UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe
I recently finished a three month Peace Corps Response assignment in Ghana. Being in Peace Corps required refraining from political commentary and this blog danced along a line regarding that stipulation so I suspended writing during my assignment. However, I’m back.
I actually began writing this article on the plane flying home, having just watched the movie “Spotlight” again. This is the movie about the Boston Globe’s investigative journalism that blew the lid off the systemic nature of the church’s sex abuse scandal.
After spending three months in a culture that has extensive unreported sexual exploitation issues largely facilitated by cultural taboos against pursuing legal action…much like those the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team exposed in the Archdiocese of Boston…I find myself even sadder for the Church than the first time I watched the movie.
The movie ends by listing 203 dioceses around the world that have had major sex abuse scandals exposed. A few more have been exposed since the film’s September, 2015 release. I believe there are probably many, many, many more dioceses that continue enabling abusive priests, especially those in regions with cultural taboos acting as accomplices like in Africa.
Spotlight portrayed the privileged status Boston’s Catholic hierarchy enjoyed which permitted priests to abuse and bishops to cover it up. Beyond even Boston priests’ privilege, many African priests enjoy outright demagogue status. They are untouchable. They are not to be questioned. They are in prime positions to abuse without accountability. I pray that somehow the lid gets blown off of any sex abuses occurring in African Catholic Churches.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.