Shepherd 1 lands at Andrews Air Force Base; photo by Getty Images
And so it has begun.
While still aboard Alitalia’s Shepherd 1, Benedict XVI responded to a few questions from reporters, including one on the clergy sexual abuse scandal which has rocked the church around the world. AP reports:
Benedict had only begun his six-day journey when he addressed sex abuse, the most painful issue for the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S…"It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children."
"We are* deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said on the flight from Rome to Washington, speaking in English as he responded to questions submitted by reporters ahead of time.
Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Catholic Church.
"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound.”
Two phrases in this report stand out for me.
First: “We are* deeply ashamed…”
I have walked in procession into the cathedral in Boston while sidewalk protesters chanted, “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and held placards bearing the same accusing word. But I don’t know of any Catholic hierarch who has personally acknowledged shame on account of the sexual abuse perpetrated on the innocent young by priests and bishops. I have heard cardinals and bishops apologize for the harm done by priests but admitting shame may be an even more difficult thing to do, a more profound statement to utter.
I’m not sure what I expected the pope to say about the abuse scandal, but I don’t believe I expected this. I am grateful that he said it.
Second: “We will do everything possible to heal this wound.”
Many things are possible in this regard and many things have already been done. Still, the one thing many are demanding may be the one thing the pope is least likely to do: hold bishops accountable by relieving them of their episcopal appointments.
From my perspective as a pastor I have noted many times that since the story of abuse broke in 2002 the anger and rage among the people of God has been primarily targeted at bishops and diocesan leadership. While the perpetrators certainly aren’t the objects of sympathy, there is an intuition and insight among the Catholic faithful that the blame be placed at least as squarely on administrators as on the abusers. While mitigating factors have largely precluded the possibility of civil or criminal charges against such leaders, many believe that the Church must hand down its own justice and hold accountable those who failed to remove abusing clergy from ministry and report them to the law.
If all bishops who have transferred abusive priests (knowingly or unknowingly) were held to such accountability, the number of bishops remaining in ministry would be drastically reduced. And many Catholics would be pleased by that. But I do not expect to see such accountability exercised. Nor do I expect to see some number of bishops stripped of office as an example to others. While it’s easy to conclude that this is a case of the “old boys” taking care of each other, I see it as much more the result of blind adherence to structures very much in need of radical review and renewal.
There are layers of sadness in all this. The deepest stratum is the abuse visited on the unsuspecting and the violation of their innocence, trust and faith. Just above that is the sadness of powerful men failing to use their power when it was most needed. Yet another layer is the continuing, debilitating impact this history has on the life, development and future of the Church. The Church will be hobbled by this weakness, handicapping its every move until, indeed, “we do everything possible to heal this wound.”
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, archbishop of Boston, said this past week that he was certain that the pope would address clergy sexual abuse in the course of this papal visit. I trust that Benedict’s unscripted words on the plane are not the sum of what he has to say on this issue and that we will be hearing more.
*When I first posted this piece I was working with the initial report of the pope's exchange with the press which quoted him as saying "I am deeply ashamed..." Later transcripts of the conversation indicate that Benedict said, "We are deeply ashamed..." I'm not suggesting that this lessens the import or impact of the statement but I don't want readers to think that I have manipulated the text in any way for any purpose.
-ConcordPastor
I was glad that the Pope did talk about the abuse and was "ashamed" but like you I hope there is more to come. Perhaps he will be advised to continue to try and heal the Church in the US. Thanks for the insight.
ReplyDeleteHere is what the victims had to say about the pope's remarks.
ReplyDelete"These words don't mean anything," said David Carney, a Dedham native who said he was abused by a priest when he was 15. "If you want to fix a problem, do something about it."
"I went public with my abuse back in December of 1992," said Phil Saviano, founder of the New England chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests who said he was raped by a priest when he was 12. "And here it is, 2008, and we have the head of the Catholic Church who is still apologizing, still promising to make reforms, still promising to get on top of the issue."
"Did he mention the fact that this was a lot more painful for the children than it was for the church? I'm insulted," said Susan Renehan, a single mother from Southbridge who said she was repeatedly molested by a priest when she was in the seventh and eighth grades.
"That's the problem with the church: They are so self-absorbed in their holiness that they forget that there were actual children that were tortured and raped and then let go," she said.
Maryetta Dussourd, who said her three children and four nephews were abused by Geoghan in the 1970s, called the pope's remarks "hollow."
"It almost sounds like the church was the victim, but it's about our innocent babies," said Dussourd.
"He should be ashamed that he is not meeting with survivors and talking with us," said Robert Costello of Norwood, who said he was molested as a boy, referring to Benedict's comment that he was "deeply ashamed" of sexual abuse by priests.
"I'm not asking this man to walk in my shoes. I'm asking him to walk next to me," said Gary Bergeron of Salem, N.H., who said that he, his brother, and father were abused sexually by priests. Bergeron called the Pope's decision to bypass Boston "an opportunity missed."
Anne Barrett Doyle, a cofounder or BishopAccountability.org, a Massachusetts group that tracks suspected sexual abuse by priests, said Benedict's comments indicated that "he had no intention to come here to clean house."
The pope "glossed over the culpability of the bishops . . . who knowingly allowed children to be put in harm's way, transferred abusers from one parish to another, did not turn in abusers to the police," said Doyle. "What I fear that this signifies is that he will once again fail to point blame to bishops who supervised the abusers, who knowingly kept child abusers in ministry."
Before he became pope, former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was responsible at the Vatican for deciding whether to discipline priests accused of sexual abuse. But he has said or done little in public about the abuse issue until yesterday.
“He talks about feeling shame for the scandal but it’s a far cry from the shame that victims have had to live with our entire lives,” said Becky Ianni, 50, an abuse victim who joined a vigil in front of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church here.
Holding an eight-foot-long vinyl banner with photographs of more than 60 children abused by priests, a group of about a half-dozen victims and supporters gathered to voice their frustrations with the pope.
The protesters explained that the 15 or so faces on the banner that were framed with black boxes were those of abuse victims who committed suicide.
“We don’t really need his sense of shame,” said Ms. Ianni, who said she was abused by her parish priest in Alexandria Va., from age 9 to 11. “We need him to take firm actions to correct the situation.”
Robert Costello, however, was among the child abuse victims not moved by the pope’s remarks. “I think they were rehearsed,” he said.
At a news conference in Boston organized by a victims’ group, Mr. Costello, who said he was abused by a priest in West Roxbury, Mass., starting when he was 10, said he was shocked that the pope would talk about his own suffering and that of the church while making no mention of the harm done to victims.
“What about the suffering of the children?” he said, adding that he planned to travel to New York to read aloud the names of victims on Friday while the pope addresses the United Nations.
At the vigil in Washington, another victim, Peter Isley, who is a national board member of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the pope’s comments rang hollow. “The pope says he has empathy and that he doesn’t understand how this could happen, and yet he is not willing to talk to actual victims to get our input,” he said.
Various victims’ organizations requested several months ago that the pope or his representatives meet with them during the papal visit, Mr Isley said, but all such requests were met with silence.
Mr. Isley added that like most victims, he wants two clear actions from the pope. First, he wants him to announce this week that he plans to change canon law so that every priest who has assaulted a child anywhere in the world will be removed from ministry. Second, he wants the pope to announce plans to take disciplinary action against any bishop who has been involved in covering up an assault.
Anne Barrett Doyle co-director of Bishop Accountability, a Web site that documents the sexual abuse scandal, expressed similar skepticism. She said that what the pope did not say is more important that what he did.
“Rather than shifting attention to pedophile priests, he needs to focus on the culpability of bishops,” she said. “The crisis occurred because many U.S. bishops were willing to hide their priests’ crimes from the police with lies.”
I'm glad to see some of the victims responses posted in the combox. Your posts on the pope, concordpastor, have been well written and also entertaining at times. But it's important to hear the other side also. The victims should have been invited to meet with the pope, whether it be in Boston, New York, or Washington. The focus should be on the victims, not the shame of the church. There should be, as someone in the Globe pointed out, therapy established for the victims through the church.
ReplyDeleteMore should be done than what has already been done.
Barbara Thorpe heads the office for outreach to the survivors for the RCAB. Therapy has been offered for several years now to any survivors who wish to avail themselves of this service. My sincere hope is that the pope on his visit to the United States will become aware of just how deep-seated are the emotions of those who have been abused. While he and many in Rome and bishops worldwide have been well aware of the abuse crisis for years, my sense is that they truly have not understood the depth of the pain and suffering that survivors have endured. I hope that the continued publicity and protests during the pope's visit will leave no doubt in his mind that he must do more to help the survivors. Even though it hasn't been planned as part of his trip, I think if the pope met with David Clohessy and some of the survivors it would make a great deal of difference in how they viewed the pope's sincerity.
ReplyDelete