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	The Priesthood's Dark Valley By Mathew N. Schmalz Washington Post June 14, 2010 http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mathew_n_schmalz/2010/06/the_priesthoods_darkest_valley.html Last Friday, at the liturgy marking the end of "The Year of the Priest," Pope Benedict XVI once again addressed the scandal of clerical sexual abuse. Some media reports had indicated that the Pontiff would offer an extensive apology. While the Holy Father did indeed "beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved," he also quite passionately affirmed the distinctive vocation of the Catholic priesthood. Through his reflections, the Pontiff attempted to reconcile two seemingly opposed images: the "sins of priests" and "grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry." Such a task was not easy, but the Pope did it in a way that confounded conventional understandings of the sexual abuse scandal, not to mention my own initial reading of his remarks. The sexual abuse crisis in Catholicism is about many things, of course. But in terms of public discourse--whether it be official Vatican pronouncements, anti-Catholic polemics, or media reporting--the fundamental issue is one of narrative or, more simply, which story one chooses to believe. From one perspective, the sexual abuse scandal is a crisis of a priesthood and institution that are too removed from the world: celibacy, an exclusively male priesthood, as well as rigidly hierarchical notions of authority and obedience, create an insular culture that is unwilling, or unable, to see and to check its own faults and excesses. Only a priesthood that reflects and embraces the depth and breadth of human experience and identity can reform an institution that has lost its connection with those whom it seeks to serve. From another perspective, the sexual abuse scandal is a crisis of a priesthood and institution that are too close to the world: in an age of relativistic "tolerance" without a sense of truth or the sacred, the supernatural aspect of the priestly vocation is lost as is the ability to discern and identify authentic qualities necessary for priestly ministry. Only a priesthood that reflects and embraces the other-worldly end of human destiny can refocus an institution that has lost its way in its adaptation to contemporary intellectual fashions and cultural trends. Each of these views tells a story not only about where the Catholic Church has been, but where it needs to go in the future. To me, the Holy Father's remarks initially read as a rather uncritical affirmation of the second narrative that placed the origins of the scandal in the corrupting influence of the world. There were familiar villains of this well-known story: the Enlightenment, with its denial of a personal God; the Devil, whose seemingly successful recent efforts to undermine the priesthood only call attention to the priesthood's importance. Against this background, the priest becomes the hero, a shepherd with a "rod and staff." In this regard, of particular importance was Benedict's emphasis on the "rod" that "protects the faith against those who falsify it." Such remarks echoed not only the Pope's distrust of the contemporary world, but also the Catholic Church's efforts to re-establish the priest as someone truly set apart from the laity. For me, initially problematic was the implication that the sexual abuse scandal could be attributed largely to the influence of elements external to the Church itself. Equally problematic was the seeming lack of recognition of the role of the victims, as well as the laity and the non-Catholic press, in revealing the true extent of the crisis. Clearly, if the goal is a renewed and purified Church, then it has to be admitted that non-clerical voices sometimes speak the most clearly. But as I reread the Holy Father's remarks, I realized that his message was more nuanced than I had initially thought. The most compelling image was drawn from Psalm 23 as Benedict made reference to that "darkest valley" of "death" where no one except the Lord can "accompany us." Changing the image slightly, the Pope offered a prayer: "Help us priests, so that we can remain beside the persons entrusted to us in these dark nights." The word "entrusted" recalls the hierarchical sense of priesthood that the Pope certainly does wish to reaffirm. But the use of the word "beside" qualifies that sense of hierarchy, by evoking an image of companionship in a shared journey through the "darkest valleys" of human life. Indeed, it is a sign of God's "audacity" that he has entrusted himself to weak and fallible human beings to make Himself known. This Pope will most certainly not offer a confessional apology for the sexual abuse scandal in the manner that an elected official would. Expressed in complex theological language, the Pope's reflections do not have the kind of immediate resonance that many think is necessary given the scope of the crisis. But close attention to how the Pope is framing discussion also shows that his views cannot be easily subsumed within the standard narratives of the sexual abuse scandal. What comes through most clearly is Benedict's awareness of the extent of human frailty and of the absolute necessity of God's love and mercy. Recognizing the import of this observation does not in itself reconcile the competing narratives regarding clerical sexual abuse. But it does offer a necessary point of departure as the priesthood travels through a very dark valley.
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