Time to Get Radical On Abuse

by Editor · February 2, 2020

Every time it seems that the Catholic Church is making some progress in addressing the sex abuse scandal, new revelations of alleged abuse and their cover-up emerge.

Among several disturbing stories hitting the news lately, there was one that truly drove home how pervasive the culture of cover-ups still is.

Ana Lucia Salazar, a 36-year-old Mexican television personality and mother of three, went public this month with her testimony of how priests from the Legion of Christ, the religious order founded by the notorious serial-abuser Marcial Maciel, would sexually abuse pre-pubescent girls.

The girls at the school, run by the Legion of Christ in Cancun, would be called out of class into the school’s chapel, where they would be sexually assaulted. Ms Salazar was eight when she was sexually assaulted by a priest. Her parents reported the abuse to the local bishop. Nothing was done. A teacher who raised the alarm was fired.

Ms Salazar was eight when she was sexually assaulted by a priest. Her parents reported the abuse to the local bishop. Nothing was done. A teacher who raised the alarm was fired.

Ms Salazar’s distressing story has been corroborated by other victims and eventually acknowledged by the Legion itself.

The rape of these girls was covered up for many years. When in 2010 Pope Benedict XVI sent an envoy to uncover these and other abuses, the cover-ups continued.

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, who died in 2017, refused to investigate abusers, or hold accountable those who concealed these crimes.

Appointed to uncover the cover-ups, Cardinal De Paolis covered up himself, continuing a long history of the Vatican and the Mexican bishops protecting the wealthy Legion of Christ.

Ms Salazar’s revelations have changed the mood. Remarkably, the Mexican bishops’ conference has criticised the Legion’s failure to provide “a specific act of justice or reparation for the victims”.

Even the apostolic nuncio to Mexico, Archbishop Franco Coppola, denounced the Legion’s inaction and called on the Vatican to investigate the “web of cover-up” that protected the order. The nuncio must know that such an investigation would implicate officials close to St John Paul II, who counted Maciel among his close friends.

The nuncio must know that such an investigation would implicate officials close to St John Paul II, who counted Maciel among his close friends. Either the nuncio, a man versed in the art of diplomatic prudence, is showing great personal courage, or his sentiments find an echo in the Vatican.

The recurring cases of abuse and their mishandling show that the Church has yet to get a grip on a long-running scandal.

More than lofty words and bold promises, we need concrete action and solidarity with the victims of abuse and its mishandling.

Ms Salazar has called on Pope Francis “to get radicalised” on the question of sexual abuse, saying: “There’s only one position: to be on the side of the violated children.”

Indeed, the whole Church must be radicalised on that issue. In that, it can take the lead from the Vatican’s Fr Hans Zollner SJ.

The Church must also come to fully understand that the wounds on the Body of Christ were inflicted not only by abuser priests, but even more insidiously by those who cultivated cover-ups, silence and sometimes even reaction against those who alleged abuse. The Church in South Africa has not yet experienced an avalanche of abuse revelations. But there has been abuse and there have been cover-ups.

The Church in South Africa has not yet experienced an avalanche of abuse revelations. But there has been abuse and there have been cover-ups.

There are many survivors of clerical abuse who have not reported it. There may be many reasons for that.

These could include the fear of not being believed and/or condemned; reluctance to relive the humiliation of abuse; lack of understanding of what constitutes sexual abuse; low self-esteem (often caused by the abuse); and anxiety about recriminations for implicating a popular priest or bishop. In 2018, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town issued a call for those who had been abused by Church personnel to come to report their experiences, “so that the Church can acknowledge the deep individual hurt caused by abuse and contribute, with humility, to the process of healing”.

In 2018, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town issued a call for those who had been abused by Church personnel to come to report their experiences, “so that the Church can acknowledge the deep individual hurt caused by abuse and contribute, with humility, to the process of healing”.

This call must be repeated and amplified, coupled with an undertaking that due action will be taken against perpetrators of abuse and cover-ups.

In the meantime, after almost two decades of incessant revelations, it is overdue that the Church, on every level, become radicalised beyond mere rhetoric on the abuse scandal.