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	Monday's Commentary: Linda Lemura and Rev. David McCallum Say Le Moyne College Appropriate Place to Discuss Issues like Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal By Linda Lemura and Rev. David McCallum Syracuse.com April 11, 2011 http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/04/mondays_commentary_linda_lemur.html As the American Catholic Church is once again rocked by painfully familiar allegations of clerical sexual abuse and episcopal malfeasance, a Catholic, Jesuit college might seem the least likely place to examine the crisis critically. But Le Moyne College recently spent a week doing just that. And we contend it is the very place where such scrutiny ought to occur. Syracuse native and former University of Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore Hesburgh said, "the Catholic university is where the church does its thinking." Le Moyne's symposium on the clerical sexual-abuse crisis brought to campus journalistic, psychological, historical, legal and theological experts. This crisis has been overwhelming in its depth and scope. Examining it from a variety of perspectives not only draws on the strengths of the college as an academic community, but also offers multiple ways of accessing and absorbing what has seemed incomprehensible. Engaging thiscomplex and sensitive ecclesial and social issue directly and responsibly and providing a forum for communal dialogue reflects our college's Jesuit intellectual mission. At the same time, these gatherings were in no way meant to attack or malign the church. Rather, they were organized in a spirit of service to the church and its people. Northeastern University journalism professor Walter Robinson, former editor of The Boston Globe investigative team that won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the story, and Irish Times religious affairs correspondent Patsy McGarry reminded us that silence — and, worse, obfuscation — cannot be the way forward. Sadly, ongoing revelations from Philadelphia (in which dozens of accused priests were allowed to remain in ministry in violation of policies enacted by the U.S. Catholic bishops) and about the Jesuits' own history of failures demonstrate that forums such as ours are needed more than ever. In response toa question about what a Catholic college like Le Moyne can do in the face of this crisis, Duquesne University law professor Nicholas Cafardi, an original member of the bishops' National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth, told us to continue doing what we do best: educate. As a Jesuit college committed to a rigorous liberal arts education, Le Moyne prepares its students to ask probing, even discomfiting, questions in ethical and respectful ways. That tradition of critical inquiry was manifest throughout the symposium. As another participant, Boston College English Professor James Smith, noted, our decision to confront this issue opens space not only for discussion and dialogue, but for reconciliation, too. Indeed, an extraordinarily powerful experience was the screening of a filmed conversation in Milwaukee among clerical abuse survivors and their family members, church officials and a priest abuser. Marquette University Psychologist Kathleen Coffey-Guenther, who co-chairs the Community Advisory Board for clergy sexual abuse issues in the Milwaukee Archdiocese, noted that so many people touched by this crisis need a safe, even sacred, place to tell their stories and to listen to others similarly hurting. Such a "healing circle" exemplifies an excruciatingly difficult but promising way forward. The anger and perplexity given voice at the symposium make manifest how vital such conversations are — for survivors and those who support them, for laity and clergy struggling to comprehend and confront the enormity of this scandal, and, most importantly, for the church itself as a key social institution in a pluralistic society. The nature of the clerical sexual abuse crisis is both sinful and criminal, a wound to both a community of faith and the body politic. The proper response, then, is complex and multifaceted, including accountability, penitence, punishment, reparation and healing, as well as strengthened church and governmental efforts to safeguard children. Our Jesuit campus will continue to be a place where we encourage respectful and serious soul-searching, self-examination, and innovative thinking about this heart-rending crisis.
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