Once, leaders of the Vatican felt that silence would protect the church. But now anyone who cares about it must come to understand that only speaking, revealing, admitting and changing will save the church.
The old Vatican needs new blood.
They need to let younger generations of priests and nuns rise to positions of authority within a new church. Most especially and most immediately, they need to elevate women. As a nun said to me this week, if a woman had been sitting beside a bishop transferring a priest with a history of abuse, she would have said: “Hey, wait a minute!”
If the media and the victims don’t keep the pressure on, the old ways will continue. As for Cardinal Law, he should not be where he is, nor mitred nor ringed.
Very good piece, on the whole. All the evidence suggests that the Vatican has been slower than most in climbing the learning curve where clergy sex abuse is concerned. (And those of us who are honest admit that society as a whole has had to climb the same learning curve over the past several decades. Some behavior that is now unacceptable and even criminal would have incurred less opprobrium in the 70s and 80s. But how I wish the Vatican had been ahead of us all rather than behind.)
But I have two criticism’s of Noonan’s article.
1. “What they [Vatican insiders] don’t fully understand right now—what they can’t fully wrap their heads around—is that the information won.†True, but what Noonan doesn’t acknowledge is that too many in the media have tried to “win†by using mis-information.
2. “As a nun said to me this week, if a woman had been sitting beside a bishop transferring a priest with a history of abuse, she would have said: ‘Hey, wait a minute!’†Any woman?!? Sexist nonsense. Women are no more free from error than men.
I’m not so sure, Anne (#1). I think Peggy has a valid point, even if it’s perhaps overstated. Another way of putting it however might transcend the gender issue. Perhaps we can agree that if any PARENT had been in a position to advise a bishop considering transferring a priest with a history of abusing young people, it’s more likely that he or she, as a mother or father, would’ve been more likely to say, “Hey, wait a minute!”
This is a very, very powerful piece, full of passion, and right on target. And made all the more convincing because it’s written by a deeply committed Catholic who greatly loves the Church and is rightly very angry that those entrusted with her leadership and defense have been unwittingly guilty of inflicting tremendous harm on her. The irony of that calamity is enormous, but the tragedy is very real.
I think it all comes down to the difficult problem of how church leaders can regain trust after it’s been lost. And what the Vatican is still struggling to absorb is the basic fact of life that when trust has been severely compromised, due to lies and manipulation by those in charge, then the ONLY way for trust to be restored is for genuine repentance to be displayed, and for those leaders to become fully and scrupulously honest, no matter what the cost.
In the Information Era, secrecy and cover-ups don’t stand a chance anymore. The Vatican recently released lots of formerly closed records relating to the papal administration of Pius XII and other popes of the last 130 years. That was a good step in the right direction. Only fully honest disclosure of all those records will suffice to rehabilitate the tarnished reputation of Pius XII.
But I agree with Peggy Noonan, another big step would be to strip the infamous ++Bernard Law of his red hat, his miter, and his episcopal ring.
David Handy+
Her point about needing to displace “careerism” with Christianity is awesome.
David makes a good point about “parent” alongside “woman.” For all the complaints about patriarchy in the church, the model of anatomically male leadership does not mean Godly male leadership by any stretch of the immagination. RC celibacy requirements and Protestant selection for mild, bookish and/or theatrical men do not promote “fatherly” leadership.
The Pastoral Epistles look right at healthy family life as the best predictor of healthy church leadership. There is also room for (and advantages to) consecrated celibacy, if a person is called to it by God – as Paul makes clear.
I respect the RCC but I really believe that its model of priestly formation is too far from Biblical criteria for church leadership. It is not healthy for the church as a whole. I’m always creeped out by the weird love-hate way that RCs talk about their priests.
Agree, Fr. David, that having a parent (parents) involved would have made foolish decisions less likely.
What I hope results from all of this is that the Catholic priesthood/episcopacy/hierarchy comes to be recognized more fully as the ministry of service that it is rather than a means of attaining privilege, power, and so on. I don’t think celibacy has ever been the problem. Failing to hold these men accountable and deferring to them too easily has been the problem. It’s more likely that men who entere the priesthood at this period in time, when the “clout” of the priesthood is so low, will have truer motives — hence, a possible source of “new blood.”
A monosexual leadership culture probably made it easier for the church to turn a blind eye. Letting nuns have positions of authority in the church might be an interesting move. I believe that ordaining women is one of the reasons the Episcopal Church is moving toward a zero tolerance policy for various kinds of transgressions. It’s not perfect, of course, but it’s a big shift.
John Wilkins,
The fact is that women (especially nuns) had immense authority in the pre-Vatican II RCC. None were priest, bishops or popes, but superiors of large religious communities, administrators of schools and hospitals, and so on wielded significant authority. The historical truth of the matter is that these women were as good and as bad as the men. I think Noonan’s comment at the end amounts to a red herring. If women are meant to be ordained, so be it. But I don’t see any evidence that doing so will answer the problems of abuse of authority.
Start ordaining women! Then you will see large infusion of heresy and rapid decline in membership just like in the ever so successful Episcopal church. And the TEClub probably has the same number of clergy abuse scandals that the RCC had if one considers relative sizes.
The truth is that all organizations have woken up to the reality of this awful crime. Pope Benedict is on the forefront of instituting organizational change to minimize this tragedy.
I see no logical connection between cover-ups of abuse, and the supposition that the presence of women (or younger participants) would have prevented it. Maybe, maybe not. I believe it is more closely related to careerism, group identity, and insider attitudes. I am not of the clergy, but this has been my observation in industry, and more particularly, higher education.
In this latter regard, I can think of no instance in which included members of “historically under-represented” groups have had much to say regarding critical concerns such as the value of programs, college budgeting, or cost-effectiveness. Instead, the “included” members promptly focus on concerns particular to their own group identity.
In consequence, if the exposure of abuse should happen to work against group identity interests (for example, if the exposure might provoke lawsuits that would reduce funds available to the group interests), I expect that the newly-included persons would cover up just as thoroughly as the old ones.
I’m no fan of Roman Catholic practice and theology but I want to categorically stand up for silence. At times, I repeat, at times, silence is the best route. Our voyeuristic society wants every bit of dirt dragged through the culture with a commensurate apology. That is neither always wise nor Scriptural. I do not apologize to my wife for every sin against her, though I certainly do at times for some sins. Sometimes my apology would bring more grief and harm to the victim than even that which was caused by my sin against her. Does doubling my sin make things better? Isn’t my sin first against God and it is to Him that I must give confession and repent? Any confession to my wife must be for her good – not mine.
Anyone who has been involved in church leadership very long knows the danger and damage that loose improper information can do. I doubt that I am defending the RCs in this particular case but I wouldn’t want them, nor anyone else, being a reactionary in an area where discretion is the best policy.
Don
Good point, Don. Though I agree with an earlier article by Noonan (stating that the media did the church a favor by exposing the worst cases of abuse), something seems to have shifted towards feeding an appetite that’s voyeuristic and base in who knows how many other respects.
I think we have to keep before us the fact that in the present age the Church is scorned mercilessly and it would matter not what she does. If she remains silent, that is an evil worse than any other in human history. If she begs mea culpa, then she is the worst institution in human history. It doesn’t really matter what the Church does or does not do, says or does not say. Her adversaries will always accuse her of unspeakable crimes against humanity. She will be portrayed as the catalyst for the holocaust despite having saved nearly a quarter of a million Jews at very high personal risk to many priests and religious. She will be identified as the primary locus of pedophilia when that is patently false.
[blockquote]Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.
For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Eph. 6:11&12;[/blockquote]
Also, the notion that having women in higher places would make a difference is pretty absurd. She implies that a woman would stand up and say what a man would not AND that, once raised, her voice would be listen to more than that of a man. I see no empirical evidence for either. I dont even see any anecdotal evidence for same.
This specious argument reminds me of those made around women’s suffrage. Remember how the women’s vote (gained in 1920) would prevent war? Remember also that the single worst war in human history happened less than 20 years later? Projecting onto woman every virtue that men supposedly lack is an old sleight of hand which no thinking Christian should be fooled by. Women are prone to neither more vice nor more virtue than men. Women are not less greedy, power seeking, or venial than men. The only category in which women are less wicked than men is violent crime. But, there are many kinds of violence other than physical at which women are plenty aggressive.
As one who hears confessions for a living, I am not fooled by any claim that either sex is morally superior to the other. Both ate the apple.
Excuse me Peggy, but institutional culpability is not a gender specific issue. Women with power can (and often do) abuse it the same way men can. When men or women are bound up in the lie of institutional preservation, and most especially if it is under the guise of Christianity, the result is always disasterous. Spiritual leadership necessarily involves spiritual accountability.
Thank you Fr. J, well said …. and let me also add that I have a dear friend who is a Catholic priest who has recently endured being heckled with vicious name calling while simply walking down the streets in clerics. All Catholic priests are not child molesters. Duh. And yet, the endless media feeding frenzy whips up and drive this level anger and lashing out. We all need to be mighty careful about speaking in generalities when the issues involved here are much more complex than Ms Noonan may even realize.
[Comment deleted by Elf]
I have given up on the RC Church. Unfortunately for the Roman Catholic Church, the leadership, by turning a blind eye, transferring pedophiles, and stonewalling gives the appearance of enabling the crimes. One can say that such sexual perversion is all over society, but, so what? It is as if the vatican did not think it serious. Cardinal Law is just a symbol of the institutionalized perversion. How a church can put itself in such a position is beyond me. Bless their little hearts…
[Comment deleted by Elf]
“The answer for the Catholic Church to the faithful is simple but brutal.
The Pope must declare that The Church has sinned against God and Man …”
In other words, the Catholic Church should declare itself to be “just a denomination.” Ain’t going to happen.
The sad fact is that sexual misconduct, and other kinds of misconduct that is at root an abuse of power, are found in every Christian denomination. So is the cover up. I’ve served as clergy in two different mainline denominations. This is NOT a problem unique to the Roman Catholics. As I said before, institutional culpability is everywhere. The solution is to face it head on, admit the wrong, make amends, make a plan for how things will be different in the future, follow the plan and pray for God to have mercy on us all. Lobbing grenades does not give honor and glory to God, but holding one another accountable for the love of Christ does and I’d like to see more of that and less of the bravado.
Right – if Catholic priests could marry and be parents, it wouldn’t have happened. Sure. Has it struck you that the enormous majority of child sexual abuse takes place in the home? By parents?
A local tragedy reminded me of the Huntsville faculty shootings (Amy Bishop, accused), so I looked up recent news, and made a connection to this topic. An April 14 Examiner dot com news article is about re-opening an inquest into the 1986 incident when Amy Bishop shot her brother with a shotgun, supposedly by accident. It was accidental according to the statement of the sole witness, who was Amy’s mother. There was no further investigation. Thus:
“Another development is that her [Amy’s] mother at that time [1986], was serving as a member of the town personnel board and had influence with the police department.”
So, is Peggy Noonan trying to tell us that when women are included in positions of influence in a church (any church), problems will go away? I doubt it!
[Comment deleted by Elf]
[Comment deleted by Elf]
Unless the standard of commenting on this thread improves it will be closed and permanent action taken against relevant commenters – Elf
Peggy Noonan is a frequent contributor on Fox News. I have admired her ability to tell the truth as she sees it without demonizing those she disagrees with.
On factor that gets downplayed in the media is that before being transferred, many of the pedophile and ephebophile priests were sent for psychotherapy at treatment facilities. What happened there? What did the therapists do to help/change these men and give clearance for the diocese to reassign them? I’d like the APA to investigate that angle, you know, in the interests of being thorough.
Like it or not, the issue is the RC Church being a sanctuary and fostere home for homosexuals. Celibacy is the cause for this; only the repeal of priestly celibacy will help to remedy the situation. Matters would be no different if only women were priests. Then lesbianism would have found a comfortable home in the church.
[i] Slightly edited. [/i]
#24
Absolute rubbish.