BishopAccountability.org
	Religious Cancer By Dr. Jaime Romo Healing and Spirituality November 23, 2010 http://www.jaimeromo.com/blog/ What would ‘House’ the TV doctor say to the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? “Bishop Doyle, you have a problem.” “What do you mean? We’re not in crisis.” “Do you understand that the person who was normally to be appointed to the president of NCCB was passed over and clergy abuse activists are happy about your appointment? Have you ever known clergy abuse activists to be happy about a bishop appointment?” “No, I didn’t think about it.” “Forget that for a minute. You have a problem. People are leaving your church in droves. You are hemorrhaging members, your life’s blood. “ 1/3 of church is gone. “Well, everyone is feeling the pinch in these religious-economic hard times.” “This isn’t working. Have you heard of the expression, You’re as sick as your secrets?” “Uh, sure.” “OK. Do you have any secrets in your collective church history?” “Not really. Our attorneys are making sure that we are complying with the law.” “Exactly. The problem, bishop, is that you have cancer. Religious cancer. The secret of clergy abuse is not just old news; it’s not something that everyone has adjusted to. It is killing every religious group. If untreated, you’ll be dead in two years. I don’t know if that’s the prediction of the Mayans beginning in 2012, but I suggest that you participate in an intensive program now.” So, that conversation between House and the bishop may never happen, and the reality is that there is a crisis that continues in churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues. On one hand, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, based on interviews with a representative sample of thirty-five thousand adult Americans, reported that one out of every three adult Americans who were raised Catholic have left the church. If these ex-Catholics were to form a single church, they would constitute the second largest church in the nation. On a bigger social plate, 39,000,000 Americans have experienced sexual abuse in their lifetimes. That’s a conservative number. 20% of any group (temples, mosques, churches, synagogues) carries some kind of abuse experience. A recent study from Baylor points out that clergy abuse among all religious groups continues today. Who knows how many people who have suffered domestic violence or sexual abuse have sought and not found sanctuary or healing in their respective churches, temples, mosques, or synagogues? There is a problem and the solutions cannot be symptomatic (e.g., adding a policy). The solutions must come from the ground up as well. Top down approaches to prevention include screening, education programs for volunteers. However, when people or institutions rush to top down solutions, they too often bypass the conversations that need to happen at the ground level. In these ground level conversations, people must be able to express their frustrations, sense of betrayal, outrage or whatever it is that this whole issue has brought. That is part of the festering dis-ease that keeps the top down solutions from being more effective. Every congregation, mosque, temple, synagogue must have a few things in place for the 20% to know that they can bring their wounds or concerns or dis-ease to be healed. Anyone abused by clergy or anyone else must know that this organization is a place to bring this wound to be healed. Point (support) person(s) must be known/ understood in and by congregation. There must be ongoing congregational education to clarify and develop healthy boundaries, authority, and roles. There must be meaningful assessment that is grounded in that congregation/ local membership history and culture. The safe church/ synagogue/ temple/ mosque policy must be understood and owned in some way by everyone. These would help everyone know that it is safe to bring past wounds (clergy abuse or other) to be healed. Whatever is happening with bishop placements, in a sense, is irrelevant when this ground work is not being done. The courts will continue to operate as people come forward, and people come forward through courts because they have not been listened to and believed and assured with integrity that church leaders are enacting accountability. The evidence that this is not the case is reflected in the redacted and incomplete files (see San Diego diocese) that have finally been released after years of legal delays and battles by church attorneys. The files show that abusive clergy were moved from setting to setting, that there were prior allegations and then victims and their family members were lied to. What’s the treatment? Part of the intervention or treatment for religious cancer is to take out the cancerous lumps. In this case, there is also a need for the healthy cells (members) to speak up and speak to the unhealthy behaviors in the body. This may be a painful process that makes everyone sick or feel weaker as they practice this boundary management or naming and repelling abusive practices. Part of the education process for members may be to learn about systemic abuse and how secrets have been kept (Abuse Tracker). Read the Bishop Accountability lists of the San Diego files; join with survivors to educate others; create spaces for dialogue or listening with survivors (see Compassionate Gatherings in Portland). For many, as Peter Steinfelt, author of ‘A People Adrift’ note, “For some Catholics, this grieving has clearly passed beyond anger. It seems to border now on resignation to either a death of faith or withdrawal from the church. For others, it means the impossibility of being in any way a “public Catholic,” whether in their fields of work, their communities, their parishes, or their circles of family and friends. Pray, receive the sacraments, button one’s lips, shrug off the latest self-destructive actions by church officials, and devote one’s talents and resources elsewhere. (See Cathleen Kaveny, “Long Goodbye.”) The Portland ruling against the Boy Scouts last spring showed that the statute of limitations can be interpreted to mean that a person has X amount of years to report from the time that person understands that her current suffering/ distress is the result of past sexual abuse by a representative of the organization. Clearly, there is much to be done when church leaders say that there is no crisis.
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