Mar 22, 2017 3 min read

If an organization was responsible for the deaths of dozens of children over more than three decades, one would think that organization would be prosecuted out of existence, and that those leading the group would be doing long stretches behind bars.

In the case of Faith Tabernacle Congregation, one would be wrong, but there is hope that will be changing soon.

For at least 35 years, the fundamentalist sect, which has its roots in Philadelphia, has directed its adherents to eschew modern medicine in favor of prayer for treating illnesses. As a result, according to a recent Associated Press report, dozens of children have died from illnesses that could have been prevented or treated.

The AP said some parents of those children have been prosecuted on manslaughter charges, but leaders of the church have gone untouched by the law. Until now.

The Rev. Rowland Foster, who is pastor of a Faith Tabernacle Congregation church district in eastern Pennsylvania, now faces a felony charge after the death of 2-year-old Ella Foster, his own granddaughter, who succumbed to pneumonia in November. Authorities say she almost certainly would have recovered had she been given a routine course of antibiotics.

In the past, Foster might have escaped prosecution, but Pennsylvania now has a law requiring members of the clergy, teachers and other “mandated reporters” to turn over the names of suspected child abusers to authorities so those cases can be investigated. There is no exception, said the AP, for members of the clergy who are related to an abused child.

“He was well aware of the fact that this child was in need of medical treatment, and he never reported it, nor do I believe that he ever had the intention to report it,” Berks County District Attorney John Adams told the AP.

Adams’ move to prosecute Foster is seen as “pivotal” by Cathleen Palm of the Center for Children’s Justice, a Pennsylvania group that is seeking legislative action to protect youngsters whose parents fail to seek needed medical care because of their religious beliefs.

Also facing prosecution are Ella Foster’s parents, Jonathan and Grace Foster, who are charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Adams hopes other prosecutors will follow his lead, but even he wonders if that would change the practices of sects such as Faith Tabernacle. “I am concerned that because of their teachings, because of their beliefs, they will continue to violate the law.”

Regardless, we hope that prosecutors will use the tools available to them to prosecute the people responsible for such child deaths to the fullest extent of the law, and to remove children from any parents, or grandparents, who put children’s lives in peril.

Our state lawmakers can help. Under current Pennsylvania law, withholding medical care because of religious beliefs is not, in and of itself, considered child abuse. Adams was able to pursue the case against the elder Foster because the religious exemption in the abuse laws does not apply if failure to seek medical care results in the death of a child.

“If our Legislature is interested in protecting children, that needs to be changed,” said Adams. “Because, to me, it is outrageous that a church teaches that medical care is not to be sought for children.”

We agree with Adams, and we hope the Legislature provides the assistance he and other prosecutors need to bring this deadly and reprehensible practice to an end.