Rita Bateman has been a Roman Catholic all her life, and the great-grandmother has never considered leaving the church.

But the member of St. Joseph's Church, Sharon, has not always been happy with the church's handling of specific issues. She criticized the church's traditional response to allegations of child sexual abuse by priests.

The decades of failing to disclose substantiated cases of child abuse by priests, paying victims for their silence and reassigning abusive priests to duties that gave them the opportunity to abuse again is "very wrong," the Sharon woman said.

"I believe the Catholic Church has swept this under the carpet for much too long," she said, calling the "paying off" of molestation victims a sin.

"To think of the money that was paid out that could have gone to the poor," she said.

Or, even for counseling for those involved.

"I think treatment for the individual has to be provided," she said. "That's a part of justice as far as I'm concerned."

National reports on the church's handling of cases of child sexual abuse by priests confronted Catholics as they prepared for and celebrated Easter, the holiest of observances in Christianity.

Although the stories have come out of Boston, Philadelphia and other areas, this region has not been immune.

Gary Loncki, spokesman for the Diocese of Erie, said one priest was "taken out of active ministry" by Bishop Donald W. Trautman for child sexual abuse.

The allegation surfaced a few years ago, but the abuse occurred about 30 years ago, he said.

In a statement, Bishop Trautman said there is no priest, deacon or lay person currently in any diocese ministry that has been accused of sexual abuse of minors.

Monsignor John Zuraw said in his six years as executive director for clergy and religious for the Diocese of Youngstown, there have been no allegations of child sexual abuse leveled against priests.

On reports that some Catholics are re-examining their faiths after the scandals came to light, the Rev. Charles Schmitt, pastor of St. Joe's, said, "I would hope that some have."

"In certain ways, I hope that people are constantly exploring their faiths," he said.

Rev. Schmitt said he believes the lessons of the Easter story can help Catholics work through their feelings about the church's response to child sexual abuse by priests.

"We need to remember the humanity of all those in these stories," he said.

Monsignor John Hagerty, pastor of Notre Dame Church in Hermitage, called the cases of priests' abuse of children "a terrorist attack from the inside."

"This is a devastating blow to people's faith and the church," he said. "We found the terrible downside of humanity in all of this."

Rev. Hagerty said he has reminded his parishioners that their faith should be in Christ, not people.

"Let's resolve to make our faith all the more stronger," he said. "If it's faith in Christ, it will be."

Monsignor Zuraw acknowledged priests are expected to be more Christlike than their parishioners.

"Priests have been entrusted the spiritual care of souls," he said. "That's why it's (the scandal) so shocking to today's society. It has done tremendous harm to the church."

Rev. Hagerty said he has been approached by people who want to talk about the scandal, and some are "disgusted."

But, he added, "I haven't heard anyone say, 'To hell with the church' or anything like that."

"I have found that church attendance has been good," he said. "Our support has been fine."

Monsignor Zuraw said that while cases of child sex abuse by priests have been publicized in recent years, church officials have grappled with it for decades.

The National Catholic Conference of Bishops began studying the issue in the late '80s, based on earlier reports, he said.

"In the '70s and '80s, a lot of this was new to them and they had to bring in experts to explain the issue," Monsignor Zuraw said, noting that former Youngstown Bishop John Malone was president of the conference at the time.

Child abuse professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors viewed the abuse of children as a mental illness that could be treated and possibly cured, Monsignor Zuraw said. That's why some dioceses put priests back into ministerial work after they abused children.

That view has changed. Abuse of children now is considered a compulsive behavior, and the offender needs to be removed from the situation, Monsignor Zuraw said.

In 1992, the bishops passed a resolution that has served as a blueprint for policies, adopted by many dioceses, to respond to reports of child sexual abuse.

The resolution encourages dioceses to respond promptly to all allegations of abuse, and remove the offender from his duties if the charges are substantiated.

The Erie and Youngstown policies allow the bishop to remove a priest from his duties as soon as the allegation is leveled, with a permanent decision rendered upon completion of the investigation.

The bishops also encouraged their members to reach out to the victims and their families, to deal as openly with the community as they can while respecting the privacy of those involved, and to comply with civil laws on reporting allegations and cooperating with outside authorities. Youngstown includes a copy of applicable Ohio law with its policy.

"It's basically a child-protection policy," Monsignor Zuraw said of the Youngstown policy, which has been in place since 1994 and updated since then.

Bishop Trautman said the Erie policy, first developed under Bishop Michael J. Murphy in 1986 and amended three times since, will help the church assure the safety of young people, which he called "the greatest treasure of the church."

Ms. Bateman said the scandal takes away from the work of the priests who perform their duties faithfully.

"They really personify what the priesthood is about," she said.

Bishop Trautman said trust within the church is established in each parish.

"I believe that our people know firsthand the faith and witness of their priests, deacons and lay ministers," he wrote. "I also believe strongly that those people who have contact with our priests, deacons and lay ministers in hospitals and classrooms know them to be trustworthy representatives of the Lord."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at jpinchot@sharon-herald.com