One of the many deeply disturbing aspects of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been the lack of discussion about penance. While public apologies from bishops who protected abusive priests are becoming more common, doing penance to atone for individual sins is still too rare. This is even more confounding given that when confronting sin, the church has as an obvious model as a resource: the sacrament of reconciliation -- known by most people as "confession."
Every Catholic knows that forgiveness in the confessional demands penance. Reconciliation in the church requires the same thing.
This is why Pope Benedict XVI's remarks last week might be an important starting point. "[W]e Christians, even in recent times," he said, "have often avoided the word 'penance,' which seemed too harsh to us. Now [...] we see that being able to do penance is a grace and we see how it is necessary to do penance, that is, to recognize what is mistaken in our life, to open oneself to forgiveness, to prepare oneself for forgiveness, to allow oneself to be transformed. The pain of penance, that is to say of purification and of transformation, this pain is grace, because it is renewal, and it is the work of Divine Mercy."
If the church hopes to heal, the turn to penance is, as the pope says, "necessary." And I mean real penance.
To be clear, I am not speaking here of criminal activities. Obviously, any cleric who has done anything illegal -- the sexual abuse of minors, or anything else, for that matter -- should face, like anyone else, the full measure of the law. Sexual abusers should be in jail. Instead, I'm speaking of sin, a broader category. What is illegal is almost always sinful. But what is sinful is not always illegal. Sin is the larger category, and that is what I am addressing here.
Serious sin creates a rupture between the sinner and God, between the sinner and the community, and between the sinner and the one sinned against. That rupture must be healed. But without true penance, true healing will never take place. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in its lengthy section on penance, says bluntly, "The sinner must [...] make amends for the sin."
This may be one reason why many victims, victims' families, and advocacy groups (as well as many Catholics) are so angry with church leaders who seem to have done no real penance. For penance demonstrates not only to God but to the one sinned against (in these cases victims and their families) the seriousness with which the person takes his (or her) sins. Penance shows that you mean business when it comes to being forgiven.
Some argue that the Catholic Church has already done "penance" by paying out large legal settlements to victims and their families; or that the church has done "penance" by being forced to close schools and parishes and sell church property to pay legal fees; or that the universal church has done "penance" by seeing its stature seriously reduced in the public square. But those are involuntary actions in which the church had no choice. Penance, on the other hand, must be voluntary. The one seeking absolution willingly accepts penance and fully understands its theological and spiritual importance.
Think about the sacrament of reconciliation. When a Catholic seeks forgiveness of sins, he or she enters the confessional to hear a word of forgiveness spoken by a minister of the church in the name of God. But there are several steps that come before forgiveness. Each step, one by one, can help the church understand what it is called to do and how it must confront the sins of the fathers and begin to foster the healing needed in the wake of the abuse crisis.
First of all, the penitent confesses sin. That has already happened in some dioceses in the United States, where bishops have spoken of their errors, their failures, their misjudgments and their sins. It took a tragically long time for some church leaders to recognize the need to confess their sins publicly, but most eventually understood what they had to do.
Second, there needs to be a firm purpose of amendment, where the penitent demonstrates a seriousness about not sinning in the future. A person who says, "I sinned, but it wasn't a big deal," or, "I sinned, and I'll do it again," is not showing true contrition. As the Catechism states, "Contrition is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again." Some of that contrition began to take place in the church in this country, as with the meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002, when they adopted their "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," which set forth their now-famous zero-tolerance policy.
But before absolution is granted there is an important step: the acceptance of penance. And this is where too many church leaders have missed the mark, and why Benedict's homily is so critical. For some reason, the idea of penance seems to have eluded some bishops. Some who were responsible for the shuffling around of abusive priests decades ago have died. But some church leaders -- those still in office or retired -- seem to have a difficult time grasping that real penance, an actual penance, a hard penance, is a necessary part of the process of reconciliation.
If someone confesses a grave sin in confession -- murder, for instance -- the priest does not tell the person, "Say a Hail Mary." Great sins require great penances. Why, then, have so few bishops done penances that fit the sins of failing to protect children and young people? As the Catechism teaches very clearly, "[The penance] must correspond as far as possible with the gravity and nature of the sins committed." And the "gravity and nature" of these sins is immense.
The highest-profile cleric to resign in the United States during the abuse crisis was Bernard Cardinal Law, the powerful archbishop of Boston. In the eyes of many in the Vatican, the cardinal was demoted. After resigning his influential post he went to Rome in ignominy. But in the eyes of most of the faithful (especially in Boston), his "penance" was slight: today he serves as chief priest at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, one of the city's grand baroque churches, and he sits on the Vatican's Congregation of Bishops. Sometimes the penance doesn't seem to "correspond" to the sin. (One exception was the Bishop John Magee, the bishop of Cloyne, Ireland, who resigned outright after the scandals hit his diocese, and apologized to victims.)
More disturbing are penances directed to the wrong people. Occasionally bishops will invite all Catholics in their diocese to commit themselves to a general period of communal penance in "reparation" for the sins of sexual abuse by clergy. Pope Benedict's recent pastoral letter to the Irish church mentions this. In addition to prescribing penances for the clergy and members of religious orders, the pope exhorts "the faithful" to offer their "Friday penances" for one year.
On the one hand, the idea of the whole people acting together, as one, is theologically sound. One of the central images of the church is the "Body of Christ." The church, unified as a body, rejoices and suffers together. Thus the crime of sexual abuse tears at the body of the entire church. But this theological approach, when applied in this case, is misdirected, even offensive. Why should the Catholic "faithful" (the laity) repent for anything? They were not the guilty ones. It would be as if a penitent entered the confessional, confessed his sins, sought absolution, and said, "Could you give the penance to someone else?"
Sometimes a bishop proclaims his faults publicly, in a letter or during a liturgical event. In March, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian bishops' conference, read out a dramatic statement at St. Stephen's Cathedral. "Some of us have talked about the gracious God," he said, "and yet done evil to those who were entrusted to them." These symbolic actions can help to heal (although the "some of us" is maddeningly vague). But they are not penances; they are confession. A penance goes further. One of my hopes during the past Easter season was this: during the Holy Thursday Mass, when the presiding priest washes the feet of 12 parishioners (imitating how Jesus washed the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper), bishops could have washed the feet of sexual abuse victims, as a pentitential gesture. But even this would be just a "symbolic" presence. A penitent in a confessional is not asked to do something symbolic but something real, something difficult, something that costs him or her something.
What would a real penance look like? What kind of penance would "correspond," to use the Catechism's language, with these sins? Priests convicted of sexual abuse are laicized (that is, they have their priesthood taken away and are returned to the lay state) and, when convicted in court, spend time in jail. Those are grave penances (that's why jails were formerly called "penitentiaries") but are undertaken involuntarily. After serving time for their crimes, these offenders, no longer priests, should perform additional penances and spend the rest of their lives praying for their victims.
Decades ago, some bishops considered cases of abuse primarily moral offenses and relied overly on the advice of those psychiatrists and psychologists who recommended placing the offenders back in active ministry. But that misguided trust in the advice of some psychologists may explain placing a man back in ministry only once. Those who moved repeat offenders from parish to parish cannot blame this on psychologists. Thus, if those who have sinned expect real forgiveness from those against whom they have sinned, a real penance is "necessary," as Benedict said -- resigning from their posts, caring for the sick in hospitals in the inner city, working in a remote refugee camp, serving in a homeless shelter in a slum, or retiring to a monastery to pray for victims.
My point is not to proscribe individual penances. I don't know who has sinned and who hasn't; I cannot look into someone's soul. (And I'm sure victims would have ideas for even stronger penances.) The point is that the hierarchy, seeking a way toward healing, has a spiritual resource that it overlooks at its peril. And that is the sacrament of reconciliation, instituted at the behest of Jesus Christ himself, and which lies at the heart of Catholic theology. And penance, part of that sacramental model, will help to begin to heal the serious rupture in the church.
But there is a difference in this case: the one who forgives. In the confessional the priest grants absolution in the name of God to the layperson. When it comes to these sins, it is the layperson who must grant absolution to those clergy who are seeking forgiveness.
James Martin SJ is a Jesuit priest and author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.
Kim Michele Richardson: NUN ABUSE: A Survivor's Message for the Vatican
I agree with Sinead O'Connor who recently said that the Pope and all other offenders need to get down on their knees and confess to their flocks their sins, using the same language Catholics are taught to use in confession. The Pope and all other offenders from the church need to get down on their knees and beg for forgiveness.
Little kids should not have to confess anything to any priest after what clergy members did to children. I realize not all priests are abusers, but kids confessing to any priest now really rubs me the wrong way.
Although I was raised Catholic, I want nothing more to do with the Catholic church, which is run by a bunch of old, out-of -touch men and is basically a haven for abusers and criminals.
It's tiring to see that everybody somehow expects them to "reform" --- that's like waiting for the Mafia to reform, except that here we have folks here that think of themselves (and are being thought of by their deluded followers) as being the representatives of the deity. It's the Mafia with a God complex. A celibate, horny Mafia with a God complex and an infallibility doctrine that are being put in charge of kids that look at them as the representatives of God.
The best we can hope for are some mealy-mouthed excuses, a few heads rolling, and then it will be business as usual. Nah, this stuff needs to end, and the only way it ends is that Catholics (and their cash) leave this church, and law enforcement wipes up the rest.
The RCC didn't give a second thought about criminal justice.
Their spiritual law is more important to them.
Meanwhile the victims list grew exponentially!
Take off your vestments Father and walk around in the real world.
Talk to the mother's of the abused.
Then get back to us about penance.
must also do penance? The Church requires, no, DEMANDS, that a priest
must divorce himself from his basic nature, and that includes sexual fulfillment.
He must be celibate.
THEN it creates an environment for him in which that nature is funneled into
the strictest possible outcome and then acts surprised when the nature of
man wins out over what the church wants! You want zombies for priests but
you want your zombies to be saintly and god-like! Utterly insane!
THESE ARE MEN, not Gods! The entire Corporate Organization of religion is
guilty by default and should do "penance"!
It's what the sinner has to do to get back into God's good graces.
Actually, Christian salvation is the exact opposite of taking responsibility. Christ took on all the responsibility so we don't have to. I suspect that's why so many strongly-believing Christians act so irresponsibly.
With all due Respect, absolution comes from the Priest, "in persona Christi", " using the power that Christ entrusted to The Church and by which he pardons the sins of the penitent." (CCC, no 1424)
"Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorder sin has caused...the sinner must expiate his sin by doing Penance." (CCC-The Sacrament of Penance)
As to all the members of His Church doing Penance for The Good of The Church, let us not forget that, He Who Was without sin, Laid down His Life for His Beloved.
A perfect penance would be removal of the offending organ. Celibate men don't really need them anyway.
I really like what James Martin had to say. I think he really understands the issue and how to resolve/reconcile it. (If I wasn't an atheist, I'd aspire to being a Jesuit.)
The only thing I would add is the importance of secular society and other religious sects knowing who the paedophiles are so they can be added to sex offender registries, so other organizations don't give these men unsupervised direct access to children.
That means the Catholic Church turning over its files on alleged paedophile priests of the last (say) 30 years to police so they can be investigated.
I'm not a Catholic, but I don't think you can do penance before ceasing the sin.
The sin of many is the cover up and concealment of pedophile priests and ex-priests, discouraging or prohibiting children from talking about what was done to them, prohibiting them from seeking counseling or help from police.
I think partly it is a sin of pride, of thinking that "people like us can do no wrong".
(1) Turn over files on paedophile priests world-wide to police.
(2) Release abused children world-wide from their oaths of silence.
(3) Institute a world-wide policy of reporting accusations of paedophilia to police, regardless of whether required by local laws.
(4) Send paedophile priests world-wide back to face criminal charges where appropriate, and pay court ordered restitution for past negligence that allowed children to be abused.
Only after this confession phase, only after the sinning stops, can apologies, repentance and penance be meaningful.
In our modern times some repentance and some penance is going to be determined by courts in liability payments and criminal sentences.
To me as an outsider, I'll be satisfied with fair court judgments met.
But I have no objections to people doing further penance.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/300-abuse-cases-one-defrocking-20100421-szz6.html
Sinead O'Connor is a Spirit-filled Catholic (whoa!), and the truth of that Spirit was so evident in her on Rachel's show. Her struggle was for righteousness against the shameful nature of her church's hierarchy. For Justice.
I was also moved by her - as well as her fellow abuse victims' - belief in the U.S. media, and how they were so thankful and relieved that our big newspapers had taken hold of the scandal. That America wouldn't "take any nonsense, and they don't take any prisoners" in situations like this. Sinead certainly has great faith, and may her faith and perseverance be rewarded in a Church refined in the fire, swept clean and freed to be a true consort and temple for the Spirit she loves.
"Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
MLKjr
Your point about the time lag for the appearance of abuse is also precise. Children need a sense of perspective derived from living in a broader world than their family of origin before they may be able to identify, objectively, that they have been abused. Secrecy and isolation promote that as well.