Article: Sex abuse scandal attunes many priests to `professional' boundaries.

Byline: Jim Remsen

There are Catholic priests today "who won't go out on the schoolyard" because of the sex-abuse scandal, says the Rev. John Heagle, a Seattle priest and therapist. "They are that apprehensive of false accusations."

A generalized suspicion of priests _ one lamentable cost of the church's scandal _ has made many priests keenly attuned to "professional boundaries," particularly around children. It also has raised concerns from some ministry leaders that too much formality can have a chilling effect on pastoral work.

The Rev. Joseph Szolack, vocations director for the Diocese of Camden, N.J., calls it "a Catch-22 for priests ...

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