From Boston to the Vatican, the Advocate of Zero Tolerance against Paedophilia

By Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican Insider
December 26, 2012

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The departure from the Curia of the anti-abuse "mastiff" Charles Scicluna is not the end of the fight against the priests involved in abuse

The new Vatican "promoter of justice" father Robert Oliver is the advocate of "zero tolerance" in the US archdiocese of Boston. Therefore the Pope is continuing with determination his fight against the scourge of clergy sexual abuses. In fact, today the Vatican has announced the appointment of Reverend Robert Oliver as the promoter of justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He is the current assistant for canonical issues in the diocese of Boston, one of the most affected in the United States by the paedophile priests scandal, that exploded in the United States in the early 2000s. 

Rev. Oliver takes the place of Mgr. Charles Scicluna, a leading character in the Pope's action against clergy sexual abuses, who was recently appointed auxiliary Bishop of Malta and whose movement from the role of promoter of justice in the Congregation had raised some concerns about a possible softening of the fight against the abuses of the clergy, which in Europe reached its apex in recent years, particularly in Ireland, but also in Germany and Belgium. After the appointment as auxiliary Bishop of Malta, Mgr. Scicluna was appointed member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by the Pope, which was a little unusual because Scicluna is not an Archbishop. The appointment of Oliver confirms the determination of Pope Benedict XVI and his line of zero tolerance against the abuses of the clergy, since the new promoter may count on the advice of his predecessor, to the benefit of the fight against abuses.  

"His arrival will determine a further leap in the quality of the group which had been directed for 15 years by Scicluna, who will continue to follow the investigations because, with an innovative decision, Benedict XVI made him member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," notes Izzo. "Scicluna and Ratzinger have marked a turning point in Rome thanks to the work of father Oliver in Boston, guided and supported by the Capuchin Cardinal O'Malley". The choice of a new promoter of justice, a sort of public prosecutor in the examination of the dossiers about abuses that arrive at the Congregation, which, by the will of the Pope, has a role of coordinating the investigations and stimulating local bishops, is highly significant: the diocese of Boston was one of the most affected in the early 2000s by the scandal that exploded in the United States. The bishop at the time, the brilliant Bernard Law, was forced to leave and was transferred to Rome as arch priest of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and the diocese entered a period of financial unrest on account of compensations for the victims. Law paid for his inaction against abuses, represented by the extreme case of a paedophile priest who was moved for nineteen years from parish to parish, allowing him to continue to hurt hundreds of children. Boston, like the whole of the United States, later became an example to other churches, including European ones, in the fight against the abuses of the clergy. Don Oliver, among other things, faced the scandal with his contribution of courageous reports to the Boston Globe. 

Oliver personally wrote in the same paper that had contributed in bringing the scandal to light. Oliver, who is a professor of Canon Law and of Systematic Theology at the Seminary of Saint John, has also worked with the lay committee that examines the complaints of abuses in the diocese. Oliver is a close associate of Francis O'Malley, the Capuchin friar, now cardinal, who was appointed to Boston and who embodies the zero tolerance policy embraced by Joseph Ratzinger when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and which continued after Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope in 2005. One of his first acts was the suspension "a divinis" of the paedophile priest and abuser of his own sons, Fr. Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Therefore there has been no stepping down in the fight against sexual and power abuse made by ecclesiastics. Benedict XVI has "picked" from Boston, the diocese that was almost destroyed by the scandals and that now leads the fight against paedophilia. So now, sitting in the drivers' seat of the anti-abuse purification, we find don Robert W. Oliver, trusted advisor to Cardinal Sean O'Malley, champion in the fight against abuses, together with Scicluna and Joseph Ratzinger.

The philosophy that inspired the renewal of the Boston diocese has been recently illustrated by O'Malley in a letter (and also through the action of don Oliver who is likely to continue to follow the same line in guiding the group of ecclesiastical judges of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that is in charge of all "graviora delicta").  "With clear codes of conduct in force, if a bishop is indifferent to the protection of children, I believe that is something that demands attention on the part of the Holy See. If you do not know how to do things that are difficult, you should not be bishop", explained the Capuchin Cardinal who has been Archbishop of Boston since 2003, after being appointed to replace Cardinal Bernard Law who was forced to resign for having underestimated the problem. Then, remembers O'Malley, "there were so many wounds and anger, as well as disastrous economic consequences. There was a decline in vocations. Everywhere we looked, there was crisis and suffering". To start over, there was the beginning of what the cardinal defines as a journey of "rebuilding trust, the search for what it takes to help the victims trust us again". "It means that we took the issue seriously and that we would not permit the repetition of such things," explained the cardinal.

"My strong intention", confided O'Malley in the interview, "was to let people know what had happened, what we were doing and our determination to enforce those codes to ensure that our parishes and our schools are as safe as possible for young people". According to the Capuchin Cardinal, "transparency has been an important part of the reconstruction". "We have published," he assured "everything concerning our finances. We have published more than any other diocese in the world. We wanted to do it because the money spent for the cases of sexual abuse was a very hot topic". "I wanted to prove that", O'Malley said, "we were not using funds meant for parishes and, yes some parishes were closed, but not to pay for compensations for sexual abuses.  The money was, in fact, made from the sale of the episcopal residence". Concerning the verification of facts, the cardinal pointed out that the victims can make a big contribution by helping others reveal abuses.  "A great resource", he explained, "was the commission of inquiry, which I always established in every diocese I was in". "In this commission", he concluded, "I wanted victims and their families together with judges, priests and others. This allows an independent reading, and is of great help when an accusation is without foundation".