This January marks the 10th anniversary of the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian denominations. What began as a series of news reports in the Boston Globe about six Roman Catholic priests and the cover-up arranged by Cardinal Law led to accusations against Christian leaders across the United States and internationally.
Ten years after the scandal erupted, clergy sexual abuse has been reported everywhere from Austria to Australia, and while it remains the case that only a small percentage of Christian clergy perpetrate sexual abuse, the effects of this small number of individuals is felt, at some level, by every Christian and by clergy trying to understand what the scandal means for them as leaders.
While they don't make news headlines, the majority of priests and pastors across denominations do not commit abuse, and this group of individuals take their vocation very seriously. They dedicate their lives to bringing Christianity's hope to their communities, to allowing God's light to permeate the darkness.
What effect, then, has the sexual abuse scandal in the Church had on them?
Clergy realize that one of the most prominent ramifications of the scandal is the way in which the safety of the Church is no longer assumed. Ten years ago, many people, including clergy, assumed the church was a safe place for all people, including children, just as prior to Sept. 11, a certain amount of airport security was assumed in the United States that we no longer take for granted, as we remove our shoes at security checkpoints, stand in full-body scanners and submit to questioning by TSA officials. Likewise, clergy ordained prior to the sex abuse scandal remember a time when the Church was an assumed safe place. Today, that assumption is not made in the same way.
As a result, many clergy have felt disempowered, disheartened and spiritually bereft during the past decade. Discovering a colleague abused another person raises basic questions for them about who to trust and how to balance punishment with rehabilitation when dealing with the offender. They also wonder how best to assist victims and whether victims will ever be able to trust them and the Church given their previous experiences.
Clergy also face the ramifications of false accusations. Though most people who accuse another of misconduct tell the truth, when a pastor hears about colleagues falsely accused many feel afraid for their own futures:
What if I am accused of something I did not do?
What if I become the person who engages in misconduct?
What if my bishop or superior protects an abuser?
As a result, many clergy worry in a way they never did 20 years ago about whether or not it's okay to have a conversation with a parishioner and close the door to their office; they worry about whether or not to hug a young child; they worry about the trustworthiness of their colleagues, superiors and the church at large.
The past 10 years have allowed clergy to witness the truth about sexual misconduct, but, contrary to what the biblical text says, that truth hasn't always set them free. As Susan Brison, a survivor of a sexual assault and attempted murder, has written, "It has been hard for me, as a philosopher, to learn the lesson that knowledge isn't always desirable, that the truth doesn't always set you free. Sometimes, it fills you with incapacitating terror and, then, uncontrollable rage."
While this truth has a deep and abiding effect on many clergy, one of the things I have noticed about my colleagues is that they refuse to let terror and rage have the last word. Seeking, as their vocation calls them to do, to bring light to even the darkest places, many clergy sought to restore confidence in the Church through facing the reality of sexual misconduct and educating themselves. Today, many engage in a variety of training sessions designed for themselves, lay leaders and congregants. Across denominations, they attend programs like Safe Church that train them about appropriate interactions with the people entrusted to their care. These programs allow clergy to recognize the signs of misconduct, so that they can prevent sexual abuse in themselves or their peers before harm occurs to another human being.
And hopefully, that knowledge becomes power. It becomes the light that shines in the darkness. Because while clergy can't return to a time when sexual misconduct was not part of the Christian vocabulary or ignore the reality that leaders have harmed many in the Church, sometimes in ways so deep that healing is never fully experienced in this life, they want to assist survivors and prevent further abuse however they can. In that conviction, I believe, lies the hope, and the future, of the Church.
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And the beginning of the exposure of this entrenched cover-up of sex crimes goes back to around 1991 with the prosecution of Fr. Porter, also a Massachusetts priest. That was back when the Boston Archdiocese was blaming The Boston Globe for fabricating the crisis, as they continued to transfer priest rapists to other parishes.
I have some sympathy for innocent priests, but not much. They above all others had to know all that went on, but they were too cowardly to take action. Joe Paterno had nothing on them.
They all knew about it, and here's why. Every time they raped a child, they went to confession and got it absolved. In 10 minutes, through the Catholic-invented magic of confession, they are without sin.
In the 70s and 80s, at least 9% of priests were child rapists. You have to assume they didn't stop at raping a child once, and you have to assume that they raped as many children as they could get away with. Say each priest raped just 10 children over his pedophile career, and raped each child 10 times.
That means he told 100 confessions, which had to be told to dozens of priests, so most priests must have know about it.
Even this "Safe Church" program, while it sounds useful, doesn't protect the community from administrative cover-ups.
Catholic clergy did ans said NOTHING...they are all enablers, they are all guilty.
-Pope Benedict XVI, Letter to Ireland, March 19 2010
Oh, and check out my big hat.
Please explain why one should worry about what the clergy feel about this? At the risk of sounding deliberately obtuse on this topic, shouldn't we be more worried about the victims and potential new victims?
While the rest are busy covering it up. Sorry but anyone who leaves a child with a Priest for even a minute should be investigated by Social Services for reckless child endangerment.
What caused the Catholic clergy abuse scandals? When they ignored Truth, that is, the Holy Spirit of the living God residing in ALL creatures and replaced it with the whims of Constantine, intellectuals like Thomas Aquinas who believed that one had to have an education to receive the Holy Spirit, prestige and putting oneself above the teachings of Christ. The flesh is weak, but the spirit is strong. If one strives to allow the Holy Spirit to take charge,then the desires of the flesh are kept under control. They are just not taught the Truth. As the crimes of the RC Hierarchy are exposed, more and more of the faithful to Christ who are held captive to the laws made by the elite will seek out the Truth individually and allow the healing to begin.
It has nothing to do with the theology of the Catholic faith. Cases like this happen in many religions, from evangelicalism to Judaism.
prosecute rather than protect, they would keep eachother in check they way it's designed to work. If you're not prepared to be martyred; to DIE for the way, the TRUTH and the life, you have no business in the priesthood. Protecting Holy Mother Church does NOT mean "turn a blind eye." The confraternity of priests is NOT Holy Mother Church. The only priest who deserves compassion is Father Thom Doyle. And he's not asking for it. He's just DOING WHAT HE WAS CALLED to do. The rest should learn by his fearless example.
1. that a far larger percentage of clergy "perpetrate sexual abuse" of children than anyone previously expressed publicly and
2. that a far larger number (indeed a majority of clergy) will choose to be silent, protect and enable the rapists than anyone is even willing to acknowledge and
3. As the Penn State debacle demonstrates this habit of closing ranks and protecting child rapists and institutions rather than the children is hardly limited to clergy.
Catholics like Archbishop Dolan & the Cahtolic League will obviously mislead the congregation and cite extrapolation studies based on 225 people or cite studies that only took samples for a year or whatever, but the permanent truth is on the internet, and teenagers of the future will see the fraudulence of the Catholic church.
And those are just he ones they KNOW about. The real number is probably 3-5 times that.
"...those are just he ones they KNOW about..."
To
"...those are just the ones they ADMIT to..."