have a photo on the Internet. He died several years ago, but it appears that he left without a trace. But I accidentally came across a disturbing website. It was a database of priests who had been accused of sexual misconduct. Fortunately Joe Cahill had not, but there were thousands of priests and some had photos as well as links to the news stories as well as a summary of their crimes or alledged crimes.
Since I had know so many Vincentian priests I decided to search the database for priests that I had known. At first when I seached "Vincentian" alphabetically, most of the priest that I came up with were from the west coast. But then I came up with someone I knew. I will not relate his crime. He was a year or so ahead of me in the seminary. The most shocking thing for me was that an event placed him higher than most others in my opinion.
I left the seminary in my Senior year of university. It so happened that my mother died that June in 1972. He was the only person who sent me a letter of sympathy on my mother's death. All of those Vincentians, and perhaps they didn't know, but he was the only person part of that community to send me a note. It meant a lot to me at the time.
I think of all the contradictions in this issue. The community that I belonged to was begun by a parish priest in Paris of the 1600's who saw the corruption of the diocesan clergy. Corruption at that time probably had to do mostly with sexual abuses and money collections. Priest led loose lives at that time little connected with a community of priests. So we had the idea that our particular order should have rooted out the "bad apples". I don't really consider this priest a bad apple. I subscribe to the school that teaches that we are all human. We are all subject to making mistakes, even big mistakes. And these mistakes, especially some kind of sexual behavior with a minor, come from a real isolation from physical and possibly even close collegial relationships.
Since I began this piece with Joe Cahill, I will end it with his paid obituary in the New York Times, September 30, 2003.
"CAHILL--Rev. Joseph T., CM, 84, Priest and Educator of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian Community) on September 27. Former pres. (24 yrs) St. John's University, NY. Mass 12 noon Thursday, Star of the Sea Church, Cape May, NJ. Viewing Thursday 10-11:30AM Sudak-Danaher Funeral Home, Cape May. Mass also on Friday 10:30 AM at St. Joseph's Seminary Chapel, Princeton. Interment St. Joseph's Seminary Cemetery. Donations Lilian & Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Box 1070, NY, NY 10029. It was through this institute that Fr. Cahill received extraordinarily competent, compassionate and respectful care."
"sic transit gloria mundi."
No comments:
Post a Comment