Before Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival in the United States, many
hoped he would address the clergy sexual abuse scandal, but no one
could know for certain if he would. The doubters pointed to the
fact that he had been invited to make Boston — epicenter of the
2002 revelations — a part of the itinerary, and declined. Didn’t
that imply a lack of awareness of the importance of the issue?
Maybe not.
Midway through this journey, Pope Benedict has addressed the
clergy sexual abuse crisis three times with words and a fourth in a
way far more powerful than words — by meeting with victims of
clergy sexual abuse on the afternoon of April 17.
Benedict was not cajoled into uttering any of his words on the
issue. Even in the most informal of settings in which it came up —
the press conference on the plane — those questions asked of the
Pope were preselected. And the first question selected to be
answered, posed by veteran Vatican reporter John Allen, concerned
this very issue.
I’ll come back to what Benedict has said about the abuse scandal
in a moment, but first some background on his previous engagement
with the issue, which has not made headlines, but is telling.
As prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith,
part of Cardinal Ratzinger’s responsibility, especially in the
latter years of John Paul’s pontificate, was to handle the cases of
priests accused of sexual abuse. He referred to his Friday mornings
reading these dossiers as his “Friday penance.”
In an article published after his election, Laurie Goodstein of
the New York Times wrote of this troubling part of
Ratzinger’s job and also of the meetings some members of the U.S.
bishops’ National Review Board had with him in 2003. Former board
chair Anne Burke reported they found a concerned and engaged
listener in the Cardinal.
THIS RELUCTANT IMMERSION in these cases led to a strong and
poignant moment in 2005, just days before the death of John Paul
II, when the traditional Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum, written that
year by Cardinal Ratzinger, read, during the meditation on the
Ninth Station:
Should we not also think of how much Christ suffers in
his own Church? How often is the holy sacrament of his Presence
abused, how often must he enter empty and evil hearts! How often do
we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that he is
there! How often is his Word twisted and misused! What little faith
is present behind so many theories, so many empty words! How much
filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the
priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him!
Finally, and to me, very tellingly, in the fall of 2004, Ratzinger
re-opened the long-controversial cases charging Legionary of Christ
founder Marcial Maciel Degollado with abuse and exploitation of
seminarians.
Maciel was disciplined in 2006 and when he died this past
January, the Vatican had nothing to say. It is standard procedure
for the Pope to issue a statement of condolence when a religious
order founder dies. But from Benedict, silence.
This week, the Pope has used his voice to recognize the terrible
cost of the sexual abuse crisis in this country: most of all to
victims, but also to the entire Church.
On the plane, in answer to Allen’s question, Benedict used the
word “shame” in relation to the scandal, then briefly outlined the
areas in which the Church should act: juridically, pastorally, and
in relation to seminary screening and formation.
The emphasis on victims came through very clearly in Wednesday’s
speech to the U.S. bishops, when Benedict said that it was their
“God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused
by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote
reconciliation and to reach out with loving concern to those so
seriously wronged.”
JUST WORDS? Not at all, if you consider the priorities of various
dioceses in the past. Showing compassion and care to victims has
not always topped the list, which is exactly the reason we are
where we are. Benedict reminded the bishops not only that this was
most important, but that it was what God — you know, God
— expected of them.
In the earlier days of these scandals, we were reassured that
those in charge were trying to respond to the concerns of the
faithful on this score, and that they were listening to us.
Frankly, I never really cared if they were listening to me. I just
thought they should try listening to Christ.
Speaking of Christ, he came up, too. Benedict told the bishops
that their lives should be Christ-centered and prayerful, devoted
to the virtues and holiness.
In saying this, Benedict isn’t tossing out self-help platitudes
or suggesting magic formulas that make suffering and complexity
disappear. Rather, he’s saying that in addition to other concrete
efforts, Christ-centered bishops should foster holiness in priests,
and when sins are committed, they tend to victims first. First.
First.
Thursday, during his homily at Mass at Nationals Park, he
brought the subject up to those gathered and, by extension, to
Catholics across the country. First, once again, were victims. And
only after that did he ask them to “love your priests, and to
affirm them in the excellent work that they do.”
And finally, Thursday afternoon, in a surprise move, Benedict
met with five victims who were escorted to their meeting by Sean
Cardinal O’Malley of Boston.
NO, BENEDICT DIDN’T take anyone publicly to the woodshed. He didn’t
lay out any canonical or structural issues. Those things are
important, but they are also not the stuff of homilies and press
conferences.
Here in the U.S., Benedict spoke as a pastor, laying it out
plainly before all of us, including the bishops, not only by his
words but by his actions.
Time after time, we hear that in the beginning, victims of abuse
asked something simple of bishops: Meet with us. Listen to our
stories. Help us.
How many bishops were asked to do this, how many times? And how
often did they refuse?
This week, one bishop said “Yes.”
