I can't deny that all the bad stuff happens. Sometimes, it does seem to be the rule, rather than the exception. But having worked in the Catholic Church all my life, I think I have had a wide variety of experience - and most of my experiences have been quite good.

My best Catholic experience is my Friday volunteer job at a women's hospitality center in the poor part of town. It's run by four nuns (ages 55-75), and they coordinate a volunteer team of some 100 people. Our motto is "hospitality with dignity," and that's what we offer. "My" nuns are what nuns should be - and most of the nuns I know are like them. They do their very best to serve people, and they don't tolerate church leaders who do less.

Now, I have to say that in my experience, most nuns are extraordinary, and most priests I encounter are mediocre (but still they're pretty good people). Most of the priests in Sacramento are foreign-born, and that's part of the problem. I've often said that that as an ex-seminarian, it's my duty to "keep the priests honest." I've been hard on a number of priests, pushing them to give better service to the people. Most of them respond quite favorably to my pushing. These foreign-born priests can be awfully lonely, and I think a lot of Catholics keep priests on a pedestal and don't treat them as human beings.

There are some priests I would talk with about marital problems, but very few of them. I'd be more likely to talk with "my" nuns. When I was going through a divorce, I did talk with a priest - but he had a PhD in psychology. I think that for most of us, we seek counseling because we need somebody to listen, not to give advice. I know many celibate priests and nuns who are very good, impartial listeners.

But in short, I guess I'd say that churches do have shortcomings, and they do have employees/priests/nuns/ministers/whatever who are inadequate - but all institutions and businesses have shortcomings, so why should we expect churches to be any different?

I worked in a five-person government office during my last years of employment. In that office, there were two employees who were excellent, two who were mediocre, and one who was a fraud. I think that's about standard for a workplace. The women's center where I volunteer had six full-time staff members (four nuns and two lay women), and all of them are excellent. I can't say the same for all church organizations, but I do think that there are a number of extraordinary people doing church work.

As for the 800-yr-old bones, I have mixed feelings. I don't think relics have any powers, but I do think it's fascinating that we have bones that have been held sacred for 800 years. There's probably a lot of history and experience connected to those old bones, and I do think there is value in preserving and respecting them. All the ceremony and pageantry is cool, too. It's a celebration of heritage, and I think it ought to be done up right. Hollywood is certainly more extravagant in its pageantry. Is it really necessary for churches to be austere and sterile, to leave the pageantry to the media?

-Joe Offer-