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Leslie Hittner: Is bishop listening to the right people?
By Leslie Hittner
Of all the columns that I have written, those that engender the most response and encouragement are the columns that have taken the Catholic Church to task for the hierarchy’s un-Christian acts of self-preservation when it comes to the sexual abuse scandal. It has been about 13 years since the scandal broke in Boston, and the hierarchy still has not figured out that what everybody is upset about is not the fact that there have been sexual predator priests — which is bad enough in itself — but rather that the Church leadership has repeatedly tried to cover this fact up. We are upset that predator priests were not reported to legal authorities. We are upset that predator priests were shifted through multiple parishes in multiple dioceses, and that the parishioners in those churches were not made aware of the nature of the “father” who was giving absolution to their children. Lastly, we are upset that the Catholic Church has chosen not to hold accountable those bishops and cardinals who perpetrated this cover-up. That lack of accountability remains even today. Selfish acts of self-preservation in the leadership of our Catholic Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis continues with petty lawsuits being argued in Ramsey County. Similar legal fights are taking place in Catholic dioceses elsewhere. Current bishops who may or may not have participated in the sexual abuse cover-up nevertheless continue to fight the bad fight begun by their forerunners. Even proposed changes to canon law appear to continue to deal with the church’s image and don’t address civil legal issues or establish measures of accountability for bishops and cardinals who chose to skirt the law — or continue to play that silly game. That’s why I am encouraged to write more about this subject by the people I meet around Winona. That’s why church council members, Catholic educators, lay members of the church in active ministries in their parishes, and others come up to me on the street, email me or call to encourage me to write more about this scandal and about the unchristian way that the church has responded to other issues, such as gay marriage. Bishop Quinn, are you listening? There is more unrest in church membership than you can possibly know because people are simply afraid to speak up. Frankly, they don’t trust what you might do, but they know that I have publicly walked out and that I will continue to nag you and the rest of the Catholic leadership as long as I am able or until the church’s behavior changes. Dioceses, such as Milwaukee, that have or are going broke because of this scandal are a disgrace to Christianity and a disgrace to Catholicism. The current situation in the Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is no different, except for the fact that there is still a bit of money in the coffers to fight the bad fight. Bishop Quinn, I hope you are listening to those laypeople that are willing to speak out. Indeed, they represent a much larger number of Catholics in this community. I also hope you are listening to your own conscience. But — please — stop listening to your lawyers.
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