Pope, Prelates Must Punish Sex Offenders
By Elizabeth Eisenstadt-evans
A few weeks ago, while contemplating the Pennsylvania Superior Court's judgment that led to the release, on bail, of Philadelphia archdiocesan official Monsignor William Lynn, I wrote about the often painful difference between secular law and biblical standards of justice. Given the steady stream of stories still making headlines here and abroad, it sometimes seems as though the Roman Catholic Church continues to confront significant problems addressing sexual abuse by clergy. Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and its archbishop, Charles Chaput, faced criticism for helping Lynn post his $250,000 bail. In a public grilling, a U.N. human rights panel criticized the Vatican for not providing information on child welfare to the body for almost two decades, and asked for information about the committee recently set up by Pope Francis to come up with better methods of protecting children from sexual abuse. Between 2011 and 2012, documents obtained by the Associated Press show Pope Benedict XVI defrocked close to 400 clergy for molesting children (and, as the article points out that number doesn't take into account the number of clergy whose cases were decided by diocesan courts). But that begs the question: How much progress has the Catholic church made in removing pedophile priests and keeping children from harm? Three experts who have been activists for safer churches, both within and outside the institution, have different perspectives on how far and how proactively the denomination has disciplined abusive clergy and promoted healing among the Catholic flock. But on one thing they all agree: It's time for Catholic prelates, and the pope himself, to hold accountable the bishops who covered up abuse, or moved pedophile clergy from parish to parish. Personnel files made public by the Archdiocese of Chicago on Tuesday indeed reveal a hierarchy that, as the New York Times reporters note, often seemed to show alleged perpetrators a degree of regard that seems particularly shocking when measured against the scale of many of their crimes. One example from the article will suffice: "Cardinal George's predecessor, Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, opted not to defrock the same priest, writing a letter to him in prison declaring that "you have suffered enough by your present deprivation of ministry and your incarceration." While secular authorities have moved to punish offenders, Catholic church higher-ups haven't moved to impose consequences on its own members, according to Susan Matthews, founder of Catholics4Change a hub for conversation about reform. "So far there hasn't been a pope or someone within the hierarchy that has … called out the bishops in any way," she said. "There is no accountability within the church." She's hopeful that Francis can show the Catholic church is still relevant to young people taken aback by "do what I say, not what I do" hypocrisy, Matthews said. At the same time, there can't possibly be a long-term solution to problems within the denomination "until the truth is exposed and accepted, there is accountability … and bishops are removed." Thus far, said David Clohessy, bishops in dioceses that have made reforms "begin pumping out their chests, saying we're ahead of the curve" when their hands were forced by the lawsuits brought by courageous victims and cities with multiple newspapers and persistent, clever journalists. Director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, Clohessy added that church authorities fear changes to statute-of-limitation laws that would force them to answer "tough" questions under oath. "The lesson bishops have learned is that it doesn't matter how many predator priests, lawsuits and nasty editorials you have … you can keep your job and get promoted," says Clohessy, noting that (thus far) the only prelate forced to resign as part of an abuse cover-up was Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the Boston archbishop who then moved to Rome and became a part of a number of high-ranking Vatican committees. Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph (Mo.) was convicted in a secular court of failing to report a priest suspected of child sex abuse, but to date remains at the helm of that diocese. If measured by the dramatic drop in the number of abuse complaints, the Catholic church has made significant progress in addressing the issue of clergy sex abuse, says Nicholas Cafardi, the former Dusquesne University Law School dean who served on and chaired the United States Catholic Bishops' National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth. Cafardi also gave Benedict credit for taking the problem seriously on his watch. Though the law school professor also praises Chaput for moving quickly to make substantive changes in the way the archdiocese addressed abuse cases, he says "it's easier to change the rules than the culture." But Cafardi, like the other experts, hopes that Francis will move to impose consequences on the minority of bishops around the world who allowed abusive priests back into situations where they could harm children — or left them there. "Until we see some kind of repercussions for hierarchical officials who enabled pedophiles … our credibility will be in doubt," Cafardi says. "The bishops who acted this way let their people down, their priests down, and let their fellow bishops down." In a story posted Wednesday, the Vatican's former sex crimes prosecutor, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, told Reuters reporter Philip Pullela that Francis wouldn't go easy on priestly offenders. But whether he will discipline his former colleagues, or whether the bishops will move to sanction their brother prelates, is a question yet to be answered — for the spiritual health of their church as well as the physical and emotional safety of all children, these advocates believe. Contact: Bellettrelliz@gmail.com
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