UNITED STATES
The Huffington Post
Danielle Tumminio
This January marks the 10th anniversary of the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian denominations. What began as a series of news reports in the Boston Globe about six Roman Catholic priests and the cover-up arranged by Cardinal Law led to accusations against Christian leaders across the United States and internationally.
Ten years after the scandal erupted, clergy sexual abuse has been reported everywhere from Austria to Australia, and while it remains the case that only a small percentage of Christian clergy perpetrate sexual abuse, the effects of this small number of individuals is felt, at some level, by every Christian and by clergy trying to understand what the scandal means for them as leaders.
While they don’t make news headlines, the majority of priests and pastors across denominations do not commit abuse, and this group of individuals take their vocation very seriously. They dedicate their lives to bringing Christianity’s hope to their communities, to allowing God’s light to permeate the darkness.
What effect, then, has the sexual abuse scandal in the Church had on them?
Clergy realize that one of the most prominent ramifications of the scandal is the way in which the safety of the Church is no longer assumed. Ten years ago, many people, including clergy, assumed the church was a safe place for all people, including children, just as prior to Sept. 11, a certain amount of airport security was assumed in the United States that we no longer take for granted, as we remove our shoes at security checkpoints, stand in full-body scanners and submit to questioning by TSA officials. Likewise, clergy ordained prior to the sex abuse scandal remember a time when the Church was an assumed safe place. Today, that assumption is not made in the same way.
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