PENNSYLVANIA
The Triangle
By Father Bill Grogan
Published: Friday, October 14, 2005
This is a guest submission from Father Bill Grogan, the director of the Newman Center at Drexel University. The Newman Center is seperate, independent entity from the University and the views expressed in this commentary are of Fr. Grogan and do not represent the views of the administration of Drexel University.
Editorial Response
Your editorial, "Accused Administrator", in the October 7, 2005 edition of The Triangle, was a much-appreciated effort at calling for a balanced point of view among your readers concerning this calamity and this great sadness that is upon us. Thanks for your effort. Really.
I hope you won't be discouraged if your summons to our community bears no fruit soon.
The depth of the hurt that many of our sisters and brothers have endured over this issue makes it exceedingly difficult to hold on to the fundamentally merciful presumption of innocence for those accused of sexual crimes. I think that people really try to live up to this presumption. It just hurts too much. We can hope for the healing that will permit the ones most deeply wounded to recover the desire to forgive, but when the wound is fresh our instinct for vengeance seems too strong. Especially we (some of my brothers in the clergy, and the church I represent), who stand so desperately in need of forgiveness from those who we have hurt, surely must be in the vanguard when it comes to forgiving the vengeance that merely stings by comparison. We (the same "we") have much to do by way of reparation. Maybe bearing the vengeance of those we have hurt is a beginning.