A Further word - read to the end

Life is not simple. The explosion of technology and the ability to instantaneously spread news around the world today has complicated our lives all the more. But, there are certainly benefits to this. The world has shrunk to a sound bite. We can be in communication with others at the click of a computer mouse, an email, a twitter, a facebook or blog. If disaster strikes anywhere in the world, we know about it and can mobilize assistance immediately. The opportunities for evangelization would be the envy of St. Paul. Could you imagine if Paul lived today and took advantage of emails, television, twenty-four hour news broadcasts. Yet, for all that is good about the media there is likewise a stark downside. The variety of news programs and newspapers has responsible and respectful journalists who are serious about their profession and report news accurately. It would be unfair to generalize and characterize the entire of the secular media as out to get us.

But indeed, we all have become weary of the endless barrage of “he said/she said” charges on the Catholic Church and the abuse of children. The other day a well meaning parishioner asked me what I felt the average parishioner was feeling about all this. While the question is not simple to answer, I essentially said “I think they’re tired of it and just want to get on with their lives.” The person in the pew wants to just raise their family, pay their bills, live their faith, and hope they can keep their job. If things are going well at their parish, they love and support their pastor and don’t think a great deal about the bigger stuff. We tend to be pretty parochial. But good folks are confused. Not sure what to believe or to make of it all.

But, we can’t hide from the issue because it poses a challenge of credibility to our Church and its leaders. However, any good study of history benefits from perspective. If you want scandal, take a look at the Popes of the 16th century: Alexander VI, Julius II, and Leo X. If CNN or FOX had been around in those days, we’d all be hiding underground in caves ashamed to admit we were Catholics! The scandal of today is “scandal light” compared to them and the Popes of the 20th and now 21st century are paragons of saintly virtue in perspective. But, the matter is serious nonetheless. Will the Church survive this? Of course it will and there are wonderful signs of life all around us. Scandal and persecution is nothing new. It’s our turn now and future generations will have their turn as well. This process of cleansing and reform will go on until Christ comes again.

However, the greatest burden and blame for this entire scandal seems to fall on the shoulders of our Bishops. Have some been at the least negligent in their responsibility to oversee their priests? Yes, they have. But the vast majority has not. The implications of a cover up, often tagged in secular reports, imply a conspiracy on the part of the hierarchy. That the effort to hide these psychologically disturbed priests, who posed a direct danger to children, was a premeditated and purposeful plan. That all some Bishops were doing was protecting their own reputation and knowingly and deliberately sacrificed the innocent for that ego centric cause. Such sinister implications, I believe, are a stretch and the over generalization is dangerous. Some think that Church authorities, the Pope and Bishops primarily, are like ostrich’s with their head in the ground as danger lurks around them. That they don’t get it and they live a life of denial. From all I can see and hear, the Bishops get it and so does Pope Benedict XVI. When the Pope made his first pastoral visit to the United States two years ago, he made it clear on more than one occassion that he gets it. His response was direct and without embellishment. Subsequent policies since that time have made the rubber hit the road.

This past Lent, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said in regards to the present scandal that he understands the strength of the criticism that has been leveled against the Church. As reported in the National Catholic Register, It betrays the “confidence and trust people assume in their relations with a priest . . . He added that there were no excuses to justify these crimes. We need to be clear, transparent and condemn them, and allow the court system to proceed and clean house. People who made mistakes should pay for it. God’s mercy is always present, but society demands that correction be done in an effective and visible way.” That doesn’t sound to me like a Bishop, an agent of the Vatican, who doesn’t get it!

Rome may have been slow on the take for sure but there are both administrative and cultural reasons for that. Local Bishops are the main overseers in their respective Dioceses and they have the ultimate and direct responsibility for leading their local Churches and to guard the deposit of faith. Since 2001, however, all reports of sexual molestation must be reported directly to the Vatican. Silent no more is the new Church, and that is a good thing. The question is not to explain what happened for that has been done adnauseum, but to decide what to do about it.

However, anyone who thinks there won’t continue to be naïve statements, such as one recently made by Cardinal Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, about a link between homosexuality and pedophilia, is mistaken. His position in the Vatican makes the statement all the more embarassing but everyone is trying to weigh in on this and some reveal their own lack of knowledge in the process. They need to be more discreet and do their homework before speaking in such a public manner. We have all made statements we regret. Think about the Vice President of the United States, Joseph Biden and his impetuous "gaffs." Now there's an example of someone who speaks before he thinks. Do you hear much criticism about that? It's about a one hour, humorous sound bite on the news, rolls off immediately and we look the other way.

But, the Church has every right to defend itself and to question its accusers when such grievous charges are made. Our Church has the right to wonder about and to comment on what appears to be a larger agenda that has used this issue, as disturbing as it is, in order to accomplish a greater goal: to either reshape the Catholic Church, to destroy or limit the influence of the Church significantly over secular society, or to engage in a war on Christianity with the ultimate goal of destroying religion. This is what I’ve found among many sources. The level of hostility and self-righteous posture in some reports cause one to wonder about a not so hidden agenda. The Church has every right to question if that might or might not be true. The huffing and puffing, the hyperbole is shocking.

The Church has every right to take time with accusations, to examine their authenticity, to discern the truth, to question and explain its side of the story. It has every right to seek discovery and to ask the opposition about their sources and research and to develop a response that is not a knee jerk reaction or a simplistic solution but a reasoned, researched, and solid appropriate response. But, we are addicted to speed; simple solutions to complex problems and our American society in general has no patience to wait for an answer. We need to solve this issue and get on to the next headline. But, the Church seeks to speak to tomorrow as well as today. We must guard the future as well as the present from this ever showing its ugly head again.

The Church has every right, as an autonomous religious organization under the protection of our First Amendment, to act independently of secular government but should never assume to be above the law of the land, of which Church members are also law abiding, tax paying citizens of this nation. It has every right to not allow itself to be backed unfairly and unjustly into a corner with no chance to be heard or taken seriously.

I’ve spent a good part of this week in research on the internet in regards to this issue. There is a great deal of information out there on reputable Catholic websites that have much to say in defense of the Church’s position – and the vast majority of it, I believe, holds water. The more and more you study this issue, the more and more complex it becomes. I think society as a whole has evolved to a point where, at least on this issue of child sexual abuse, we clearly understand the long term emotional damage that is done by this heinous act. That was not the case in the 1950’s – 1970’s when the majority of these tragic cases took place. In light of what we know today, we must never be irresponsible in our effort to protect the innocent

St. Augustine said: "Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as if everything depended on you." We must do both in this matter. Pray earnestly for peace, respect, justice and fairness on all sides of this issue. The stakes are too high to ignore and we both in the Catholic community and the larger society around us need to get things right. Society as a whole has a responsibility to stop the denial and deal with this issue forthright where it is rampant far beyond the Catholic Church. A United Nations report estimates 200 million children are abused every year worldwide, compared with 10,667 cases in the Church over the last 50 years, most of which were false accusations. This does not excuse the Church but perspective is essential.

The Catholic Church in efforts that we have already made through the Dallas Charter and the Call to Protect programs implemented in our parishes a few years ago and the pro-active moves that Seminaries across the country have made on the screening of candidates for the priesthood, provide a model for the nation. Will the secular press tell you about that and provide solid statistics to claim signs of victory? If they don’t, we have more to loose than gain.

May the peace of Christ risen among us be with you.