Lessons the Irish church can learn about sex abuse

Episcopal accountability? Is that something like Boston's Bernard Law being rewarded with the Mary Major Basilica in Rome?

These Irish bishops (and their American counterparts) need to spend A LOT of time in prison where they might finally experientially "get" what happens when a person is powerless the way the abused children they failed to protect were powerless.

Nowhere in this article do I find an expression of the need to engage the laity in participating in the design and implementation of corrective actions. Once again, it’s all about the clergy, including the pope. This is way too much self-serving navel gazing.

All well and good, but if the church in Ireland is to survive it will need to regain the trust of the people who decreasingly grace the pews, pay the bills and provide future candidates for the clergy and religious institutions. They are, after all, the reason for the structure that has failed them and itself so very miserably.

Without a recognition of rampant clericalism and the need to do away with that, this will all become just another instance of clergy-identified and clergy-defined persecution of the church, i.e., them.

Wake up folks --- or you’ll be preaching to emptier churches and dealing with emptier coffers.

Dear John,

I love your work and role in the Vatican. This article sounds like a response to some Cardinal in the Curia when he asked you "What should be the Vatican and Ireland's PR approach in handling the Irish abuse crisis." Of course writer's don't wait for the question to be asked. If it is not asked they ask it of themselves and then write a column.

Contrary to what you write, I suggest the Vatican adopt the "one strike and you are out" rule that they refused to approve way back when. It is now apparent that the worldwide coverup of child abuse by the Catholic Church is unraveling. It doesn't really matter whether the Vatican orchestrated it or not. The fact that it is world wide and not an American or Irish or Australian problem means the Vatican is responsible for it whether they controlled the coverup from the Vatican or not. It is a mute point. The Vatican is responsible for correcting the WORLDWIDE problem.

They better get to it.

tom

Allowing Irish bishops to resign and not be fired trivializes their mishandling the problem and incredible mistaken priortization of values. The Irish culture was infected with strains of predestination (these poor urchins by their very condition exhibit God's dispeasure with them and thus can be treated with contempt) and Jansenism (a strict external moral code and a denial of human beings' faility ...videre quam esse, Romanita, hubris). This lessens their individual guilt since the society was corrupted. Many of those who either comitted the atrocities or ignored them, eg John Paul II, Marciel, some of the Irish and American bishops, are not totallly evil but did much good in their lives. They represent the rest of us with a combination of virtue and vice in their makeup. A man who does evil is not necessarily an evil man but a flawed creature. John Paul II did much good but overlooked the faults of many and thus failed as a leader.

I've been following these horror stories from the Murphy Report rather closely, as I am Irish myself, and have had several Irish friends who have suffered both physical and sexual abuse at the hands of Irish clergy, brothers, and nuns. Although I agree with your five pieces of advice, there is another piece of advice, that I must say more than a few Irish Catholics are following. Specifically,formally renouncing their Catholic heritage via a form readily available on the internet. The completed and witnessed document is then posted to the Archdiocese of Dublin. Interestingly, the number of converts to the (Anglican) Church of Ireland has been dramatically increasing over the past five years, according to The Irish Independent. I felt a sense of pride and relief when I dropped the aforementioned document into the post box.

I’ve followed this issue closely since it broke and unfortunately the subjects too often reported are the Church opposing something where I think most people believe an opposite course should be followed. Where I come from is to wish my Church, our Church approached this issue from more of a pastoral perspective. As John Allan wrote there are: “… perceptions that the church was more interested in self-defense than in coming clean.”

I believe a two-pronged approach would have and is the best. Saying this I recognize and appreciate the legal implication nevertheless I believe pastoral initiatives should be the #1 focus.

I’d like to be a member of a church that says something like – terrible things have happened. We want everyone to come forward who believes they have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a member of the clergy or other employee or volunteer with the Church. We will offer you understanding, counsel, and, if necessary, therapy.

Instead we have the Church fighting statutes of limitations; denying; making victims sign non-disclosure agreements; threatening victims that if they press their case they’ll put them on the witness stand and make them testify in excruciating detail, etc.

I also believe were the pastoral initiatives advanced the Church could also save money – our money - as my reading indicates some victims seem to want the church to come clean and apologize as much as they want money – or would settle for less money.

Here's the elephant in the room of the US Church and for all I know, of the universal Church. Offenders are a distinct numerical minority. But it looks like bishops who have protected these offenders are in the area of 60%, so yes it is
the culture of the church to protect the offenders and throw the victims to the wolves. This culture contradicts the mission of the Church. The adherents of this culture purport to be the leaders of the Church. The contradictions in this situation are malignant. Writing about it "objectively" does not take the malignancy away. The best I can say is that no one seems to know how to talk about what has happened and what continues to happen in our Church---on the last I am talking about the episcopal facilitators as well as the perpetrators of the sexual assault of children. But I cannot be quiet or reasonable in the face of the malignant culture that has taken hold at the highest echelons of our RC hierarchy. It has got to change. This culture has no future.

I still marvel at the evangelical opportunity that was missed when the more flagrant of the abuser-enabling bishops didn't declare themselves unfit for their office and resign. We could have forgiven them, and moved on, and the world would have seen the gospel in action. As it is, the People of God have little reason to respect their bishops, and the world every reason to mock.

A better way to select prelates is needed. Vatican appointees are rotten.

PUBLIC APOLOGIES FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY?

In a May 21, 2009 article in this paper, the Rev. Thomas Doyle has this to in response to the publication on the Ryan Report:

"The report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is not unique though it may well be the most shocking example of the reality of such a culture of evil. In the past two decades over two dozen reports have described physical and sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults by Catholic clergy and religious."

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/irish-abuse-report-demands-deci...

Now, after the release of the Murphy Report on the Archdiocese of Dublin, bishops are tripping over each other saying how sorry they are that this tragedy happened.

More than public apologies from cardinals, bishops, religious superiors and government officials are necessary and the time for apologies is over.

The Murphy Report's revelations of the widespread sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin from 1975 forward demonstrate a betrayal of the People of God on a heretofore unprecedented level of depravity in the most egregious of ways.

The sexual abuse of children by trusted priests is horrific enough but the conspiracy participated in by senior church officials in covering up for sexual predators is despicable, well beyond the pale for civilized society.

Moreover, it is unconscionable that the government of Ireland made a deal with the institutional Church to allow no prosecutions for these heinous crimes against humanity nor to name any of the individuals, living or dead, who were party to the widespread torture and abuse of children that was revealed in the Ryan Report.

It should not make the same mistake in regard to the Murphy Report. However, the collusion of the Irish state itself should not be forgotten.

The Murphy Report has pointed out in more excruciatingly painful detail what was exposed previously by both the Ferns and Ryan Reports and what many people around the world have already concluded; that a religious institution and its leadership, have perpetrated the most diabolical of crimes and acts of moral turpitude that the would has ever seen and it is incumbent on society that it and they be held accountable.

The evidence of episcopal abuse of power and authority demonstrated over more than a half century has brought a once respected religious institution to its knees, morally speaking.

As one priest and spokesman for the Derry Diocese, Fr. Michael Canny, has said, the "Catholic Church in Ireland has lost all moral authority, it "has no credibility, no standing and no moral authority."

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/reputation.of.catholic.church.in.t...

All peoples, all Christians and certainly all Catholics should be demanding that the Holy See and members of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church be brought to the bar of justice for such unconscionable violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a Convention to which the Holy See was an original signatory.

It has even become known that representatives of the Holy See refused to provide information regarding sexual predators when requested by other sovereign countries in direct violation of agreements between countries as well as a violation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Horrendous violations have been visited upon children, not only in Ireland but in the United States, Canada, and Australia along with other countries.

It is not an American problem any more than it is an Irish problem, to contradict what some prelates would have us believe, but it does represent a veritable pandemic of abuse facilitated by a corrupted clerical system, a system of ecclesiastical power and authority that has been accountable to nothing and no one, not even the Lord Jesus Christ who said in Matthew 18:6:

"But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

The five bishops named in the Murphy Report in connection to the horrific abuse of power and authority that resulted in the degradation of so many, should submit their resignations to the Holy See and remove themselves from responsibilities over dioceses and other positions of ecclesiastical authority.

So should all similarly complicit bishops in the United States, Canada, Australia and others but none have, have they?

As Tom Doyle puts it, "there is something radically wrong with the institutional Catholic Church. This is painfully obvious because it allows systemic abuse and radical dishonesty to coexist with its self-proclaimed identity as the Kingdom of God on earth."
_______________

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, is a victims' advocate who testified before the Senate and House Judiciary committees in support of Delaware's 2007 Child Victims Law.

In Ireland, the Bishops/Sacrificial Lambs are Starting to Resign

Hopefully, the Irish people have learned something from the American, Canadian and Australian Pedophilia Priest Scandals by requiring their 5 bishops, involved in the Dublin Archdiocese coverups, to resign. The whole world applauds their determination to publically expose one of the main sources of the problems, the bishops. Unfortunately, the problem doesn't end with the bishops, because any moron knows that the bishops carried out an agenda set down by none other than the Vatican. The current Pope, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, formerly the Office of the Inquisitions is incredulous when he says how shocked he is, for it was his office that reviewed all of the Priest/Nun Pedophilia complaints from all over the world, requesting the dismissal of Pedophiles in the clergy!

Does the Vatican really think that by pressuring 5 bishops to resign that people, all over the world, aren't going to be asking WHY the Pope didn't do something to stop the coverups sooner? Instead, sensing that the public smells blood, in order to protect the Pope and Curia, the Vatican is graciously accepting the resignations of Irish Bishops, the Church's Sacrificial Lambs, in hopes that the Irish people won't demand the resignation of the Pope, for his participation in the coverups as head of the CDF.

Like obedient little soldiers, the bishops will give up their prestige of being a bishop, their large stipends, the plush residences, along with their fancy cars and servants, in order to AVOID the Scandal of the people of the world demanding that the Vatican apologize for her part in the coverups, whether it was producing Crimen Solicitationes or other documents, whose design was to protect Church assets, the reputation of the priests or nuns, and at all means avoiding the possibility of SCANDAL.

The proverbial "Buck should stop" at the Pope's desk! But the whole heirarchy will rise up in defense of the Pope by trying to deflect the blame on morally incompetent bishops. OH, these poor, little sacrificial lambs. They've given their lives for the Church and they have been amply rewarded for their incompetence as human beings. Unfortunately, they were educated priests of God, Bishops of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, who should have been steeped enough in the Gospels and the writings of Saint Paul to know that they were committing heinous crimes by subverting justice for the victims and inventing the lies, called "Moral Reservation," instead of LIES.

In the Book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine, he writes of the Church at Ephesus, in the second chapter: 2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." The Church in Ireland may be starting to measure up to the Church of Ephesus, by requiring those Apostles, who were "Found to be liars," and kicking them out, like their good brothers did in Boston in 2002. May Ireland find God's Grace to do so!

As someone who lives in between Europe and America, I am struck by the utter inability of the CAtholic church to understand what is going one. It is an unbelievable example of the worst "outer worldliness" of the Church. Vatican II tried to help us understand that our Church we deeply embodied - incarnated - in various human societies

The RC church does not LOOK at its history. It does not realize that, like any other Church or societal institution it is human, historical, socilogogical. The RC Church - In Europe we are French or German Catholics, we are not RCs - has truly obfuscated the fact that it was founded, in fact, by the Irish Famine. Three important consequences:

1. as my Finnish Father in Law married to an Irish told me, in 1930 you could read sign saying" Niggers and Irish need not apply". The Irish had therefore to build institutions --the church, the elected officals -- that defended the Irish Community. And one worldwide sociological "technique" in such cases is SILENCE. "WE" are not going to let the persecuting WASPs know anything about US,our priests, our elected officials etc.. The RC bishops, dominantly Irish, would not betray their RC people. especially
2. that Pope Leo XIII had very strongly rebutted a famous Minnesota Bishop (his names excapes me) who wanted to open the RC church into an Open Americanized Catholic Church. So the Church remained the sociological instrument of the poor immigrants.
3. Most absconded however from the whole American Culture and knowledge is the world-known fact that the Irish lived in Horror from 1550 - 1800 and even beyond. In that horror the FAmily life, and Family sex, and bridal sex, known in other European Cultures could hardly be cultivated.
The Irish are not alone in Pedophilia, but they were exposed to it more than other by this culture of horror. And they carried it unfortunately with them in Australia, America, and England.

John Allen says, "dont get defensive" but unfortunately he also means: Do not go on the Offensive and shake up the crushing silence of the WASP culture.
This does not mean that the Irish exclusiely are victims of the terrible disease. It only emphasizes the link between complex societal facts that need to be confronted. And to confront them as Catholics, we must also emphasize a 4th fact.
4. While European Churches could resist the Post-Napoleonic papalization of their bishoprics -- the nomination of Bishops by the pope was slowed down by their traditions and Concordats, it finally bloomed only under JPII - the American and Australian Churches were considered MISSIONARY CHURCHES in which the Bishops were nominated most directly by the Vatican. THIS REINFORCED the Irish-bureaucratic-inclusiveness of the CAtholic leadership, culture and development in the US. This terribly reinforced the original CULTURE of the American RC church, which explains not only the reaction of silence of the American Chruch, when confronted in 2000 with the pedophilia crisis, but also the astonishement of this Church when it encountered VAtican II.

These are the deep cultural and societal facts that WE CATHOLICS must FULLY understand before we can go on the Christian Offensive to help all Americans overcome these deep miseries -- and especially- to help them realize that pedophilia is a universel disease that we must deprive of its secreteness and combat like any cancer

dyoffensive and thus

Typical Allen summary that obviously must pick and choose what to highlight. In his new book, Future Church, released prior to the Murphy Report, Allen states that the sexual abuse crisis is a passing moment; that it mainly impacts english speaking countries that follow the same legal system; he points out that the "new" southern hemisphere catholic church rarely pays attention to this issue.
What Allen misses is the connection between his point four - "culture" - and how Rome and bishops are the issue. This same type of culture will impact the southern church and as globalization increases, southern hemisphere nations will adopt legal systems that more closely align with current western nations - why? becuase they have evolved and best support human dignity and the gospel message. Does he really think that this evolution will never spread to the other hemisphere? He says that sexual abuse is just accepted as part of life - just like poverty, disease, etc. in Africa, South America, India, China. His views are narrow and short sighted.
The story of sexual abuse started in Canada in the early 1980's; hit the US in 1985 in Lafayette, LA which surfaced the treatment attempts and Rev. Fitzgerald's outreach to US bishops and Rome in the 1950's and Doyle, et alii's proposals to the NCCB in 1986 (Allen may have ignored this but these are facts - he can try to dismiss by stating that most bishops were unaware of this? Not sure that passes muster). He highlights 1962 document Crimen Solicitationes but skips over how the new code of Canon Law in 1983 changed sexual crimes; and how Ratzinger in 2001 sent a letter to all bishops in the world directing that all cases of abuse be sent to Rome for adjudication (kind of an important point to miss).
His summation of the Dallas chapter is correct but again leaves the accountability and responsibility of the bishops hanging - the 1983 code of canon law clearly stated that sexual abuse was a crime that the church looked the other way; covered up, blamed others, redirected, etc. He captures this with the phrase - "culture".....yet, the culture is still there. Neither JPII nor even B16 has really addressed this issue beyond a few oral messages and two brief meetings that had nothing to do with Allen's concept of culture.

Ireland is actually an extreme example of the US situation - 90% of all schools are run by the church; the Ryan Report shows the depth of the corruption and abuse over a 60 year period if not longer; the catholic culture of Irish government, Gardai, and schools/institutions is a huge problem that goes well beyond what we have seen in the US. He barely mentions this or passes over it.

What happens in Ireland will rebound on Canada, US, England, South Africa, Australia, etc. - the issue is the silence, cover -up, and lack of leadership in Rome. He speaks to only abuse of children but the current sexual culture of the church (western and southern hemisphere) have created huge issues - in his book he calls these isolated incidents?

There is no mention of current legal cases that are attempting to work around the foreign state status of the Vatican to hold bishops and Rome accountable for Allen's definition of "culture." If one of these cases is successful, everything Allen says here is moot. Nowhere does he state that it has been the catholics in the pews, the media, and legal means that have forced the church to reluctantly face facts - he again minimizes this or says it is a passing phase.

John Allen’s article probably should have been entitled, “What the American bishops can learn from the Irish bishops.” While his advice is sound, he really does not get to the core of the church’s sexual abuse scandal until the end of his article. There has been absolutely no accountability for the American bishops’ role in allowing the sexual abuse scandal to fester. American bishops, as well as bishops in Ireland and in any part of the world where they protected abuser priests should resign. They lost their moral compass, Christ the Lord. Yes, the bishops put into place procedures for protecting children, but they had to be brought “kicking and screaming” to the table of decency.

Our American bishops can learn from Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin. He has strongly stated that any Irish bishop who did not provide protection for children should examine their conscience and do the right thing. I wished he has come out more forcefully and stated the obvious, calling for their resignation. However, only the Pope has the power to ask for a bishop’s resignation, and so far he has remained silent—as he remained silent about American enabling bishops.

Benedict XVI may have spoken out sooner than John Paul II, but that is not the point. He can express his “outrage, betrayal, and shame,” but these words ring hallow. What the Irish people, especially the innocent victims, do not need are more apologies and expressions of sorrow. The same is true for innocent victims in the United States and elsewhere. Abuser priests, with the consent of the pope, have been removed from ministry, and in some cases have been laicized. Some have gone to prison. So far no enabling bishop has been removed from ministry or been laicized. There has been no American Diarmuid Martin to call for his “abuser brother bishops” to resign. Good intentions without good action is a sham.

"As the crisis gathered steam in the United States, there was a temptation to complain that the avalanche of criticism and litigation against the church wasn’t fair. Some charged that the crisis provided an excuse for people with axes to grind against Catholicism, perhaps for its positions on abortion and homosexuality, to fire away; that greedy lawyers were exploiting the crisis to line their pockets at the church’s expense; and that historical anti-Catholic bias in the media and other elite sectors of society was also in play.

In retrospect, all of those things were probably true in some measure,"

It's that last sentence of Allen's that just stopped me from reading further ...

"all of those things were probably true in some measure,"

The catholic church was wrong in every aspect of it's handling of the priest pedophilia issue..until faced with OVERWHELMING criticism of most of the faithful.

Six: Don't keep secrets and then feign surprise when issues you've known about for decades and even participated in come to light. The Irish bishops' sudden contrition comes across not as regret for having transgressed but rather as the distress at being caught.

Those who trumpet the redemption that comes from a proactive confession of sins ought to practice a bit more of what they preach.

Seven: Don't pretend that all sorts of programs and "don't be alone with" rules are any substitute for careful selection, thoughtful formation, and ongoing attention to the mental health and stability of individual clergy and religious. Don't try to keep these issues "in the family" of the consecrated infividuals; the laity have something to say about the nature of consecrated life as well.

I'm afraid this is mostly garrulous and self-important rubbish. A "heads-up for the Irish"? "To prevent headaches down the line"? "Engage the pope early and often"? "Now that it's clear the crisis isn't just an American problem"?

The Church in Ireland is imploding. This is the same church whose venerable early missionaries carried the Gospel to the German tribes, and whose globetrotting brothers and nuns contributed more than anyone to the vitality of the Catholic Church in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is now utterly laid to waste, and very probably it will never recover.

Against all this, John Allen's tone of homespun advice from Tucson and Spokane just seems irritating and inappropriate.

Dear John,

A thoughtful reasoned article but I don't get any sense of outrage, there's no fire in your belly over yet another revelation of egregious crimes committed by Priests, Nuns and Bishops. The 1% of Catholics who"ve set themselves upon pedestals for the 99% of Catholics to revere and emulate. Lives have been irrevocably damaged and destroyed and the Popes and Bishops have been more concerned with the Churches image and reputation than the care of those abused. Sexual Abuse by the Clergy has been with the Church throughout its history, the Murphy Commission Report should come as no surprise to Rome. The time for reflection and sober debate is over. Just look at the empty pews particularly among the 14 to 40 year olds in the Churches that are still open. The hour is very late for the Catholic Church In the US and Ireland, It's time for the Pope to act forcefully and that means more than writting a letter to the Irish Bishops.

Thanks, once again, to John Allen for his fair, judicious and honest journalism. In his second to last paragraph, he notes the question of episcopal accountability. For many Catholics not directly involved in this awful chapter in the American church's life, the continuing and unresolved injustice is the fact that no bishop who was responsible for shielding, ignoring or even enabling (through moving clearly predatory priests from parish to parish, or giving them letters of reference to other dioceses) has been held accounjtable either by himself (resignation) or by his superior (removal by the Pope). Cardinal Law is not a true exception, because continued and unreleting public pressure forced him to resign.
This is an ongoing stone in the shoes of many Catholics, since it is not only an injustice, but also reflective of the insularity and aloofness of many of our bishops, and their hard-of-hearing attitude towards the criticism of the laity.
Unfortunately, this "who, me?") attiduie of the few bishops who were really the worst offenders, has clouded the moral authority and credibility of the whole.

While public outcries against unfairness to the Church may be imprudent at times, we need to thoroughly destroy heterodoxy masquerading as reform. This is situationally dependent. Transparancy and aggressive Papal involvement? Absolutely.

This insightful column should be sent to all bishops for their review and reference. Thank you, John Allen, for helping us keep our pespectives on straight.

Mr. Allen,

This is a very thought-provoking article, as most of your articles are. However, in the future, I respectfully ask that you consider avoiding terms such as "the American church," "American Catholics," and "the Irish church." There is only one Church, and that Church is the Roman Catholic Church. Also, when referring to the Roman Catholic Church, the word "Church" should always be capitalized.

If you must refer to nationalities of those who happen to be Catholic, please use terms such as "the Catholic Church in the United States," "the Catholic Church in Ireland," "Catholics in America," or "Catholics in Ireland." These terms are much more accurate. Thank you.

It is not only the Irish Church that can benefit from this report of the sexual violation of GOD's Children by HIS Ordained and/or Anointed Priests, Brothers, Deacons, Nuns & Bishops. This is an International Crisis, with everyone in our Church (Clergy, Priests, Bishops and the Pope) pointing accusing fingers in all directions and at each other.
But it is for Lay Catholics (The People In the Pews) to decide if we Catholics love our children less than do the peoples of other religions & other nations. However, it should not come down to nationalities or religions. Children (All Children) should be Sacred and Protected by All of Us, No Matter Who They Are Or Where They Come From.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

What is there to debate about the global reality of priests, bishops and nuns abusing children - physically and sexually? It is pretty cut and dried. The children are now adults and they have the power to stop the abuse and achieve some measure of justice and compensation for their deep suffering. Church leadership has gutted its moral authority. The institution has taken a hit, tried to fix it with big money and expensive PR work, but little has changed internally or image wise. Sick individuals are still attracted to the clerical culture of secret sexual activity and the vulnerable will still be abused. It is refreshing to see how the Irish pull no punches in their condemnation of church leadership. I think a SNAP type organization will develop soon in Ireland to help survivors heal and further expose the deep and pervasive clerical rot.

I can't agree with John Allen's first point, 'Don't get defensive'. Certainly, don't defend the indefensible, admit what was done wrong and express a commitment to right any wrong done. But we must defend truth and justice and right on whichever side it is to be found, and if that is on our side in some instances, being afraid to defend it is simply cowardice and not right.

Wise, sensible words. I can only add that the Catholic Church as a whole beeds to learn that the danger of abuse of ckerical power is not limited to sexual matters. It does seem to me that the official church is forbidding discussion of all kinds of issues, to the harm of the church at large.
And I am a loyal Catholic.
Charles Forder

An excellent column. John Allen's perspective on the sexual abuse issue is invaluable because he has viewed it from both the Roman and stateside perspectives. It should serve as a heads up not only to the Irish Church but to the Vatican as well. It seems highly unlikely that the problem is just an Irish or American problem and can only be solved by a global approach emanating from Rome.

Actually I believe the U.S. Church could learn from the Irish church. In Ireland there is clear leadership by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. His response to the report in writing and more importantly his stance on the removal of bishops is in stark contrast to the lack of leadership and lack of calls for resignations of U.S. Bishops.

I have seldom read an article so full of practical wisdom.

James O'Connell

In searching through all of these words about sex abuse and the American Church rarely only rarely are victims mentioned. What does a victim of sex abuse come away with--words, only words. And until we get beyond and behind the words, until we get to the victims themselves
and see bishops embracing victims, rather than our late pope embracing a perpetrator (Maciel) we are nowhere. Sadly, for me, a reporter I like, admire and respect, has really just issued five public relations points. This could have been written on Madison
Avenue by any highly paid public relations executive. So what will Daly, George, Rigali and the other executives of the American church think? They'll think we've done all this--let's just move on. But the victims themselves, in the long run, are left alone--as they have been from the beginning which in many cases could have been well over sixty years ago. That's a long time to be left on one's own.

Last I looked one of the Ten Commandments is, in the vernacular, "Do Not Lie" which also means "Tell the Truth". Find a Bishop or Cardinal that told the Truth before and/or during the Scandal and we lay people will have reason to Hope that Church Leadership may recover. Until then...we muddle along practicing our Faith with the worst kind of leaders: Liars. Or as they imitate Pontius Pilate asking themselves, "What is Truth?"

And when we realize that Christ Himself proclaimed He is Truth; we begin to understand how horrific the Scandal truly is: Virtually the entire Church leadership in many different countries participated in this fraud and coverup which injured not just the physically abused but spiritually every RCC member. If the RCC was an international business, it would long ago have been shuttered by this Scandal. Think Enron that just played with numbers and not real people's eternal lives.

Strange article for around Christmas especially since it is essentially a handbook to extend the cover-up and recover power that was horribly misused and abused.

If the Bishops are serious about seeking forgiveness and restoring the Grace they squandered, they would recognize that this Scandal requires extraordinary means to cure which only they, sadly and ironically, are in a position to offer us.

Perhaps something like a National Day of Grace where Confession with General Absolution is offered at all Masses because there is no greater gift Bishops can give us than Sanctifying Grace. Maybe if they did this, we could more readily accept their so far apparently pro forma apologies and truly rebuild the Church starting with the physically abused.

Now that would be a Christmas Gift to remember and a true renewal of the Incarnation.

While I agree that PJII was a great man and did good things for the church, he didn't take sexual abuse and priests seriously enough!!! I feel very sorry for Pope Benedict in that he is still cleaning up this same mess. In fact, I don't think abuse by priests in regard to the laity or within communities was taken seriously.

I pray for strength for our Pope that he does not become discouraged and despair for the lack of fidelity that some clergy exhibit.

We ALL have to stand before God and be responsible for our sins someday!!!

John:

I hope you take time to read the responses to your article concerning Irish bishops.

They are remarkably thoughtful, articulate, and incisive.

Perhaps they'll give you new respect for the quality of thought that exists in
the "blogosphere."

Merry Christmas.

John Allen says: "It’s a fact of life that many people won’t believe the Catholic church is serious about something until they hear it directly from the pope. During the American crisis, public hostility to the church was badly aggravated by the fact that it took the pope so long to say anything."

Why did it take so long for the Pope to say anything about this? Because he is part of the problem. It's a fact of life that when Benedict was Cardinal Ratzinger as head of the CDF he read all the reports of sexual abuse by priests. What he did do was allow and enable it to continue to grow into the crisis that we now have. He thought it more important to condemn or silence certain theologians than he did on getting rid of pedophile priests.

There should be "public hostility" to the Church hierarchy for allowing sexual abuse!!!! Much grave immoral harm has been done to the victims and come to the Church because of the enabling of this abuse to go on for so long!! It is a fact of life now also that the morals of the hierarchy simply do not exist. What sort of "moral authorities" allow for sexual abuse? I am utterly dismayed and outraged over this "crisis" perpetrated by Priests, from the very top of the hierarchy, including this Pope Benedict XVI!

This Pope is a nightmare! He should have acted responsibly and in a Christ-like fashion. His actions were far from being Christ-like!! I hate what he has done to the Catholic Church. I hate what he is doing to the Catholic Church now. I pray he is blinded by the light of Christ!

READ THIS: John Allen’s approach to lessons learned from the American experience of the priest abuse crisis is a formula for containing the crisis. He is writing as a crisis-management advisor to bishops. That is not the advice that the church leaders need. The church needs a cleansing and many reforms. The direct cause of the abuse was clericalism. The ideal that the church exists for priests, that they are privileged and untouchable, that they make all the decisions, that they provide all the oversight of themselves and that they manage all the church’s affairs. In effect, the church is a priests’ club and the priests are sworn to protect it at any price: secrecy, no ratting on fellow priests, let no scandal out, eliminate those who challenge the system, and “we take care of our own.” Any male willing to abide by the club’s rules can gain admission. If there are not enough candidates in this country, the club will import poor foreign priests willing to pay any price to get into the U.S. and bring family members along with them.

The only important question that remains for the church as an instrument of Christ on earth is: Have the hierarchy and priests learned anything from their sins? I submit they have not learned real repentance. Rather, they are managing their way through the crisis with ever tightening of the rules of clericalism (i.e. recent change in canon law that prohibits deacons – married outsiders – from holding ANY position of governance in the church.). The priests/bishops are masking tightening of the clerical system with a new surge of political support for the “traditional” church, the old ways. It is the Ratzinger strategy of more orthodox and more loyal church members even if it means a smaller church. In other words, the only good Catholics are those who support the traditional priests’ club.

Everywhere the church is settling abuse lawsuits secretly with no accountability involved. Sadly, money-happy plaintiffs and their lawyers are cooperating in this.

I see nothing learned except how to more quickly contain or settle lawsuits, and manage crises like John Allen suggests. That alone will not prevent future clerical abuse of any kind.

Fr Vincent Twomey, S.V.D.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/1209/1224260356178.html

Would be interesting to hear Allen's opinion regarding that peice of one of Ratzinger's "Schüler".

I think that one critical issue that Mr. Allen rightfully brings the fore deals with that of the "Culture" of 'looking the other way' that certainly needs to be remedied. In order to understand the obvious 'culture of secrecy' with which the American Church dealt with these scandals in the past 4 decades, we need to move beyond naively tacking complete responsibility on a rather arcane document as the Crimen Sollicitationis -- In the history of Catholicism as the emergent social 'other' within 20th Century America, there were undoubtedly bad habits picked up along the way by dealing with scandlous matters internally out the instinct of social survival among a Dominant and hostile WASP culture. The Church certainly did not want to air its dirty laundry for all to see. I would bet to say that in the 50's, 60's, and even 70's this would have been a universal reaction among both clergy and laity alike. Nevertheless this bad habit has certainly remained among the American clergy and it will take more than a few administrative dictates from Rome to lose it.

Good Article, Mr. Allen.

I was a member of the professional staff of a treatment center for catholic clergy including 'predator priests'. The Jesuit directing the zoo gave his tacit approval to 'conflicted' clerics trying on the local 'gay' nightlife on weekends. This guy was also engaged in consultancy with the local judiciary. I was not raised in the catholic milieu. A Christian by conversion I was of the conviction that homosexual practice was contrary to the 'faith'. I understand now that there were (are) others further up the 'food chain' who were complicit. As a dear friend of mine, now deceased said of the Catholic church, 'it's lies and deception'. She had visited Mt. Cashel and once asked me if I could imagine the cries of terror from the innocents. I AM FEELING RAGE RIGHT NOW and I'd like to remove Ratzinger's bright red Prada slippers for him. You see the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is a homosexual culture. Even as I write yet another 'scandal' has broken regarding the procuring of young men for a member of the Pontiff's praetoriun(?) whatever. The clinical diretor of the institute said once re: the Church, 'it would be best if it totally fell apart', this guy was a psychotherapist for priests. I'm tired!