Abuse: Is the crisis over?

by Editor · March 10, 2004

The two reports commissioned by the US bishops on the clergy abuse crisis in the United States may be difficult reading for Catholics. At the same time they offer much hope.

At least for American Catholics, one such hope is that, in the words of the bishops� conference�s president Bishop Wilton Gregory, “the terrible history” of abuse of minors by Church personnel and the mishandling of allegations of such abuse is indeed just that: history.

The reports pull no punches. In the past 50 years, more than 4% of all US clergy were accused of committing sexual abuse, ranging from inappropriate touching to rape. The National Review Board, a lay body set up by the US bishops, in its report described the crisis as having an “epidemic character”.

The report also blames the leadership: “Many bishops breached their responsibility as pastors and put their heads in the sand� These leadership failures are shameful to the life of the Church.”

The Church in the US evidently is coming to terms with what the report called a “sordid history of misdeeds”.

A strict protocol has been put in place (somewhat controversially, with some observers criticising it as excessively stringent). The US bishops� decision to place into lay hands the investigation leading to the two reports, consent to its wide scope, and accept its findings is a reassuring act of good faith.

Likewise, Bishop Gregory�s commitment on behalf of the US bishops to no longer neglect (never mind misjudge) the plight of the victims will do much good. Indeed, many parishes and dioceses have reached out to the victims of abuse in a profound way.

Why should the conclusions of an investigation into an American scandal be relevant to Catholics outside the United States?

Sexual misconduct by Church personnel is a universal problem. Indeed, the recent arrest of two Italian priests on charges of sexual abuse suggests that, contrary to what some in the Vatican have suggested, the crisis is not confined to English-speaking territories�the disproportional media coverage in some Anglophone countries notwithstanding.

The Church in the United States, in Ireland and in England in particular have had to deal with the problem in a very public manner. Along the way, errors were made.

The Church in other regions has an opportunity to learn from the experience in these countries, the failures and the successes.

The Church in the US and in England especially have found ways to safeguard young Catholics from predatory Church workers, as far as that is possible. In doing so, these bishops� conferences have placed much influence in to the hands of the laity, rightly so.

Likewise, the Southern African bishops have responded to the crisis by refining the local Church�s protocols governing abuses. One must presume that the bishops will reveal the extent of abuses in Southern Africa once its audit and its interpretation have been completed.

The various protocols will undoubtedly evolve as the bishops and the experts expand their knowledge on the nature of sexual abuse.

This, then, is a time for hope that the worst of the crisis is over, and that young Catholics will be able to feel safe in the Church.

One area of concern remains, however. The focus on the Catholic Church�s culpability in the incidence of sexual abuse by Church personnel has tended to overshadow the crisis of paedophilia in general. The media�s attention must now be turned to other areas of sexual abuse of minors.