ST. PAUL (MN)
Tommie Media
March 24, 2019
By Kayla Mayer
The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is a metaphorical Russian doll, as each investigation reveals more victims and corruption. In the midst of the report from Pennsylvania’s investigation and the defrocking of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, 190 bishops and clergy went to the Vatican for a summit.
The summit, which lasted four days and ended in late February, focused on sexual abuse of minors.
According to the Associated Press, summit organizer Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, who studied at the St. John Vianney Seminary at St. Thomas, said that while sexual abuse of adults needs attention, the summit had to focus on one purpose.
“Young people, minors don’t have a voice. They are kept in silence,” Cupich said. “This is about making sure their voice is heard.”
After years of covered-up abuse, it’s refreshing to see concrete efforts to end the misdeeds that hurt the victims and the universal church. Church leaders hold a lot of power; all laypeople, especially young people, should be able to trust the ones they confess their sins to, hear the Word of God from, and those from whom they seek spiritual guidance. Taking advantage of this trust is a betrayal.
When a priest celebrates Mass or hears confessions, he acts “in persona christi” — in the person of Christ. This duty is sacred, and church members expect their leaders to treat it with such importance.
The Vatican must acknowledge the suffering of the victims, bring justice to the abused, and ensure church members that this cycle of hurt and secrecy will never happen again.
Although ordained clergy act “in persona christi” during Mass and confession, they are not infallible in their daily lives. They sin, and the Vatican must recognize that they also commit crimes.
To not hold guilty clergy accountable for their actions continues the crime. Criminal authorities should be involved, and when a priest or bishop is found guilty, the church should act on its “zero-tolerance” policy and dismiss them.
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