BOSTON -- While many local Catholics have expressed dismay over the newly tarnished reputation of the Roman Catholic Church, the current sex abuse scandal involving priests is only one of several the Catholic Church has weathered during its long history, dating back to the church's origins.

Until the outbreak of allegations that priests had sexually molested children became public recently, the church had enjoyed several quiet years, although Pope John Paul II dealt with an ongoing source of conflict, that being the church's relations with Jews. The church was accused, during the leadership of Pope Pius XII, of ignoring the Holocaust and failing to prevent the anti-Semitic views of many Catholics.

John Paul II, however, in March of 1998, focused on making amends by releasing a document acknowledging the Holocaust and seeking reconciliation between Jews and Christians, in effect, a public apology for the church's failings in this area.

We Remember: A Reflection On The Shoah includes a quote from Pope John Paul II, who said, "The Church should become more fully conscious of the sinfulness of her children, recalling ... when they departed from the spirit of Christ and his Gospel and ... indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal."

Scandalous activity within the church is also what sparked the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, the founder of the Lutheran church, criticized the Catholic Church for its practice of selling church offices and selling indulgences, which allowed Catholics to forego confession and buy salvation.

Pope Leo X used the sale of indulgences to fund the massive renovation of St. Peter's Cathedral. Catholics could purchase the indulgence even before committing the sin for which they sought forgiveness.

Dominican monk Johann Tetzel especially troubled Luther, a priest and professor of theology at Wittenberg University in Germany. According to the KDG Wittenberg Web site, Tetzel was known to say, "When the money clangs in the box, the souls spring up to heaven."

The Vatican has also wrestled with the issue of priestly celibacy in the past, as when Pope Alexander VI, crowned in 1492, fathered four children with a mistress, and is believed to have fathered a child with his daughter, Lucrezia.

Links:

United States Catholic Historical Society

Lutheran History

History of Protestant Reformation