Crisis a time for opportunity

When we write or talk about the subject of sexual abuses that have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years, we should be conscious of the fact that this is not just a theological or academic debate. This is an issue that has hurt and injured many and continues to hurt many. I therefore begin with apologies.

The first apology goes to the victims. Many of the abused have been exploited, injured and humiliated. Some have suffered quietly for generations. Some may even have lost their faith as a result of these secret practices.

Indeed one does not know whether the abuse has perhaps been going on for centuries and whether the number of people who have been abused does not run into millions. When the Church authorities concerned were concealing the abuses and protecting the abusers, they were sacrificing the victims in order to protect the public image of Mother Church. We, the Church, owe the victims our humble, sincere apologies.

The second group consists of those members of the clergy who have remained loyal to their vow of celibacy. These probably constitute the vast majority of our priests. Apologies are due to them because they have been painted with the same brush as the abusers and have suffered as a result of the negative publicity that the scandals have given rise to. Is it wrong to suggest that when some people see a Catholic priest these days, they believe they see an abuser?

The third group is the group of abusers. This group has done a lot of harm to the Body of Christ and it can be said that it is their actions that are largely responsible for the pain the victims have suffered, and for the heavy blow the image of the Church has suffered.  And yet they too need to be treated with respect, love and sensitivity.

I should imagine part of the dilemma Pope Benedict faces is to execute a balancing act and to attend to the needs of the different groups of people involved. This presumably includes on the one hand ensuring that the cry of the abused is heard and they are made to see that the Church is taking active steps for justice to be done and healing to then take place, and on the other hand proceeding in such a way that the abuser is not driven to resentment, but is made to see the love of Christ in action and is therefore influenced to feel the gravity of the matter and to see the need for true repentance.

There is a sense in which the group of abusers can justifiably argue that the Church should accept collective responsibility for their actions. Indeed their actions cannot be excused and any member of the group who is convicted should face the consequences so that the abused can see that the Church is not just paying lip service to the idea of seeing justice done and true healing taking place.

However, the Church should also accept responsibility for what these people have done by reflecting on its structures and traditions and asking itself this question: If the abuse is so widespread, where did things go wrong? Is this something that only started in the latter part of the 20th century, or is it something that has been happening for centuries and centuries but has remained unknown to the public because of the secrecy surrounding it and the power the clergy over young people?

This is not the time to be just concerned about the image of the Church,  but a time to review the policy of compulsory celibacy for priests which has no theological basis.

The Church should be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”; but because of these abuses, the Catholic Church is doing precisely what Paul was concerned about when he wrote Romans 2: “If you are confident that you are a guide to the blind and a beacon to those in the dark…so then, in teaching others, do you teach yourself as well?” He adds: “You say that adultery is forbidden, but do you commit adultery?” The apostle concludes: “As scripture says: It is your fault that the name of God is held in contempt among the nations”.

If Pope John XXIII, through Vatican II, could convince the Church to drop Latin as the language of the liturgy, it is reasonable to argue that a Vatican III might amend the requirement for celibacy, leading to a situation where the number of priests may increase and the sex scandals decrease (and here I am referring not only to the abuse of minors).

May we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, the cry of the abused people and the pain of those who want to be married priests, and stop preferring our “man made” traditions to the message of the Gospel of Christ.