A crisis of faith
This morning many 86-year-old persons died. Cardinal Bernard Law was perhaps the most famous 86 years old to die today.
His death will remind many of the pain surrounding the issues of sexual abuse by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. The primary sexual abuse, which has been brought to light in the last couple of decades within the Roman Catholic Church, is that of priests abusing post pubescent boys. These priests were discovered and reassigned to another parish to repeat the behavior again and again. In “2002 the Boston Globe Spotlight team obtained internal church documents that proved that for more than 30 years Cardinal Law and other church leaders knew that priest John Geoghan sexually abused children, yet, continued to reassign him from parish to parish where he racked up more allegations for abuse.” (PalmBeachPost.com). Eventually, public pressure forced the resignation of Cardinal Law although he retained his Cardinalship and continued to serve his church in Rome.
Since 2002 the Roman Catholic Church has begun to turn over priests to civil authorities to be charged and convicted of the crime of the sexual abuse of underage children by a person in authority. Within the Roman Catholic Church there have been those who identify the issue as more systemic and have made recommendations including lifting the ban on celibacy for priests and the church recognizing that same sex relationships are something to be celebrated. It is not likely that either of these recommendations will result in changes in the teaching and policies of the Roman Catholic Church in the near future.
What I find the disappointing is a church which purports to follow the teachings of Jesus has not publicly and officially refused to hand over priests who sexually abuse young people to the civil authorities for trial and punishment. Prior to 2002 there were many cases of priests who sexually abusive behavior was identified and dealt with by ordering the priests to long-term treatment at treatment centers who specialized in such cases. Little has been said about the result of that treatment. In many cases, the sexual abuse was directly linked to other disorders such as addiction and/or sexual identity confusion and shame. Professional, non-judgmental, compassionate treatment did allow many priests to quietly and safely return to the pastoral duty for which they had a passion. I have not seen any statistics on the number of priests successfully treated but I personally know of several I saw for follow up therapy and support. I also know that in these cases the victim of the abuse was provided access to treatment.
There are those priests whose recovery was not successful or long lasting and who needed to be permanently relieved of duties. Some even need to be assigned to a location, which their movement is restricted.
I am suggesting that as the Christian Church prepares to celebrate the birth of Jesus who they claim as the head of their church that they reach deep within themselves and find the courage to:
My simple understanding of the teachings of Jesus is that we practice compassionate accountability and always extend a non-judgmental helping hand.
Written December 20, 2017
This morning many 86-year-old persons died. Cardinal Bernard Law was perhaps the most famous 86 years old to die today.
His death will remind many of the pain surrounding the issues of sexual abuse by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. The primary sexual abuse, which has been brought to light in the last couple of decades within the Roman Catholic Church, is that of priests abusing post pubescent boys. These priests were discovered and reassigned to another parish to repeat the behavior again and again. In “2002 the Boston Globe Spotlight team obtained internal church documents that proved that for more than 30 years Cardinal Law and other church leaders knew that priest John Geoghan sexually abused children, yet, continued to reassign him from parish to parish where he racked up more allegations for abuse.” (PalmBeachPost.com). Eventually, public pressure forced the resignation of Cardinal Law although he retained his Cardinalship and continued to serve his church in Rome.
Since 2002 the Roman Catholic Church has begun to turn over priests to civil authorities to be charged and convicted of the crime of the sexual abuse of underage children by a person in authority. Within the Roman Catholic Church there have been those who identify the issue as more systemic and have made recommendations including lifting the ban on celibacy for priests and the church recognizing that same sex relationships are something to be celebrated. It is not likely that either of these recommendations will result in changes in the teaching and policies of the Roman Catholic Church in the near future.
What I find the disappointing is a church which purports to follow the teachings of Jesus has not publicly and officially refused to hand over priests who sexually abuse young people to the civil authorities for trial and punishment. Prior to 2002 there were many cases of priests who sexually abusive behavior was identified and dealt with by ordering the priests to long-term treatment at treatment centers who specialized in such cases. Little has been said about the result of that treatment. In many cases, the sexual abuse was directly linked to other disorders such as addiction and/or sexual identity confusion and shame. Professional, non-judgmental, compassionate treatment did allow many priests to quietly and safely return to the pastoral duty for which they had a passion. I have not seen any statistics on the number of priests successfully treated but I personally know of several I saw for follow up therapy and support. I also know that in these cases the victim of the abuse was provided access to treatment.
There are those priests whose recovery was not successful or long lasting and who needed to be permanently relieved of duties. Some even need to be assigned to a location, which their movement is restricted.
I am suggesting that as the Christian Church prepares to celebrate the birth of Jesus who they claim as the head of their church that they reach deep within themselves and find the courage to:
- Quit pretending as if abuse of children and adults does not exist.
- Quit pretending that sexual orientation is a choice and is negative/bad/shameful.
- Come to terms with the fact that humans are sexual beings - some with a much stronger sex drive than others.
- Insist that addiction, compulsive sexual behavior, and other illnesses when untreated might lead to mistreating others be treated and not punished.
- Support already existing programs which minister to those who are not able, for whatever reason, to make decisions to respect the rights of others.
- If and when abuse does occur make it easy for the person who was abused to get the help/support they need without having to label the abuser as an evil being unworthy of love.
My simple understanding of the teachings of Jesus is that we practice compassionate accountability and always extend a non-judgmental helping hand.
Written December 20, 2017
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