Two Books Look at Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis, by Brian T. Olszewski, Catholic San Francisco, October 13, 2010

Two Books Look at Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis

By Brian T. Olszewski
Catholic San Francisco
October 13, 2010

http://www.catholic-sf.org/news_select.php?newsid=10&id=57699

"WHEN VALUES COLLIDE: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, SEXUAL ABUSE AND THE CHALLENGES OF LEADERSHIP" by Joseph P. Chinnici. Orbis Books (Maryknoll, N.Y., 2010). 192 pp., $25.

"POPE BENEDICT XVI AND THE SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS: WORKING FOR REFORM AND RENEWAL" by Gregory Erlandson and Matthew Bunson. Our Sunday Visitor (Huntington, Ind., 2010). 207 pp., $12.95.

(CNS) – Given the number of books written over the past eight years about the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the United States, one wonders if another one would offer new insights. "When Values Collide" does. Franciscan Father Joseph P. Chinnici was provincial minister in the Franciscans' Province of St. Barbara from June 1988 to January 1997. Four years into that position, he had to deal with allegations that members of his religious community had abused members of the Santa Barbara Boys Choir and St. Anthony Seminary during the '70s.

The national revelation of the sexual abuse scandal was still 10 years away, as was the Dallas "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" and all the initiatives that followed. Thus, Father Chinnici, his community and the board of inquiry that dealt with the abusers and their victims were pioneers. In recounting their work, he tells a story that includes the effects and the affected – staples of stories that would be told a decade later, but which were unique in 1992 and 1993.

What makes "When Values Collide" different from previous books about the scandal is the immersion of the author in the story. He is not an outsider trying to prove a hypothesis based upon empirical data. Nor does he merely narrate another story about the scandal. Instead, Father Chinnici stands amid the collision of values, e.g., those of society, those of church leaders, those of Franciscans, and directs traffic.

It is intense reading as it is as much a commentary as it is a reflection, and in reflecting he raises questions that church leaders, clergy and the faithful in the community will want to ask of themselves and of the institutional church, e.g., how can this awareness of sin in the church be integrated into the continuing life of faith and action? Readers should plan to periodically stop reading as they take time to form their responses to what he asks.

As one might expect, Franciscan spirituality permeates the text, which is what makes the book even more valuable to readers. Father Chinnici draws upon the words of St. Francis and St. Bonaventure, as well as the Rule of St. Francis in writing about leadership, power, community, responsiveness, trust, relationships – all elements directly related to the abuse scandal and how it was and is being handled. The tone is not accusatory, but rather promotes reconciliation and an approach that asks how the church can embrace the experience and grow in faith as a result of it.

Father Chinnici notes that he'd like the book to "help move our national discussion and actions beyond partisanship and also enable the continuing story from the viewpoint of the victims to be more clearly heard, assimilated and collaboratively addressed." If read by people who want that to occur, "When Values Collide" will fulfill the author's hope for his work.

Anyone who has ever wanted the media to report "the other side" of the sexual abuse crisis will find it in Gregory Erlandson and Matthew Bunson's work, "Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis." It is more of a view than a side, as it is an apologia for Pope Benedict and his effort to seek healing for the abused and justice for those who harmed them and/or allowed the harm to continue. Often reading like a well-developed term paper, the book states the case for a caring, proactive church, particularly in the United States, in the more than eight years since the Dallas charter was written and implemented. Selected quotes from Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington are employed to make the authors' case that the church in the U.S. is more vigilant and proactive church in preventing abuse and in reaching out to victims.

They are clear, however, in noting that clergy sexual abuse was not solely a U.S. problem but one that existed in the church throughout the world. Indeed, much attention is given, and documentation included, regarding the papal response to the crisis in Ireland.

In a chapter devoted to the existence of abuse throughout much of the church's history, the authors contend that "sexual sins have always been present because they are part of our fallen nature." They continue, "The historical efforts (to deal with abuse 'mercifully' and 'justly') are not the source of shame or failure by an ineffective church. Rather, they are a testament to the church's commitment to living as we are called by Christ and to bringing reform in every age of the world."

While Erlandson and Bunson have touched upon various elements of the scandal, some elements, such as the amount of money U.S. dioceses have paid to settle lawsuits with victims, are worthy of books themselves. Even the work of Pope Benedict warrants further study.

As long as readers understand that this isn't as much about journalism as it is about stating another view of the abuse scandal and the church's response to it, they will appreciate the book as a quick reference, with appendices, to what the pope and others have said about abuse and the church's response to it. The authors, who maintain the "clergy sexual abuse crisis ... will most likely define the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI," want readers to appreciate what the pope and other church leaders have done in responding to abusers and victims. It is likely that they will.