False witness

My Lovely and Brilliant Wife has already alluded to this revolting business in kind of a general way, but now that it's gone out on the AP wire, I can talk about it a bit more specifically. On Good Friday, we had a substitute priest, one that's come out from Yakima in the past while our pastor was sick. He read aloud a letter from Fr. Morse, explaining that he had been recalled to the Jesuit provincial headquarters in Portland pending an investigation into accusations that he molested a child. The allegations are three or four decades old, and at a parish in the Spokane diocese, next door to ours. Apparently, the claim was filed in the last two hours before the deadline for new claims against the Diocese of Spokane, under the terms of the diocese's bankruptcy.

I'm pissed off on so many levels about this. First, there's no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Fr. Morse is completely innocent. None. I know Fr. Morse fairly well. He's not only my pastor but the only pastor I've ever had. He baptized my daughter, convalidated my marriage, and received me into the Church. He loves children, likes people in general (although he's a bit shy), and most importantly, treats his vows with the utmost seriousness. I could, if I stretched my credulity as far as it could go, imagine him having done something despicable 35 years ago. Unlikely, but conceivable. Everybody sins. But if he had, he wouldn't be denying it now. I know, that sounds naive of me, but it's true. Fr. Morse's nature is such that he would no more hide from the consequences of sin than he would dance on tables at a truck stop waving his winkie to the rhythm of "I Want Your Sex." Just wouldn't happen.

Let's consider what-all we know about the accusations themselves. There's precious little information available, but we do know that the claim was filed at the last minute. There's been a plethora of advertising and publicity about the deadline; I know, because my paper ran ads for it, as did just about every paper in Eastern Washington. So what excuse is there for not filing until two hours before the deadline? Obviously the vermin didn't just glance at the calendar and say "Woops! I forgot to sue the Church!" It looks a lot more like a last-minute attempt to take the money and run.

Second, notice that the claim refers to Fr. Morse's time at Omak as a parish priest. I don't know the dates for certain, but as I understand it, Fr. Morse spent a lot of his career teaching high school in Tacoma, and I think elementary school as well. If he were a pervert, that would have been like the Happy Hunting Ground. Yet nobody has ever suggested that he behaved improperly at a school. A parish priest, however, deals with altar boys, which is much more in keeping with the stereotype this person wants to play on. And schools are much more regimented than parishes, with more chances to check reccords and see whether an accusation is even possible. A parish isn't so organized, and so makes a softer target.

The last piece is the one that burns my ass the most. Fr. Morse, now in his 70s, has cancer. Leukemia. When the substitute priest filled in for him last year, it was because he was having treatment in Spokane for it. Given the speed with which things progress in Church lawsuits, it's not at all unlikely that Fr. Morse simply won't live long enough to be exonerated. And it's a lot harder for a dead priest to defend himself than a live one, increasing the chances that this lying leech will collect money by default.

Between Fr. Morse's character (I'm hesitant to use a word like "saintly," but it fits) and the questionable aspects of the allegations, this whole thing stinks like a waterfront brothel the morning after payday. I don't know what there is to do but pray for him annd vent on the blogosphere. May God grant the good father enough time to see himself exonerated, and treat the SOB who accused him... well, with more mercy than I would if it were up to me.