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	As the Holy Spirit Guides Us, There Is Good News to Report By John Vlazny Catholic Sentinel [Portland OR] June 1, 2006 http://www.sentinel.org/articles/2006-22/14747.html With this weekend's feast of Pentecost, the 50 days of Easter come to a close. What a glorious spring it has been for all of us as we have rejoiced in the good news of the Lord's resurrection and our own rising to new life with him through Baptism. The sacraments of Christian initiation — Baptism, Confirmation and First Eucharist — have been celebrated widely across this archdiocese. The Lord's Easter gift of the Holy Spirit has been shared with countless sisters and brothers. On Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church, we give praise to God for calling us to be his disciples in mission together and we ask for his blessing in challenging times. As Catholics we are by our own self-description partners in the evangelizing mission of the church, which goes far beyond the borders of western Oregon. This past year we have witnessed the beginnings of the pastoral leadership of our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. We have been challenged by his zeal and humility. We have been inspired by his faithful proclamation of the gospel of love, especially in his first encyclical issued last January, Deus Caritas Est. Here in the United States, on the other hand, we have had more than our fair share of challenges and troubles. The aftermath of the shameful clergy sexual abuse crisis still impedes many of our church activities and services today and disheartens many of our sisters and brothers, so much so that some have even walked away. But recently, good news has begun to surface with respect to the way we as a church have dealt with the crisis. We may have been shamed and ridiculed by many who look upon our faith as an unfortunate Neanderthal trap into which we have fallen. But as we rejoice in the gift of our church on this feast of Pentecost, we need not be hesitant to proclaim proudly our courage and tenacity in confronting our ills. First of all, you, God's holy people, deserve a big pat on the back. The New York Times reported in late May that a new study found that the scandal over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the United States did not cause our people to leave the church or to stop attending Mass and donating to their parishes. Admittedly these measures of church loyalty were weakened at the height of the scandal, but they have amazingly rebounded to pre-scandal levels. At the national level, a decline remains noticeable in the contributions of Catholic people to diocesan financial appeals, such as our own annual Archbishop's Catholic Appeal. There was nearly a 25 percent drop in participation from 2002 to 2005 nationally. But that was not true here in western Oregon, for which I am most grateful. You have been steadfast in your support and once again this year we have reached our goal in pledges. Hopefully the total will still increase, and payment on pledges will continue as they have in the past. An interesting observation was made by Robert Withnow, the director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University. He was surprised at the study's findings and stated, "At the popular level of casual conversations, there's always this assumption that the Catholic Church is not doing well because of the scandal, and people are wringing their hands. So this evidence is really important." I must say this matches my personal experience during my pastoral visits across the archdiocese in our many parishes and institutions. I don't deny that plenty of bad news comes across my desk at the Pastoral Center. But Catholic life is vibrant and enthusiastic out in the trenches. Thanks be to God. But there is more good news. Recently the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York released an analysis of some supplementary data which resulted from the study of the nature and scope of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons in the United States. We will not read about this in the secular media and maybe not even in the Catholic press. But the data has been provided by the John Jay College at the request of the USA bishops made back in November 2004. At the time we felt it would be an important supplement to the results of the study that had been released earlier that year. The entire report is available on the USCCB website, if you are interested. Some conclusions are particularly noteworthy. We have come to learn that there has been a marked decrease in the reported incidents of sexual abuse ever since the first national publicity of a case involving a priest in 1985 and the subsequent response by the church. Reporting intensified in 2002, and the John Jay College found the only plausible explanation for this to be that individuals were prompted to report abuse after many years by the intensity and detail of the press coverage of the sexual abuse crisis. Fifty-five percent of priests accused had only one formal allegation of abuse, and 3.5 percent of priests were responsible for 26 percent of all allegations involving minors. The study also indicates that the average age of a priest at the time of his first reported offense was the late 30s. Furthermore, the pattern of abuse incidents seems to be consistent over time in all regions of our country. In all these regions there was a marked decrease in incidents by 1985 and an even steeper decrease in the 1990s. The data provided are likely to be less accurate for allegations reported in the early years of the reporting period, and there were differences among dioceses in record-keeping. But this data set is still one of the most extensive collections of information about sexual abuse of minors. No other institution has voluntarily engaged in such a rigorous self-study. Consequently we have a very valuable source of knowledge about sexual offending. Clearly this has been a difficult year for the church, but not an impossible one. The Holy Spirit who empowered those first apostles on that Pentecost Sunday so long ago is still at work among us today. Jesus Christ did not come in human flesh because everything was going well in God's creation. He entrusted his salvific mission to a very human church, something seemingly unworthy of belief to the worldly wise but Godly foolish. God still writes straight with crooked lines, and we are those lines. We are humbled by our failures but grateful for the successes God chooses to accomplish through us. May the Holy Spirit continue to lead us and guide us on the tempestuous seas of ongoing litigation and bankruptcy. It is our task to stay the course, ever watchful because of human failings, but always confident because of God's amazing grace.
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