UNITED STATES
Fatherly
August 22, 2018
By Patrick A. Coleman
In light of a Pittsburgh grand jury report which shined a light on hundreds of Catholic predator priests, involved Catholic dads may help protect kids and hold the church accountable.
The Catholic community, in America and abroad, has spent the last week grappling with the horrific details put forth in a Pittsburgh grand jury report detailing the sexual abuse of thousands of children by hundreds of Pennsylvanian priests. The report identifies over 1,000 victims of rape and sexual predation, all of whom were ignored or silenced by church leaders, many of whom sheltered the perpetrators of awful crimes. While the grand jury report is devastating in its details, it is not shocking. The Catholic clergy has a history of raping kids and the church has a history of covering it up.
The practical question the report forces Catholic parents of young children to answer is one parents in the church have faced before: Does my family’s participation in church life jeopardize the safety of my kids? Given that the report out of Pittsburgh follows revelations of a similar nature in Boston, Ireland, Kenya, the Philippines, and Croatia, we must entertain the notion that the answer is “yes.”
As such, many Catholic parents like myself are reconsidering how they engage with churches and religious institutions. Some will walk away. I will not. Instead, I will double down on my involvement in church matters because I’m aware that the presence of a father tremendously diminishes the likelihood of harm befalling a children. Pedophiles disproportionately targeted children with absent fathers. This seems to be particularly true of priests. As such, I see my consistent presence as a prerequisite for my children’s involvement in church life.
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