Penn State coaching legend Joe Paterno is out in the university’s burgeoning sex abuse scandal, and comparisons to the Roman Catholic Church’s own abuse scandals are in.

“The parallels are too striking to ignore. A suspected predator who exploits his position to take advantage of his young charges. The trusting colleagues who don’t want to believe it — and so don’t,” author Jonathan Mahler wrote in The New York Times.

“This was the dynamic that pervaded the Catholic clerical culture during its sexual abuse scandals, and it seems to have been no less pervasive at Penn State.”

The analogy is popular. But does it hold up to scrutiny? Yes, and no. Here are three ways in which the twin abuse scandals are similar, and three ways they are different.

SIMILARITIES

1. Sports is like a religion, with its rituals and incantations, rules and traditions, collective devotion and uniforms. Indeed, anthropologists say that like religion, athletic competition is one of the oldest communal impulses in human history, and today sports and religion mirror each other almost as much as they did in classical Greece.

To wit: a sign held by one Paterno supporter at a rally for the disgraced coach: “Two of my favorite ‘J’s’ in life: Jesus and Joe Pa.”

2. Whatever their bona fides as religions, Penn State and the Catholic Church are big, self-protective institutions. The cover-up is always as bad (or worse) as the crime, and Penn State leaders feared scandal — and probably harm to their own reputations — so much that they didn’t think about the welfare of the children. Same with so many bishops. And Boy Scout leaders. And teachers unions, and so on.

“The sort of instinct to protect the institution is very similar. And of course, in both cases, it backfires horribly. If your idea was to avoid a scandal, you sure failed,” Phil Lawler, a Catholic journalist in Boston, told The Associated Press.

That is why the public blamed bishops more than the predatory priests, and why so much anger has focused on Paterno rather than on alleged abuser Jerry Sandusky.

3. It took a grandjury to bring the Penn State abuse to light, just as it did (and continues to do) in the Catholic Church. Look at last month’s indictment of Bishop Robert Finn in Kansas City, Mo., for failing to report a priest suspected of childabuse, or the indictment last February of Monsignor William Lynn, a former top official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who is charged with covering up for abusive priests.

Institutions are not good at policing themselves. It is unclear how far the problem extends in college sports, and the church.

DIFFERENCES

1. Penn State has a system of accountability, however imperfect, because like any university, the school is governed by a board of trustees. In this case, the board tookrelatively swift action (albeit under severe pressure from the public and authorities) in part because if Penn State loses customers, it goes kaput.

The Catholic Church, meanwhile, believes that even the “gates of hell will not prevail” against it, and many church leaders embrace the “mustard seed” view of a smaller but more devout “saving remnant” that would be purified by suffering. In a reprise of the lesson of the Cross, they would “win by losing.” Needless to say, that’s not how universities, not to mention football teams, tend to see things.

What’s more, the pope is answerable to no one — except God.

2. Sports is not an actual religion. Sports does not have divine sanction, nor can its leaders make use of divine symbols and power to exploit children — and potentially turn them against the eternal salvation that those leaders say is the point of a religion’s existence. That is a higher order of bad. Sports consists of games in the first instance, and the last.

If anything, sports is more like a cult — closed in on itself, exalting personalities more than asystem or institution. Catholicism is actually a very decentralized community, and Catholics can hold their leaders in the same low regard that they have for politicians. That’s why you saw Catholics in Boston protesting to have Cardinal Bernard Law fired in 2002, while thousands of Penn State students rallied to let Paterno keep his job.

3. Penn State, and collegiate athletics as a whole, have not done as much as the Catholic Church to establish systematic safeguards for protecting children and educating students and staff about warning signs and best practices.

Of course, the Catholic Church has had a 10-year head start, and many safeguards were put in place after the fact. But sports experts note that there have been periodic sex scandals involving college coaches for years, and that bad behavior by college athletes — from sexual assault to bar brawls — is rampant. Yet there has been little focus on changing a culture that enables such behavior because college sports are, well, sacrosanct.

An ESPN investigation found that between 2002 and 2008, some 46 Penn State footballplayers faced 163 criminal charges, and 27 players were convicted of or pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts.

In the end, it may be the sensationalism of the sexual abuse of boys by men that has driven coverage of both the Penn State story and the Catholic crisis. And that may reveal as much about American attitudes as it does about the abuse itself.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted recently the resignation of an Archbishop in Philadelphia who had been accused of covering up a clergy sex abuse scandal that had been ongoing in his diocese for decades.

The pope accepted the resignation of Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, because of his age, the Vatican said in a statement. Rigali, 76, submitted his resignation in April, 2010, when he turned 75.

Church law requires all archbishops to submit their resignations to the pope when they turn 75. However, it is up to the pope to decide whether or not he will act immediately on it.

Rigali faced stiff pressure for some time because of the way he handled complaints of sex abuse by priests. In 2005, a grand jury determined that Rigali had been covering up complaints by parishioners.

“We need to get better”

In a statement, the Vatican has appointed Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver to succeed Rigali. Chaput, a best-selling author, said on Vatican Radio, “The Church has done a very poor job of passing on the authentic Apostolic faith to its people. We need to get better.”

Chaput, 66, is with the Capuchin order of Franciscan Priests. He has led the Archdiocese of Denver since 1997, where he was tasked with overseeing some 550,000 parishioners.

It is expected that Chaput will run things in his new post with a firm hand. Last year in April, as Archbishop of Denver, a man told Chaput of alleged sexual abuse by a priest in the 1970s. Within a week, the priest was suspended and the act was reported to the police.

Rocco Palmo, who writes the Catholic blog “Whispers in the Loggia” told Philadelphia Daily News that Chaput is “principled” and “fearless,” adding, “It’s going to be a completely different way of doing business here. It’s essentially going to be Philadelphia Catholicism Version 3.0.”

Some 21 priests suspected of pedophilia were suspended by Rigali in March. Rigali expressed “sorrow for the sexual abuse of minors committed by members of the Church, and above all, the clergy,” the AFP reported.

A grand jury report in 2005 determined that Rigali covered up abuse complaints that were raised against dozens of priests in Philadelphia. The accused priests also remained in active duty.

Hands on leader

“From what I’ve read and been told, Chaput is a very hands-on leader,” Susam Matthews, writer and publisher of Catholics4change.com told Philadelphia Daily News. “He’s an administrator who takes complete responsibility, and it’s not going to be, ‘Oh, the people under me handled that.’ That’s been Rigali’s style.”

Father Alberto Cutie, the former celebrity Roman Catholic priest based in Florida said recently that the woman who led to his break from the Catholic Church is a gift that was given to him by God.

Cutie, who now heads a small Episcopalian church in Miami, said that his wife, Ruhana Canellis, is a “great woman,” and he is not ashamed of having fallen in love with her. Ruhana was once a parishioner at the Catholic Church where the Cuban-American served, CBS 12 News said.

Cutie told CBS 12 News, in his first interview about the past two years, “I think what every married man feels for the person they want to spend their life with, I think the love Ruhama and I share is a special gift from God.”

He said, too, that he never wanted to hurt the Catholic Church, telling CBS12 News, “God knows my heart, he knows I never desired to hurt the church or to hurt people or to violate sacred promises. I just got to a point where I couldn’t say no to love.”

Cutie once hosted a popular TV show that was shown in 22 countries, and some people called him “Father Oprah,” The Palm Beach Post said. Then tabloids came out bearing photos of “Father Oprah” on the beach with a woman, despite his Catholic vow of celibacy, CBS 12 News said.

Cutie said, “[At] that moment I had no clue the pictures were about me. I was convinced as the pictures were taken they had something to do with tourism or something else,” CBS 12 reported.

Cutie told CBS 12 News, “The tabloids only give you the scandal. I wanted people to know the real story behind what happened. The one thing I regret is not having come out first and saying to everyone…this is something I’m going through and I need to get out of here.”

Episcopal Priest

Now Cutie is an Episcopal priest heading a small church in Miami. He gives services every Sunday, some in Spanish and some in English. He and Ruhana are the parents of four-month-old Camilla Victoria, CBS News said.

Cutie once said of Ruhana, “This is the woman who saved my life,” The Palm Beach Post reported. In his interview with CBS 12 News Cutie said, “To be a priest with a baby is to be like St. Peter, like the first pope…and I love my colleagues in the Episcopal church, men and women, because they are clergy who have the same family struggles.”

Looking back, the former Catholic priest told CBS12 News that it’s possible that subconsciously, he wanted the world to know about Ruhana, saying, “Nobody should have to live a double life, nobody.”

When CBS12 News asked why he didn’t leave the church before the scandal broke out, Cutie said, “That’s the dilemma, the dilemma is not knowing exactly how to move on.”

Dilemma is also the title of a book he wrote, and which was published early this year (see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2011/01/former-catholic-priest-albert-cutie-releases-tell-all-book-questions-churchs-celibacy-rule-14984).

Cutie noted that some 120,000 priests had departed from the Catholic Church so that they could get married. He said the Catholic Church is like “a movement toward the 18^th century and it’s sad,” The Palm Beach Post reported.

In leaving, Cutie said, “I had a choice and the choice was I’m not going to continue living with a rule that deep down in my heart I don’t feel comes from God, it comes from an institution that doesn’t want to change,” CBS12 News reported.

In a statement, Cutie’s former archbishop said, “Father Cutie’s actions have caused grave scandal within the Catholic Church, harmed the Archdiocese of Miami—especially our priests,” according to CBS 12 News.

A megachurch in Jackson, Miss. is trying to regain its footing among its followers after a financial mismanagement scandal led its membership to plummet.

The Word of Faith Christian Center Church, formerly with several thousand members, fell to less than 1,500 after followers learned that the church had accumulated $431,000 in arrears. The debt was blamed on poor financial handling by its former pastor, Kevin Wright, according to the AP.

Wright was one of the most popular and successful ministers in Mississippi, and was deemed among the leading pastors of the Word of Faith, which has some 24 churches in 10 states, plus international branches, the AP said.

Aside from the church in Jackson, Wright also supervised other Word of Faith churches in Mississippi. Cities with Word of Faith churches include Gulfport, Meridian, Starkville and Yazoo City, the AP said.

With his wife Leslie Wright, an after-school program, academy, church-run athletic facility and retreat in Holmes County were either initiated or expanded by them, according to the Clarion Ledger.

Under the Wrights, through the years the church grew from 200 members to a few thousand. However with the rise of Wright’s popularity, less was known about the church’s transactions, the Clarion Ledger said.

For example, church members believed they owned the Mississippi Basketball and Athletics facility in Jackson Road. It was later learned that it was owned by the Word of Faith Foundation, which the Wrights created with Jeffrey Lewis, the church’s former business manager, the Clarion Ledger reported.

Also in 2006 without church members’ knowledge, Wright acquired a 190-acre camping area in Durant which he named the Springs of Life Camp & Conference Center, which is now up for sale for $650,000, according to the Clarion Ledger.

Wright also invited renowned evangelist leaders to speak at the church, and the church does not know how much he paid them. When Bishop Keith Butler, Wright’s boss who heads Word of Faith International Christian Center in Southfield, Mich. visited, Wright gave him a $10,000 check and a custom-made golf cart, the Clarion Ledger said.

In 2009 Wright managed to raise $25,000 from churchgoers to renovate the Word of Faith Youth Center. However, the building was closed down. The value of the Wright’s 8,600 square feet home in Brandon has been appraised at $635,230, the Clarion Ledger reported.

In a statement the church said Wright was let go because of “his moral failure.” Butler said in a statement that “business and financial operations of the ministry were extremely and poorly handled. The business manager for the ministry at that time failed to run an efficient and proper operation,” the AP reported.

Butler also said, “Clearly, business and financial operations of the ministry were extremely poorly handled….the business manager at that time failed to run an efficient and proper operation,” the Clarion Ledger reported.

Church officials have not made any accusations of theft. However, they are seeking ownership of the foundation, the AP reported.

The Vatican Bank blamed recently a move by Italy’s monetary authorities impounding $30 million from the bank and investigating their two leading officials in connection with money laundering on poor communications.

The Vatican Bank, also called the IOR, said the two banks have always worked well together, and that the IOR and the Bank of Italy enjoy good relations. Under investigation are IOR Chairman Ettore Gotti Tedeschi and Director General Paolo Cipriani, Bloomberg News said.

Reports say that the IOR did not clearly convey the source of the money to Italy’s financial authorities. Observers see the newest development as another struggle for Pope Benedict XVI, who is also dealing with the aftereffects of the clerical abuse scandal, The Huffington Post said.

The Vatican said that it has the “greatest trust” in Tedeschi and Cipriani and said the two men had been in the process of providing greater transparency regarding the IOR’s finances, The New York Times reported.

In a statement the Vatican said, “The Holy See is perplexed and surprised by the initiatives of the Rome prosecutors, considering the data necessary is already available at the Bank of Italy,” The Huffington Post reported.

In the 1980s, the IOR was caught in a major fraud scandal which ended with the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano due to the loss of $1.3 billion in loans to several Latin American dummy firms, based on letters of credit from The Vatican, The Huffington Post reported.

Roberto Calvi, head of Banco Ambrosiano and known as “God’s Banker” (because of his ties with the Vatican), was found hanging from the Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982, The Huffington Post said.

The circumstances of Calvi’s death remain mysterious. London investigators initially ruled suicide, but after further investigation charges were filed against five men including a leading mafia personality. All were tried and acquitted in 2007, The Huffington Post reported.

Historically, Italian authorities have not investigated the Vatican Bank because the Holy See is considered a sovereign state within Italy. However, the Bank of Italy has adopted new practices to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorist groups, The New York Times reported.

Under the new laws, all foreign banks that operate in Italy, including the Vatican bank, are required to submit detailed information about where any money that they transfer has originated from, The New York Times said.

The European Union alerted the Bank of Italy about two questionable transfers on Sept. 6 from an account held by the IOR at a Rome branch of Credito Artigiano S.p.A., a bank based in Northern Italy, The New York Times said.

A transfer involving $26 m went to an IOR account at the J.P. Morgan branch in Frankfurt, and a second transfer of $4 m went to an IOR account at Banca del Fucino in Rome, according to The New York Times.

The money was seized as a preventive measure, and neither Tedeschi nor Cipriani have been arrested or charged. A court ruling will decide whether to pursue the investigation, The New York Times reported.

The investigation may smear the record of Tedeschi, a well-respected former head of Italy’s operations for Banco Santander in Spain. A member of the conservative Opus Dei, Tedeschi is known for speaking about morality in financing and is a strong supporter of Benedict’s encyclical, “Charity in Truth,” The Huffington Post said.

The pope enlisted Tedeschi last year. The IOR handles donations for charities, Vatican City ATMs, and the pensions of thousands of Vatican employees of the Vatican, The New York Times reported.

The IOR is not available to the public and depositors are usually religious orders, donors to the pope’s charities and Vatican employees. It is headed by five cardinals including the Vatican’s secretary of state. Tedeschi is tasked with daily operations, The Huffington Post said.

The double life of three Catholic homosexual priests was revealed recently in a magazine article in Italy.

The article featured in Panorama magazine, a conservative magazine owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, describes the activities of the priests, which included going to nightclubs and having casual sex.

Using a hidden camera during the interview with the priests, the Panorama reporter also got footage of the priests—a Frenchman and two Italians, having sex with strangers, once, inside a church. The Frenchman celebrated mass the morning after an encounter, then drove his two hired escorts to the airport, Telegraph India said.

Editor Giorgio Mule said the purpose of the article was to expose priests living double lives, not to create a scandal. He added that the piece was the product of a two-week investigation, the New York Daily News said.

The Catholic Church in Italy responded by asking homosexual priests to come out in the open and to leave the priesthood. They are still dealing with the effects of the pedophile priest scandal, Telegraph India said.

Panorama cover. Via New York Daily News

The Rome diocese issued a statement saying that the grand majority of their 1,300 priests are “models of morality for all.” The Vatican did not comment, but a senior source said, “There is no proof that the people involved are from the clergy,” Telegraph India said.

Panorama released a preview of the article and said they have video footage which will also be available. They said they did checks to ensure that the priests were all bona fide, the Daily Mail said.

The story begins by saying, “By day they are regular priests, complete with dog collar, but at night, it’s off with the cassock as they take their place as perfectly integrated members of the Italian capital’s gay scene,” Telegraph India said.

Catholic priests are obliged to take a vow of celibacy, and the church views homosexuality as sinful. The 2008 Vatican guidelines said that trainees for the priesthood with homosexual tendencies should not join, Telegraph India said.

Ted Haggard is going to start a new church, nearly four years after he was embroiled in a sex scandal that caused him to resign from the megachurch he founded in Colorado Springs.

Haggard’s new church, St. James, will be launched from his home where he had been holding sporadic prayer meetings since May.

After the 2006 sex scandal Haggard kept an agreement with New Life Church not to speak to media or to start a new church for a period of time, according to USA Today.

New Life under Haggard grew to become a megachurch of 14,000.  Haggard was also president of the National Association of Evangelicals before the scandal which involved a male prostitute, USA Today says.

“This is my resurrection day,” he declared, according to the AP.

He said the ordeal he and his wife, Gayle, went through has prepared them to help others.  “I have an incredible heart for broken people,” he said. “I think we’re qualified to hold people’s hands” in times of trouble, the AP reported.

Haggard said the 2006 scandal was embarrassing and heartbreaking.  He said he was in counseling from 2006 until recently, and that his counselors told him he is heterosexual but that his behavior was influenced by a childhood incident when he was molested by an adult male, the AP said.

Haggard said he takes responsibility for his actions as an adult.  His new church will teach that God intended marriage to be a monogamous union of a man and a woman, the AP reported.

He also said that biblical ideals are sometimes hard to live up to.  “There is a complex process people have to go through between their personal beliefs and their own ideals that they themselves fail at, and I am a glaring example of that,” the AP reported.

Haggard said a television documentary on the birth of his new church was a possibility, although nothing is certain, the AP said.