Some of Jesus-men have turned from fishing to lives of crime.
Yet silence reigns in the corridors of power. Reputations have been shattered – bishops compromised under a cover of secrecy and denial. Those entrusted with the delicate care of Jesus’ little ones have facilitated the dreadful activities of depraved clerics. The victims who dared to raise their voice were disbelieved – punished for speaking up. Offenders have been allowed to grow old in crime and in death they have escaped justice.
The very existence of the majestic institution on the hill is threatened by hurricanes of scandals and recriminations. This is a crisis that the church as a whole has to own. Numberless faceless people, in the grip of depression and shame, have died by suicide, leaving their loved ones to grieve, and to wonder why so little has been done; why the institution can continue to teach, to preach, to speak with authority, to advise, to bind consciences and hope to be heard, not mocked; why their bishops and priests are not held accountable; why they remain apparently impervious, strangely silent and unassailed – and their property, their churches and schools untouched, their institution still functioning as usual, still endowed with significant tax concessions.
In the face of tragedy and crimes of diabolical proportions, the routine of daily church life continues. The cogs and wheels of the institution are still turning. Priests put on their seasonal vestments to celebrate the liturgy of ordinary time – but the times are far from ordinary. The Gospel continues to be announced – whatever the Good News might be today – but the words seem strangely empty. The daily seasonal routine grinds on. Meetings in the parish hall; masses in the church; money is collected; the dead are buried; the Pope speaks to us from Rome; the bishops make statements to be published in the diocesan rag; religious classes in the local school; a sermon preached; a candle lit in a dark corner of the local church; rosary beads blessed. But in the face of such horror is it possible to pretend that the times are still ordinary and that Christmas should be celebrated as usual?
The old institution is tumbling headlong into a dark hole. Any bishop or experienced parish priest who thinks the situation will repair itself and we will all return to normal, that the repercussions of clerical sexual abuse and of the protection of offenders have not penetrated deeply into the fabric of their institution, is living in cloud-cuckoo land.
The officers of this institution have to become proactive – and soon. Drastic measures are called for. Deep reputational damage has been sustained, largely caused, though not exclusively, by men already dead – men resting peacefully in their graves. The roll-call of offenders and their protectors is long, but the litany of victims (most of them faceless and nameless) is breathtaking.
The ghosts of predators, protectors and victims (living and dead) continue to haunt the crypts and belfries of our ancient institution. But there is no pleasure in listing the offenders and describing the sins of the clergy. God help us, the harvest is vast.
What might it take to cure the paralysis? May I make a few suggestions to assist those in charge? Pope Francis seems to get most of the important issues confronting our world. He has such a warm, self-effacing style. His wonderful encyclical letters, addressed to the world, to bishops and clergy, to the faithful and the infidel, spell out the deplorable condition of the natural world and our human society. He continues to challenge all of us to a concert of action – now. He understands. He gets it. His latest letter, Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All), is another bottler.
But there are two important issues he does not seem to get – misogynistic attitudes and practices in his church; and the open wound of clerical child sex abuse, clerical immorality and criminality, and his bishops’ and his predecessors’ diabolical policy of coverup and protection. Both are affecting his organization while the world looks on in amazement.
Francis has to look inside his institution and draft one of his stunning letters about clerical pedophilia, the cover-up and inside protection racket, the papal and local secrecy, the policy of preferring the soiled ministries of his ordained men over the welfare of Jesus’ children and of sacrificing innocent lambs on the altar of ecclesiastical reputation.
The world is not convinced that our Pope gets the extent of the devastation caused. I hope that somewhere in the a back passage of the Vatican a cleric is pounding away on his typewriter to produce a papal letter explaining the Pope’s position, expressing his abhorrence of the filthy mess, reformulating his position on the sexual urge and ecclesiastical power, and making practical suggestions to heal the wound, provide pastoral care for the victims, root out the offenders and return to the Gospel message.
May I make a number of other suggestions which might give Francis and his local bishops some bones to chew on as they plan their attack on the enemy within? They might think of establishing a special feast of Jesus the Victim, of Jesus the Avenger, of appointing a patron saint for sexual victims of church officers (and suggestions?) and of promoting devotion to Mary Mother of Victims. They might cancel all triumphant and byzantine-renaissance-style celebrations in the Vatican and in the dioceses throughout the world for a period of, say, 12 months or maybe five years.
Do away with extravagant papal masses incorporating Baroque choirs and heavy, gay, colourful vestments; construct a toned-down Easter celebration that focuses for three days on redemption, suffering and service; cancel Christmas and Santa Claus; no canonizations for some significant period; no meetings of cardinals in all their regalia. You get the drift.
They might consider an addition to the colours of liturgical vestments and a special monthly feast day to commemorate the Martyrs and Innocent Victims who down the ages have suffered from persecution and sexual assaults. The new liturgical colour would be a dirty ashgrey as a sign of Lenten repentance. Humble prostrations in sack cloth, with public weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. A wailing wall constructed in Vatican City and those dioceses where criminal offences have been committed by clergy and religious. A memorial sculpture designed by a gifted local artist to be erected on parish land where children have been abused – in the parishes where Mgr John Day served, or Gerard Ridsdale, or Peter Searson, or Jim Fletcher, or Denis McAlinden, or at the school where Brennan and Denham taught, or Rex Brown at the cathedral in Armidale, Vince Kiss in Wagga Wagga – wherever.
Commission a poet of renown to write a series of lamentations, a musician to compose a series of dirges to be proclaimed in churches and spiritual gatherings, addressing the pain, the destruction, the horror, the confusion, the scandal experienced by the faithful, the families and the victims. A special series of cleansing rituals available for use in the parishes, schools, the cathedral churches and at church central.
The bishops could arrange for the drafting of a modern rite of exorcism addressing evil powers and spirits in our midst, with readings, prayers and blessings to bring comfort to suffering victims and their families. Perhaps a victims’ chapel in a silent corner of every church where victims and members of their families could go to reflect and pray.
Victims should be at the centre of the institutional response. And the welfare of victims and their families should receive regular mention in the Prayers of the Faithful at Sunday masses. Remember the 3 Hail Marys we used to recite at the end of Mass – for the conversion of Mother Russia. The so-called traditionalists among us might like to re-install this practice and offer the Hail Marys for the gift of clerical chastity, for our broken priests and brothers, for peace and the gift of forgetfulness for victims of clerical abuse, and the gift of integrity and transparency for our misguided leaders. Remember also the Nine First Fridays and devotion to the suffering Sacred Heart. There’s a lot to think about.
A dedicated website should be set up to disseminate information on the topic of sexual abuse, on the obligation to report assaults to secular authorities and how to do it, on how to seek help (pastoral and emotional), how to make a claim for compensation, who to approach to obtain assistance in crafting a detailed statement etc. Each diocese should appoint an episcopal vicar to accompany victims and their families on their journey.
The Vatican and diocesan archives should be opened so that victims and members of their families can discover for themselves what the authorities knew of pedophilic practices in the organization and when they knew. Moves should already be afoot to identify by name and demote those who have been involved in cover-ups and protection, and to sack offenders. There must be some heads to roll somewhere in the world.
A revamped theology of priesthood might allow a simple ceremony of de-ordination and de-commissioning to emerge. Honorific titles should be removed posthumously from the archived records of dead offenders. The institution should be prepared to name and shame offenders in its midst and not leave that task to the press or websites such as Broken Rites. I presume that behind the scenes, many questions are being asked and maximum efforts being made, involving social scientists, PR experts, ethicists and moral theologians to rework the official church line on human sexuality, celibacy, transgender issues, on power structures within the church, on clericalism, the selection and training of candidates for the priesthood, the seal of the confessional and many other issues.
A secular society and a Royal Commission should not be left to do all the heavy lifting – to ask all the awkward questions, to prescribe the medications and recommend the surgical procedures. The institution has been missing in action, paralyzed by a lack of imagination, by incompetence at the top and a mad belief that if they keep their heads down, the whole mess will eventually go away.
The church has to own this worldwide scandal.
Dr Chris Geraghty is a former priest of the archdiocese of Sydney, a retired judge of the District Court of NSW, and the author of a recent publication, Virgins and Jezebels – the Origins of Christian Misogyny.
Comments
17 responses to “On behalf of victim-survivors: the church has to own this worldwide scandal”
In my experience with Jesuit priests and lay persons in power positions,
there is one skill they all have.
The ability to “compartmentalise” their morals and ethics.
Otherwise known as duplicity.
You see perfect behaviour with say refugees or the poor,
then you see lies cover ups and obfuscation with any sex abuse issue.
To achieve this they use a type of logic and/or the law to make a case
that appears reasonable.
This is a sop to the faithful who will grasp it because they want to believe it.
“its a denial of natural justice” says Fr. Brian McCoy SJ and Professor Stephen Smallbone
about naming credibly accused child sex offenders.
The reason is protecting the institution is paramount.
Its Darwinian, the survival of the fittest, needs must, the ends justifies the means.
The self-deception behind this is quite extraordinary.
How they resolve this during their daily “examen” I don’t know.
Peter Sarstedt sang “where do you go to my lovely,
when you’re alone in your bed”.
Yes Chris, reassuring to see you have referred to “some” priests rather than universal condemnation in your previous offering. And certainly not to downplay the catastrophic effect on genuine victims (of whom I know three personally, one has received two payouts from the Order but this hasn’t stopped the periodic raging PTSD)… But I would like to defend the countless priest and brothers, particularly the ones I know personally, who have demonstrably led lives of fidelity to their vows, have performed their roles with integrity and generosity (possibly not without some mistakes) and been humble servants. Pell quantified the criminal abusers at 6% so that leaves 94% to be tarred with the same brush??? And you were one of them…
The messenger is always an easy target.
Mud sticks to every Catholic who knew, remained silent and failed to report, not just clergy.
Of the 21 alleged and convicted perpetrators – 17 were priests which is 8.7% of the priests who ministered in Ballarat Diocese.
Religious Brothers sexual abuse were much higher.
‘The sexual abuse of children is an outrage – bad enough in ordinary cases of ‘stranger danger‘ paedophilia, and worse when a teachers or scout masters or baby sitters or parents abuses the trust placed in them and molest their charges. But worst of all are priest offenders, who groom their victims in confessionals or on retreats or otherwise through the spiritual power vested in them (often absolving the child after they have satisfied their lust).
Victims describe their assault as, quite literally soul destroying – damaging their capacity for faith as well as the equilibrium of their future lives. The evidence suggests that victims of clerical abuse take longer to heal, and are more likely to not heal at all.’ (G Robertson QC)
Added to this, clergy abusers are often shielded from criminal trials, provided limitless legal funding to overturn a victims statement or relocated to unsuspecting parishes or overseas education institutions and given ample opportunity to reoffend or provided sanctuary in the Holy See (with no extradition treaty).
The Astralian Royal Commission established that some 4,444 claimants alleged incidents of child sexual abuse in 4,756 reported claims to Catholic Church authorities (some claimants made a claim of child sexual abuse against more than one Catholic Church authority) and at least 1,880 suspected abusers from 1980 to 2015. Most of those suspected of abuse were Catholic priests and religious brothers and 62 percent of the survivors who told the commission they were abused in religious institutions were abused in a Catholic facility.’
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/reports/1996_Sipe_PreliminaryExpert.htm
The Gospel from last Sunday highlighted an image of “good and bad’ at the cross-roads being invited into the banquet. It led me to think of “cafeteria catholics’ getting together. And that’s a large part of the problem. To whom are so many commentaries like the present one addressed? – granted they are composed with goodwill. I think it’s time to go after the image of 2s and 3s gathered as offered by Jesus of N. Let small (domestic) groups enact the words of Jesus “to do this in memory of me” in their own way, thus giving ritual support to their daily commitment to the way of the same Jesus. Let University scholarship and the like keep providing critical connections to the original insight of the Way as Christian life goes on its leavening way.
Noel, I like your perspective of small domestic 2 and 3s who keep the memory and honour the presence of Jesus and the whole body of us. Thanks, Alex
Perhaps they might consider selling up their enormous port-folio of real estate world wide and properly compensate the known historical victims of paedophile priests before closing down this institution that has become a fantasy cult for promoting grooming and abuse of children.
You might care to consider that almost all parish churches and parish schools in this country were built and financed by the local parish community over a century ago , often with great sacrifice and heaps of hard work.Therefore in a sense the local congregations own these assets.They should not ever have become the property of the Institutional Church. I have never accepted that a Bishop can authorize the sale of such buildings as he does not own them.
Logic and sense play no part in this Church in the same way that democracy morality and ethics are also foreign to it. Check the titles if you’re in any doubt or better still speak to a survivor put through the ringer by the Church and it’s disgusting legal crew. Then you might get a more realistic view.
Chris,
I sense your pain and distress.However a laity conditioned over centuries to ‘pray, pay and obey’ is in no position to alter the course of the governance of the Catholic Church, which has developed in response to the Reformation . the Church adopted a siege mentality approach to criticism, particularly from the secular world including the justified criticism from the Civil Law.
As I have written previously, the decline in active membership will impose severe financial burdens on many if not most Parishes and Dioceses .We have seen bankruptcies in the U.S. from legal costs awarded against the Church in defending the indefensible. The decline in clerical vocations and refusal of the Vatican to recognize the terminal decline in clerical ministry will leave many Parishes without a resident Pastor, amplifying the decline in church attendance.There is little doubt the COVID-19 Virus has already hastened that process. The continued inability of the Church to recognize historical fact that married Priests and Deacons formed the ministry of the Early Church until ended by the scandals in the 11th Century is a real concern .These generous souls are needed more than ever to minister to the Faithful of today’s Church .Female clergy are in my opinion still a long way off. But if it is accepted that female membership is well and truly in the majority today then it must be considered.
Offenders and their superiors, found guilty in civil law must be removed from any ministry and responsibility in the Church.Indeed any honorifics. building dedications must be rescinded I too was horrified by the vision of George Pell meeting Pope Francis. That meeting is arguably the worst PR stunt yet staged by the Vatican. It never fails to amaze me how out of touch they seem with ordinary Catholics and the secular world . The ending of ridiculous rituals with pomp and ceremony reminiscent of regal celebrations. After all they are the servants of the people not some glorified master clique.
Unless there is radical reform and soon, the Institutional Church as we have known it,is unlikely to survive past this Century.
Gavin, it would seem the “pray, pay and obey” tag has passed its use by date.
For decades, Australian polling and voting patterns have consistently shown Catholics more likely to cluster around the national majority position than adhere to well known Church teachings. Most Catholics opt for a secular wedding and, increasingly, opt for a funeral service led by a secular celebrant. Infant baptism figures continue to plummet.
Comparing Sunday Mass statistics in a region heavily impacted by the CSA catastrophe is worthwhile: Three parishes spread across four suburbs: 1970 there were 14 Sunday masses celebrated in 4 churches: 2020 there are 2 Masses using 2 churches – the other 2 are “closed.” Worth noting: the release of crown land has increased the housing/population density of the area in the same period.]
Bill ,
You are quite correct. I was a member of the Parish Council when the decision was made by the then Archbishop to amalgamate our parish with an adjacent parish.This parish was originally part of ours.When the population of the area exploded, a new parish set up in the 1980’s .By 2000 the drop in attendance was such that two parishes were now nonviable.We merged again with much angst from the ‘lost parish’ parishioners. We now have the largest in area (not necessarily attendance) of all Parishes in Canberra. It is a massive workload for the two resident priests to cover with declining resources.
Talk is cheap – words without action are just words – time was up a long time ago – move along nothing to see here
Pope Francis failure to grasp “his bishops’ & his predecessors’ diabolical policy of coverup & protection” in welcoming of Cardinal Pell was disrespectful to survivors, late victims, their parents, siblings, families, witness, taxpayers and many who worked tirelessly on the 5-year long Australian Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse.
The Pope failed to consider that his poorly thought-out actions would reverberated across the world.
Perhaps if the Australian Bishops had sat daily through the Royal Commission and listened to the gut wrenching stories of victims, they might not be in this ‘teflon’ space today. Australian Bishop may have demanded change from their employer.
The trouble is Pope Francis and all the Bishop knew about the abuses.
They kept it secret.
They covered up.
Most Australian Bishops together implemented the greatest betrayal of trust.
Bishops deflected, whitewashed, spurred victims, suppressed information, betrayed families, destroyed reputations & witnesses careers, excluded clergy with integrity and lied to those that offered solutions to support victims.
All with limitless legal funds.
At the same time, their employer, Pope Francis failed to implement zero tolerance for clerical sex abusers, failed to laicised criminal priests, sat on Clerical abuse reports and provided luxurious accommodation to Cardinals that coverup (Law).
Catholics and secular citizens can no longer be blinded to what is going on.
Pope Francis continues to prop up a secret legal system that shield clergy from criminal trials and gives them able opportunity to reoffend. Clerical men believe with confidence they can get away with sex abuse as priests usually did.
Pope Francis PR stunt – inviting world media to film a ‘warm welcome’ to Cardinal George Pell was a selfish desire to protect the church from scandal.
It backfired!
With numerous inquiries and government Royal commission, it clearly demonstrated that Pope Francis or his Vatican advisors have undergone limited self criticism or insight into the Pope’s personal responsibility or analysed the failings of the canon law procedures.
Unless a civil action against the Holy See overcomes the immunity hurdle either by establishing that the Vatican is not a state or else making it vicariously liable for its employee, Bishops and for negligence for not supervising them, then ‘this very sad story’.
Pope Francis welcoming of Cardinal Pell as if his acquittal somehow exonerated him from the findings of the Royal Commission was a betrayal of trust to all victims of sexual abuse.
A ‘sad day‘ for many worldwide.
All well put, Chris, but if the longest journey begins with a single step, what is your first step? Or Francis’? Or our bishops? It can’t be all done at once.
Chris – your reflection on Glen Walsh was superb. And there would be many who argue there is ongoing need to highlight the suffering of CSA victim/survivors and their families. But, I would suggest your latest offering would benefit from a more focussed reflection on your central concern. “This is a crisis that the church as a whole has to own.”
In fact, the body of the text is clergy centric in focus. Hurdling through a rush of hyperbole, you highlight shortcomings in clergy “business as usual” tactics, while offering multiple suggestions for Francis to escalate his “cleansing of the temple” protocols and publications. But nothing on what the whole church might say or do.
Preceding your article by a few days, Paul Collins and Gideon Goosen have, serendipitously, pointed to some of the present pitfalls to a whole church response. Paul notes the growing focus on the next conclave and the constraints placed on Francis: measuring what he can do now without tilting voting patterns too far from some of his preferred replacements. A caution that became a tactic when Francis and his supporters twigged to how advanced the opposition planning had become: plans which include an option to install a Not Yet Cardinal, but high achieving Ratzinger protege.
Gideon Goosen provides a blunt injunction to reform minded Catholics – give up on the Bishops and focus attention on recruiting supporters from among the Lay ranks. Goosen’s advice is well informed. Why the bulk of bishops value silence over discourse and distance over engagement is a story waiting to be told; for whatever reasons, Gideon choose not to comment further.
So, we have a Pope looking over his shoulder before he speaks and a brace of bishops who are content to say and do nothing for the time being.
And what about the Laity. Oddly and surprisingly, partly as a consequence of some unintended consequences of post Vatican II reforms, and partly as a result of a deliberate nobbling of the draft Code of Canon Law at the end of the seventies, the Laity in today’s Church have less opportunity to influence Church policy and procedures than they did during the reign of Pius XII.
In sum, we have a Church riddled with dysfunction at all levels. Locked down into preferred factions is the order of the day. Speaking with a united voice is a forlorn hope – any time soon. Lighting a candle and pointing a way forward which challenges all factions is an urgent necessity and would benefit with you adding your perspective.
As you observe, Chris, despite Pope Francis’ excellent leadership in so many areas, “there are two important issues he does not seem to get – misogynistic attitudes and practices in his church; and the open wound of clerical child sex abuse, clerical immorality and criminality, and his bishops’ and his predecessors’ diabolical policy of coverup and protection.”
We have seen another very worrying demonstration of Francis failure to grasp “his bishops’ and his predecessors’ diabolical policy of coverup and protection” in his welcoming of Cardinal Pell back to the Vatican, as if Pell’s acquittal by the Australian High Court somehow exonerated him from the findings of the Royal Commission, which were released in May 2020 after being redacted from the Commission’s report until the Courts resolved the separate criminal matters.
The Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that Cardinal George Pell was “conscious of child sexual abuse by clergy” as early as 1973 and failed to act on complaints about priests. These findings go to the heart of the Church’s fundamental failure in mission by its leaders – its “diabolical policy of coverup and protection.”
Yet the Pope has warmly greeted Cardinal Pell, presumably thus indicating that he proposes to ignore these grave formal findings by a 5-year Royal commission? Is Francis repeating the blindness he demonstrated in his initial response to the Chilean cover-up that eventually ended the episcopacies of many bishops?
I notice some likeness between the position that Pope Francis finds himself in and the situation in which Gladys Berejiklian finds herself. Mike Seccombe in The Saturday Paper October 17-23, 2020 comments on page 9; “When you talk about a culture of corruption, what you are talking about is a tolerance, a willingness to look away. and that comes down from the top.” The culture of corruption in the catholic and other churches and institutions, that the Royal Commission exposed through hearing the testimonies of many who were victims of sexual abuse, depended on tolerance afforded to many known offenders, privileged through their clerical status and protected from being called to account and removal from power. The cultural practices of looking the other way and disbelieving the protests of the abused have been part of the whole institution’s response to the violence. Not just Bishops and priests protecting their mates looked the other way, but so did men and women parishioners, school teachers, “tuck-shop ladies”, cleaners who knew, heard rumours or suspected that something abusive or corrupt was being enacted by a person in a leadership role in the church or school community. The culture of clerical privilege, enforced from the top, succeeds in silencing priests, parishioners, religious women and men, and the victims. Unable or unwilling to register their protest against the violence, not wanting to cause trouble for the offender, or public embarrassment for the church, or because they feared losing their job, or attracting criticism from a parish community that was staunchly loyal to the church, no matter what. Generations of silence supported the culture of corruption and the practice of looking away.
There’s a sense in which we are all in this together. We need to recognise how we came to participate in this culture and stop collaborating with it. New wine, new skins. I had hoped that the Plenary Assembly might be the place for this, to make a new start, to come clean. And build a new community that is worthy of our faith.