A New Conversation about Church Sex Abuse

By Peter Day
Eureka Street
July 22, 2012

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=32237


Since my ordination to the priesthood 12 years ago, the millstone of sexual abuse revelations within the Catholic Church has weighed heavily. Indeed, such is the extent of the crisis, that in some circles priest and paedophile have become interchangeable words. It is as if we have moved from an unhealthy 'A priest would never do that' to an equally unhealthy 'He's a priest, so he probably did do that'.

I do not presume to speak for anyone else. I am not a spokesman for the church. My intention is to help break open a new and broader conversation in which truth might hold sway against a collective silence and inertia.

The spectre of sexual abuse has become a defining moment for the Church; one that, if not addressed more universally, more openly, and more humbly, poses a serious threat to the Church's life and authority. We are, after all, dealing with something akin to crimes against humanity.

Just think: priests and others vested with authority in our Church and trusted as its representatives have raped children; caused emotional trauma that has led to suicides; and covered up or remained silent, and in so doing have protected paedophiles.

Yet amid the thousands of shattered lives, the institutional church is tending towards resuming normal programming while this overwhelming problem corrodes from within.

The Church is desperately in need of a long-term collective, coordinated and global response. Something of similar scope and dedication as the recent translation of the Roman Missal: an intensely focused institutional endeavour that demanded the attention, energy, and gifts of hundreds of church leaders throughout the world.

In seeking to deepen the Eucharistic experience and to elevate and brighten the language of prayer, Church leaders must also ensure that the weightier matters of Church life are not neglected: justice, mercy and truth. The language of the Missal can only edify and elevate when those who have compiled it, who sing from it and pray from it, are just as actively attentive to the language of love, and all it demands of us.

Catholics are served by some extraordinary leaders who are courageously addressing this crisis head-on; but too many have acted, and continue to act, like the 'hired men' of John's Gospel 'who abandon the sheep as soon as they see a wolf coming, running away, leaving the wolves to attack and scatter the sheep'.

Underpinning this 'hired men' culture is a pervasive clericalism in which men feel set apart, vainly pursuing the trappings of power and prestige. What can emerge is a culture of careerist clerics and prince bishops who place personal gain, reputation, and their own survival ahead of everything else, even the lives of the young. They find themselves living within a kind of ecclesial-gated-community walled by self-interest and a protective silence.

Although they are a small minority, they are a very powerful and damaging one.

The Church is founded on the example of one who (as described in the biblical book of Philippians), while 'being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped; but emptied himself taking the form of a slave'. Is it too much to ask that such an institution be vulnerable, open, and transparent for the sake of others, especially the powerless, and ensure 'servant leadership' is embraced as a core quality in its leaders?

The people of God — in the pews, in the villages, in the schools, people everywhere — are longing for Church leaders to face the truth with humility. It should be their core 'business' to protect the sanctity and dignity of the young. The consequences of not doing so do not bear contemplating.

It is not good enough to adopt a siege mentality by blaming an 'aggressive anti-Catholic media'. It is not good enough to say 'that happened a long time ago under someone else's watch'. It is not good enough to say 'that's an Irish problem, that's a Boston problem', or that it is 'disloyal' to raise these matters publicly.

There has to be a collective, universal response: to remain silent and passive is to perpetuate the effects of the abuse on both victims and the Church.

Dioceses might like to consider that on a given date, the faithful are invited to engage in some symbolic action within the Sunday liturgy, such as a prayer for the victims and a pledge to reform those destructive elements within Church culture. They might also consider establishing their own truth and reconciliation commissions in which victims are given a voice, and leaders are encouraged to listen.

There could also be a worldwide gathering of leaders to specifically address this crisis. What a message such a universal gathering would send to our children, our people, our world.

It is better for a man, for a Church, to roam the streets destitute, foraging for bread, for truth, than to roam the corridors of power, feasting on privileges and on food that does not last. The leaders of the Church have a profound responsibility: humbly and gently to walk alongside others, especially the most vulnerable.