Imprudent Priest

In the dark, medieval palace of the archdiocese of Seville, the aged (73) cardinal sat, throned on a dais of red velvet, his old eyes half-shuttered. To his right and left sat two rows of black-robed prelates, erect in straight-backed chairs.

Before them stood a radio receiver. Spain's arch-conservative Pedro Cardinal Segura had assembled his council to pass judgment on Father Venancio Marcos of the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, the "radio priest" who in a few years had built up from a handful of listeners on a single private station to a series of half-hour broadcasts over a twelve-station national network, with an audience of more than 5,000,000. From the loudspeaker came Father Marcos' cheerful voice in one of his weekly "Chats on Religious Orientation."

The Devil's Smokescreen. "Dancing in itself is no sin. If dancing were a sin, every bishop in every see in the world would forbid it ... But the prohibition of dancing can cause those very sins we try to avoid." The cardinal, who has forbidden all dancing in his diocese, even in private homes, frowned.

Father Marcos' voice went on. "Since women have been women, fashions have been like earthquakes. There is no stopping them. It is absolutely useless to censure them from the pulpit . . . Can anybody cite a case of a woman who lost her faith because she wore a sleeveless dress--or of a man who lost his faith from looking at her?" The cardinal joined his hands as if in prayer.

"One caballero has asked me who is the greater sinner," continued the radio voice, "he who sins against chastity or he who sins against charity? It is my conviction that, as the hour of death draws near, believers repent of their sins against chastity, while those who have stolen money or the good reputation of neighbors rarely repent, and even more rarely do anything to restore what they have taken . . . Without belittling the dangers deriving fromlust, we should watch out even more for the dangers of breaking the Seventh and Eighth Commandments. I fear it is a trick of the Devil to call attention to minor scandals and throw a smokescreen over sins that are much worse."

White-faced, Cardinal Segura rose. An attendant quickly switched off the radio.

"That is sufficient," said the cardinal. "We must stop this." Solemnly, the council bowed their heads in approval.

The Leaves & the Roots. The following Sunday, from the 400-odd pulpits of the archdiocese of Seville, a pastoral letter was read, denouncing this "imprudent priest" and forbidding parishioners to listen to Father Marcos or discuss his broadcasts. Then Cardinal Segura instructed all his priests to deny absolution to any penitent who refused to pledge himself not to listen to the broadcasts.

The government-owned radio network stopped carrying Father Marcos on its Seville station, but the priest's fan mail doubled. In Madrid, outside the cardinal's jurisdiction, Father Marcos carried on with the approval of his superior, the Oblate Provincial, who last week sent a report on the matter to the Vatican.

"It's not the leaves on the tree of evil that are dangerous, but its roots," said controversial Father Marcos. "I am striking at the roots. The leaves will fall by themselves."

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