Patriot-News
April 16, 2010
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2010/04/vatican_response_sexual_abuse.html
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| Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades said recently sexual abuse of minors is an appalling sin. Yet the Catholic Church needs to move more quickly on protecting children. Photo by John C. Whitehead, The Patriot-News, 2010 |
The contrast could not have been more stark.
Thursday, a Cedar Cliff High School social studies teacher was arrested and charged with indecent assault. It turned out that, on Saturday, a teenage girl came forward to police with allegations of sexual advances. On Monday, school officials suspended the teacher while the investigation went forward.
That same day, the Vatican issued guidelines intended to clarify church policy regarding sexual abuse. Yet those guidelines were not half as aggressive as the actions taken by Cedar Cliff and Lower Allen Twp.
Since the wave of sexual abuse cases broke in the 1980s, many Catholics have watched with a mixture of deep anger, intense sadness and even betrayal. The most recent stories about a priest abusing deaf boys in Wisconsin from 1950 to 1974, and the church’s unwillingness to defrock him, are only the latest heartbreaking revelations.
At the same time, many Catholics have felt the need to defend their church, explaining to friends or co-workers that the scandals neither define the institution nor diminish the faith by which they live.
They are right in the sense that the frailties — and even crimes — of men only reaffirm, rather than negate, the Christian message.
They also are right that sexual abuse of children, tragically, might be no more prevalent in the Catholic church than anywhere else. While estimates vary, a comprehensive report by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System found that 12 percent of all children from 1992 to 2001 had suffered some form of sexual abuse.
In central Pennsylvania, just recently, we have seen a West Shore fire commissioner, a “friendly” Middletown neighbor, a former Marine and a former Protestant minister accused or convicted of sexually abusing minors. We have seen others in positions of trust — not only clergy but teachers and coaches — victimize young boys and girls.
Whatever the exact number, one thing has set the abuse by Catholic priests apart: the response of the church.
That is why the Vatican’s “Guide to Understanding Basic CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) Procedures concerning Sexual Abuse Allegations” issued this week was so, well, dispiriting.
Instead of demonstrating the church’s resolve, it exemplified the frustrations that many American Catholics, their friends and well-wishers have felt.
The guide begins by stating that “civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed.” It is hardly reassuring to know that priests and bishops are required to follow the law. Yet that is virtually the only thing they are required to do.
Bishops “may” safeguard children by restricting the activities of an accused priest.
If the priest is found guilty in a church hearing, the bishop “can” impose various canonical penalties. If the priest admits to his crimes, the bishop is “authorized” to prohibit him from public ministry.
May. Can. Authorized.
Not must, must, must.
Contrast this with the former cantor at Chisuk Emuna Congregation in Harrisburg. When allegations of inappropriate touching of two girls came to light in 2001, the synagogue acted swiftly by placing him on administrative leave.
In 2005, a Cumberland Valley High School softball coach was accused of sexual abuse and immediately placed on leave. In 2006, a Susquehanna Twp. High School driver’s education teacher was accused of molesting a student and immediately suspended as well.
And now, Cedar Cliff.
Each time, their first instinct was to protect children, not the institution. The cantor and coach were found guilty; the teacher was acquitted. But while the justice system was sorting things out, children were taken out of harm’s way.
Eight years ago, the U.S. bishops themselves issued guidelines that were tougher than those issued by the Vatican this week.
Their “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” does not require an accused priest to be immediately removed from contact with children. It does require that a review board, including a majority of lay members, consider the case; it prohibits transfers of accused priests; and it directs the bishop to “ensure” that a priest who has sexually abused a minor “not continue in active ministry.”
Former Harrisburg Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, who returned on Saturday to dedicate the new St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Church in Susquehanna Twp., eloquently summed up the twin yearnings of 68 million American Catholics.
On the one hand, he expressed heartfelt support for the spiritual father of all Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI. On the other hand, he said “The sexual abuse of minors is an appalling sin and a crime. We are ashamed of it and have zero tolerance for it.”
From his mouth to God’s ear — and the Vatican’s.
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