Understanding the Abuse Controversy

The essay below began as a simple article, but I have decided to scratch the project for now. For one thing, the latest developments make this particular approach less timely than it was, and I have neither the time nor inclination to re-write this. Think of it as a stream of consciousness of sorts on the current controversy.  Please note that all photos are my own.  Perhaps this essay will be of some use or help to you!

(Unfortunately, for several reasons including possible future publication options, a couple sections of this essay have been removed from the blog.)

     

   
     Once I first became aware of the nightmarish news out of Pennsylvania, I felt ill.  Since learning of the crimes, I’ve been dealing with alternating feelings of  shock, anger, and embarrassment for the immoral and criminal behavior of some of our clergy and leadership.  Where do we begin?  

     It seems that we must endeavor to address the victims of these crimes first.  But what can we possibly say to them besides sincerely seeking their forgiveness as members of the Church?  They already understand all too well that there are no perfect earthly institutions.  The Catholic Church betrayed them so completely, so scandalously, that one wonders if any of them remain Catholic today.  While it is true that institutions are run by imperfect people, and that we should endeavor to avoid letting negative experiences unduly color our larger view of an institution like a church, this is an essentially worthless and tone-deaf argument to try to make to a suffering victim.  Victims already understand perfectly well the evil that can come from otherwise good institutions, but what can we possibly offer them today?

     Perhaps it’s worth considering something like the safety message we are all familiar with hearing when we fly.  Remember the warning we receive to remember to put the oxygen mask on first in the event of a depressurization before trying to assist someone else?  That advice seems to be in accordance with common sense. In an emergency, it is sometimes prudent to attend to ourselves before we can adequately provide aid for those who depend upon us.  We are all in shock here, and it makes a modicum of sense to suggest that it’s too early for most of us lay people to offer much in the way of constructive words for the victims—other than we are terribly sorry for what happened. Meanwhile, may I suggest that we take hold of the mask and breathe in some fresh air to counter the growing stench of shock and anger?  As we begin to make sense of the larger picture, perhaps other meaningful, substantive words will be forthcoming for those who suffered evil at the hands of these ordained men of our church.

     One dimension of this tragedy that warrants particularly careful reflection and prayer is the way this issue keeps recurring within our history; it’s hardly new. In the 11^thcentury, for example, Saint Peter Damian wrote the following.

Listen, you do-nothing superiors of clerics and priests. Listen, and even though you feel sure of yourselves, tremble at the thought that you are partners in the guilt of others; those, I mean, who wink at the sins of their subjects that need correction and who by ill-considered silence allow them license to sin. Listen, I say, and be shrewd enough to understand that all of you alike are deserving of death, that is, not only those who do such things, but also they who approve those who practice them.

     The following related passage was purportedly written by Basil the Great within an early compilation of canon law known as the Decretum Gratiani. Its recognition today, however, seems to stem more from references made by Saint Peter Damian within hisown writings rather than this original compilation or collection of canon law. As a consequence, this quote is often misattributed to Saint Peter Damian rather than Basil the Great.

Any cleric or monk who seduces young men or boys, or who is apprehended in kissing or in any shameful situation, shall be publically flogged and shall lose his clerical tonsure. Thus shorn, he shall be disgraced by spitting into his face, bound in iron chains, wasted by six months of close confinement, and for three days each week put on barley bread given him toward evening. Following this period, he shall spend a further six months living in a small segregated courtyard in the custody of a spiritual elder, kept busy with manual labor and prayer, subjugated to vigils and prayers, forced to walk at all times in the company of two spiritual brothers, never again allowed to associate with young men for purposes of improper conversation or advice…

     Of course, even before Basil’s strong words from the 4th century, the New Testament itself seems to foreshadow this particular evil within the Church with the following passages from Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2.

If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.

and

It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

Between the preceding stern warnings and passages such as 1 Corinthians 11:27, concerning the eating of the bread and drinking “of the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,” or the warning concerning the “stricter standard” with regard to the teacher found in James 3:1, one can hardly deny that both holy Scripture and sacred tradition concretely warn of the fruits of this kind of immorality.  For those ministers who would dare lead Christ’s precious sheep astray, it would likely have been better for them, like Judas, if they had never been born.

     This dimension of stark severity, however, seems strangely absent within today’s modern Church: replaced often with dimensions of popular psychology or echoes of the Sexual Revolution.  Voices such as Father James Martin, the at-large editor of the once great America, The National Catholic Weekly, seem bent on moving the Catholic Church to an altogether different place—e.g. expressing “reverence” for homosexual unions and even the encouraging of transgenderism.   Unflinching orthodoxy, on the other hand, sees clearly that each act of abuse like those that took place in Pennsylvania, represents an act remarkably similar to Judas’ betrayal of Christ, actions that attack not only the living person of our Savior, but also His followers, and the Gospel itself.  

     Bishop Fulton Sheen, a particularly inspiring communicator for Christ’s Church, puts it this way in Radio Replies, Volume 1.

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that the closer the Church moves to embracing the world, the worse things become. It seems that we have exchanged being the salt of the world for the…flour, but where does this leave us today? I suggest that we first must acknowledge that something is seriously wrong with the structure and spirit of any church in which these crimes can be tolerated and overlooked. I have heard recently that Pope Francis may be prepared to call for a change to our Catechism to reflect the perceived immoral nature of the death penalty—and even more baffling pronouncements concerning a belief now that life sentences are tantamount to torture. Yet, so far as have heard, the relatively small section addressing sexual abuse (CCC 2389) does not appear to be headed for any similar expansion.

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     Given the numbers and historical context of this—not to mention a sense that things have grown worse as steps towards liberalization have been more greatly tolerated—I think we as Catholics must demand that the Church’s own published instructions be more closely followed. Below is an excerpt from “On Priesthood and Those with Homosexual Tendencies, Instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education.”

From the time of the Second Vatican Council until today, various documents of the Magisterium, and especially the Catechism of the Catholic Church, have confirmed the teaching of the Church on homosexuality. The Catechismdistinguishes between homosexual acts and homosexual tendencies.

Regarding acts, it teaches that Sacred Scripture presents them as grave sins. The Tradition has constantly considered them as intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law. Consequently, under no circumstance can they be approved.

Deep-seated homosexual tendencies, which are found in a number of men and women, are also objectively disordered and, for those same people, often constitute a trial. Such persons must be accepted with respect and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. They are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter.8

In the light of such teaching, this dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question,9 cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called "gay culture."10 

Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies…

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     If I were to endeavor to offer concrete advice going forward it would be to safeguard all vulnerable populations as if our spiritual lives depend upon it, take a one strike, you are out approach to abuse, embrace the cleansing quality of light and transparency in all of these affairs, and take meaningful steps towards reconciliation and forgiveness with those victims the Church has wounded so terribly.  Perhaps some of the wisest commentary concerning this spiritual crisis, however, is found within Archbishop Alexander Sample’s recent pastoral letter to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Portland. In this important letter, Archbishop Sample outlines four recommendations that include: increasing accountability of bishops in concrete and meaningful ways, initiating an outside investigation, bringing investigation to bear not only upon the perpetrators, but also those in authority who knew but failed to act, and ensuring that new reports of concern are never again whitewashed or ignored. These recommendations of accountability, if enacted, would take us far along the road of healing, reconciliation, and justice, because what we need today is unflinching orthodoxy and not false promises.