Raymond Lahey, the former Catholic Bishop of Antigonish was released from prison today for possessing child pornography and I am trying to think out what I feel about that. Certainly the creation, possession and viewing of pornographic images of innocent children is horrid, but fortunately beyond the imagination of most people. I think that sexual attraction of an adult to a child is indeed a sickness, in the same way that addiction to alcohol is a sickness. Yet the alcoholic is responsible for all that he or she does as a result of alcohol use, be it impaired driving or other criminal act, damaging relationships at work or at home, one’s personal health, and on and on. Similarly the individual, who may be indeed sick in their sexual attraction to children, has to be responsible for any and all consequences of that act. In Lahey’s case, he went through the system, was found guilty (by confession) and even volunteered to go to jail immediately, even before sentencing, which got him the “two for one deal”. The bottom line is that he confessed to the crime, went through the system, and justice was dealt. I am in no position to judge whether this justice was properly dispensed and with all that is going on in the world, I am going to give it no further thought. As for the issue of what the Administration of the Catholic Church does, well that is the business of the Administration of the Catholic Church.

This entire long winded preamble brings me to me. What would I do if I encountered Raymond Lahey? Could I look him in the eye? Would I shake his offered hand? What if he attended a retreat with me? What if he sat beside me at a Contemplative Eucharist? What is he wanted to talk to me? What if he wanted to share a fear with me? What if he just wanted some company for half an hour and just chat over coffee?

There are no shortage of celebrity crooks like Martha Stewart, Kiefer Sutherland, Conrad Black, Paris Hilton, Rod Blagojevich, Roman Polanski, Rob Ramage, Robert Downey Jr. and others who have done time in prison. Martha Stewart is more successful than ever and Roman Polanski continues to make movies abroad. Are there lists of crimes like the A List, B List , and C List? Martha Stewart is funny and stylish so she gets a pass. Roman Polanski is a great talent and it is uptight Republicans who are after him anyway and Kiefer Sutherland was just a bit careless with his booze. So was Rob Ramage but he killed Keith Magnuson, but of course Magnuson should have never gotten in the car in the first place.

But where does leave Raymond Lahey? Is his crime more heinous because he was a bishop? Would it have been less heinous had he owned a strip joint? He said he was sorry, he confessed to his crime, he went to prison, and his life is now shattered. Of course we will never know the pain of the young children who are the only true victims, but this man’s life is certainly ruined. It is hard to have sympathy, his life is ruined by his own choice, but the young victims had no choice.

So it comes to the hardest word of all – forgive. Raymond Lahey did no direct harm to me, so it is easy to forgive without pain, but I choose to forgive him. I would shake his hand, would not move if he sat beside me, and would have a coffee with him. I do not have the power to see in his soul any more than I can see in anybody’s soul and I am confident that he will be judged at another time and another place by a power greater than myself. I am glad that I do not have that responsibility. But I do not think that I can be forgiven unless I forgive. And a good as any place to start is with that coffee. No one ever said that faith is easy.