strange pathways of grace

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 13, 2005

Here's an article on the Philadelphia Archdiocesan horror story with the usual nauseating details but with a surprising twist: an Assistant DA who took part in the investigation into clergy abuse found he could look at the blackest crimes of Catholic priests and bishops ... and distinguish the Faith from the felons:

Spade grew up in a devotedly religious Lutheran household. There was weekly mass, Sunday school and the altar boy guild. The investigation had a surprising effect on Spade's faith.

"It reaffirmed that general idea that power corrupts," he says, "but in talking to so many Catholic priests and theologians and having to read Canon Law, I actually became drawn to Catholicism."

He began attending Catholic mass.

"My wife was raised Catholic," he says, "and I would tell her about how I really liked the faith and she would say "Are you out of your mind? You're seeing what this institution has done to these kids and you're saying you like it?' And I'd say, "No I don't like the institution but I like the faith, I like the intellectual and spiritual part of it."

Warning: Ecclesiastical subject matter. Episcopal discretion advised.