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Church Abuse Crisis – Join The Conversation

Father Gabriel Richard High School’s annual Familiaris Consortio lecture series for 2019 was called Phoenix from the Ashes: The Sex Abuse Crisis and the Future of the Catholic Church. Hundreds of Catholics heard keynote speaker Dr. Janet Smith and others present the abuse crisis as an opportunity for evangelization and lay responsibility.

Audio of the talks is available here. 

Co-sponsor Ave Maria Radio also believes that honest questions deserve honest answers. They are many. Why not leave the Church? How did bishops tolerate such priests? How many priests are involved? What is a “credible” allegation? What made the Theodore McCarrick case so important? What happened at the Vatican Summit on the crisis? Who do I trust to keep my children safe???…

Stay informed and stay in touch. Check out our resource page and Al’s previous correspondence with listeners. And let us know what you’re thinking. Your questions and comments keep the conversation going below.

 

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James
James
6 years ago

I would like to make a positive comment and ask a question. I rotate Mass attendance between two churches. I am glad to say that I have noticed a considerable increase in church attendance at both. I hope and pray that this is a sign of a more concerned and active laity. This crisis is being allowed to happen by God and only good can come no matter how painful and difficult the path.

My major concern in this crisis is the seminaries. This is where everything starts. Are there any concrete steps being taken to monitor the leadership and the people on the boards who decide if a man can start and continue his path to ordination? Does the seminarian have a third party to go to if he feels he is being threatened for his orthodox views or refusal to take part in certain activities if he has exhausted his appeals to his superiors?

This is an opportunity for the Church to be proactive instead of reactive.

Maureen
Maureen
6 years ago

I came into the Church officially just after the last one rocked the country but because I had already gone through a major conversion I wasn’t , thanks be to God, going to allow Satan divert me back then and although I have had some wobbles all I can say with Peter is “where should I go?”. HOWEVER I have this sense that we are ALL guilty and I wonder if you or others have considered this.

Frankly I feel like the laity are also culpable in this scandal. The majority of us have been all too happy that our clergy have quietly ignored our own ‘sexual misconduct’ in their homilies and teaching. We are awash in adultery, pornographic addiction – both men and women, in allowing our children to watch increasingly more sexually explicit , violent and vulgar things on television . I have never heard a homily that outright said ” if you are having sex outside of marriage, you are in mortal sin, let alone a homily on what mortal sin even means. Even among those of us who are in monogamous, heterosexual proper marriages in the eyes of God and the Church I bet a high percentage are contracepting and have all the above issues. I am quite frankly mad at the lay leaders / elders and clergy – including our Popes- who failed to have moral back bones to call us to repent and be converted and who failed to get our parish priests to preach /catechize us on these things..
We are also culpable for failing to pray for holy priests and for praying for protection of them from evil.
I have also not heard any discussion of – what made these men like this? Perhaps – like my own homosexual cousin has told me- they were victims of abuse themselves when they were younger. Where is the mercy and prayers for healing of not just victim but also the perpetrator’s soul? These Priests, Bishops and Cardinals will be much more severely judged by God and frankly I would not wish hell on my worst enemy

Kyle
Kyle
6 years ago

As I continue to read news accounts and ponder the current situation in the Church, it occurs to me that perhaps, instead of calling it an abuse crises, it is more fitting to call it a clerical sexual immorality crisis. This occurred to me after I remembered a family wedding about 10 years ago which was officiated by an Archbishop. During the reception, I had a passionate disagreement with him regarding whether the abuse uncovered by the Boston Globe was a matter of pedophilia, as he was stating, or homosexuality. My position was and is that since, by definition, the overwhelming majority of the victims were pubescent or post-pubescent, that it was an issue of homosexuality, not pedophilia. The Archbishop attempted to use his status to argue vociferously that I did not know what I was talking about. I would not back down because I believed it to be a grave matter of principle. My mother, upon hearing the inflexible disagreement between us, told me to stop the disagreement (no voices were raised) and “be respectful”(we were) because he was the Archbishop and he was right. I told her I would not hold my peace because it did not matter to me who he was because he was wrong.

One further thought…I am in total agreement about the need for the laity to step up. I do not think the clericalism you referenced will be dented without such participation. What I am wondering is what would be ways that laity can be effectively engaged and involved? I believe it would be helpful for the local churches to identify areas of need that the laity could fill, the type of ‘qualifications’ desired, etc. There is much to do to move forward and it will not be possible without all of us grabbing an oar to help put the ship back on course. Ave Maria Radio putting forth programming on how the laity can be so engaged, I believe, would be instrumental in doing so.

Amy
Amy
6 years ago

I’ve heard it mentioned on your show and elsewhere how every 500 years or so, the Catholic Church goes through an upheaval caused by corruption or scandal, and each time that happens the Church produces some of its greatest saints. I’d love to learn more about this.

Kresta in the Afternoon Team
Kresta in the Afternoon Team
6 years ago
Reply to  Amy

You make a great point. How do we face this darkness as disciples of Christ? The saints have done so throughout the ages. They are our models. During the days of St Peter Damien this problem was rampant – check out the story here.

Newman, Luther and others were disgusted when they visited Rome – because the clergy of this day were conformed to this world. They indulged in the seven deadly sins and mocked the idea of holiness. We don’t know how widespread the corruption is or where this will rank historically as an era in wickedness. But I know there are good priests. We all do. We need examples of saints like Catherine of Siena. They are the Church, not the corrupt clergy we’re hearing stories of today.

Jack
Jack
6 years ago

As a listener I am very discouraged by the sexual scandals and coverups in the Church. Can you recommend any books on Church history, particularly any that cover different scandals, bad popes, etc? I am not saying Pope Francis is a bad pope. I just do not understand his decisions. I know the Church has weathered storms like this before and it think it might be helpful for me to read about them and see how the Church was reformed.

Esther
Esther
6 years ago

Why haven’t we had a comprehensive and coherent narrative about the Mess? We still don’t know much about the McCarrick abuses. Who knew about him? Who enabled him? Why aren’t we getting these facts?

Elizabeth
Elizabeth
6 years ago

For some reason, Catholics in my town don’t want to talk about what’s happening in the Church. I’m not sure why. It it because it makes them uncomfortable and they don’t like unpleasant subjects? Am I the only one who thinks the laity needs to step it up and find ways to fix this? After all, we’ll be the ones paying for it.

John
John
6 years ago

I believe the leaders of the Church need to wake-up to the fact that the Bible condemns homosexuality and unmistakable connection between homosexuality and pedophilia. So why are there still homosexual priest in the priesthood? Why have they not be sanctioned and released? In my opinion, there needs to be action taken and not another ‘conference’.

eebest8 best
6 years ago

“Im obliged for the blog article.Much thanks again. Fantastic.”

Joe
Joe
6 years ago

Al, how can you believe that the bishops are not consciously involved in some global conspiracy when these homosexuals are running around having their way in parishes and dioceses?

Kresta in the Afternoon Team
Kresta in the Afternoon Team
6 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Listen carefully. I don’t see evidence of a well-coordinated international lavender mafia. I do believe there are pockets of corruption in local areas or even in the Vatican. But exaggerating the extent of corrupt clergy leads to a different set of problems than minimizing the extent of corrupt clergy. Both cause suffering and discredit the gospel.

We know the John Jay report claims that roughly 4% of priests in America were responsible for the reported incidents of abuse. We don’t have a good percentage on the bishops involved.

I also don’t think corrupt clergy are having their way all over the Church. Remember that this is not only the Church of the crisis; it is the Church of the cleanup and the New Evangelization. For many Catholics very little has changed. They go to Mass, like their pastor, receive the sacraments, and send their kids to CCD. They aren’t consuming Catholic media following this problem.

When a body is sick, the question one asks is: “Is it terminal? Or is healing on the horizon?” As you know, I live in hope if not optimism. My hope is in Christ not circumstances. Or as some put it my happiness in the Church doesn’t depend on the happenings of the Church. Those who have committed crimes are being reported and “defrocked.” I expect the purification to continue because I believe Christ is shaking his Church.

Those who have never managed an institution find it hard to imagine why things don’t get done. Churches are very bureaucratic with all kinds of real but bad reasons why bishops might not act and things don’t get done. Oftentimes bad things happen not because of immorality or nefarious intent but because of incompetence and bad management.

I can think of a number of reasons bishops don’t act with speed and decisiveness when facing corrupt clergy.

First of all, getting rid of a few corrupt priests may not be a priority or the bishop may think that they aren’t corrupt, only flawed like the rest of his presbyterate. Bishops might imagine other things are more important. In 1 Corinthians St. Paul had to meet a dozen different problems at once. What should he have prioritized? There was at least one problem of sexual misconduct that wasn’t handled very well at all (1 Cor 5:1ff).

Second, when you interfere with people’s expectations, you must be prepared for a fight. People like their priests. Even when priests are found to have acted improperly, many parishioners don’t believe it. Some call for mercy. Some grudgingly let the priest go. Often a fight ensues after a priest is removed. Yet bishops believe avoiding conflict is a skill that got them appointed bishop. They don’t shake thing up in any obvious way and often come across as appeasers. They may be personally ambitious and want to climb the ecclesial ladder but they aren’t entrepreneurial. They are not given to swashbuckling action or radical changes. They avoid confrontation and conflict. Is this unhealthy? Yes, but it is real.
Third, there may be something in a bishop’s background for which he is ashamed. He hasn’t figured out how to avoid that disclosure. He may be holding himself or others are holding him hostage. Is he being emotionally blackmailed or even dealing with financial extortion.
Fourth, he may have misplaced compassion for those involved. He knows he must offer Christ’s salvation to all sinners, including those who sin homosexually. A person struggling with same sex attraction is still someone for whom Christ died. The bishop may think that attending heterodox Dignity rather than orthodox Courage is better than nothing. “Religious” involvement somewhere is better than nowhere. They don’t properly weigh the fact that Dignity is leading the person to hell because, perhaps, they don’t think much about hell.

I could go on. But those are four plausible, if not satisfactory, reasons for episcopal inaction. These reasons plausibly explain episcopal inaction as readily as participation in some global conspiracy of the lavender mafia. I’m convinced incompetence is as common as corruption and malice.

There is plenty of evidence of priests and bishops sympathetic to homosexual acts or even engaging in illicit sex themselves. But there is little concrete evidence of an international well-coordinated lavender mafia. I may have too high a standard for a systemic lavender “mafia.” But even Frederic Martel who interviewed 42 Cardinals on the record, over 50 bishops and monsignors, used 80 researchers over a three year period and was, himself, an expert in homosexual activism, literature and culture failed in 550 pages to uncover anything resembling a smoking gun. It is the most sophisticated bit of innuendo I’ve read.

Anne
Anne
6 years ago

Best way to spend my time on Saturday! I felt this is just the conference we need in order to learn how to cope and turn this terrible crisis into a moment of grace. I was very moved by the video of our young people. This video gave me hope that the future of our church is still strong, I am so happy it was included.

How did the rest of the conference goers think this crisis will affect our young people? I would love to hear from people in this regard.

Jason Negri
Jason Negri
6 years ago
Reply to  Anne

My impression of the video of the kids was not as sanguine as yours, for 2 primary reasons:

1) I am not at all convinced that the average high school age Catholic student holds the same position that the featured kids did. I knew some of them personally and they are from exceptional and faithful Catholic families. But we know that the vast majority of self-identifying “Catholics” are not that intentional in their faith. I don’t know that their children are as optimistic about the Church getting through this crisis.

2) The overall impression I got from that video segment was an unduly positive one. It suggests to me that those kids – and likely many adults – don’t realize the depth and breadth of the evil that is at root in the Church. Saying that “the Church is full of sinners, but the spotless Bride of Christ will overcome” seems too blithe a response and kind of alleviates the obligation we all have to step up and do something.

I was hoping for more of a call to action from this conference. But this was a good and necessary first step. Now what?

Jeanette Flood
Jeanette Flood
6 years ago

The content of the conference–especially Dr. Smith’s keynote address and the Q&A with the panel–was too good to limit to the 200 people who were able to attend. Were they recorded, and if so, would Ave Maria Radio be willing to post those two parts?

Bryant Schoenle
Bryant Schoenle
6 years ago
Reply to  Jeanette Flood

Talks are now available! Click Here

Nadja
Nadja
6 years ago

I attended the talk today. I appreciate the time all of the presenters and panelists put into speaking and answering questions. I did submit a panel question. We ran out of time at the event, and I was hoping to present it here. My question was this: “Clergy abuse survivors are leaving the church in droves. Survivors of abuse outside the church are leaving with them due to the lack of response in their parish communities. Survivors, and how we plan to serve their needs was barely mentioned. What has each panelist done, or planned to do, to educate themselves about the following 1. Sexual abuse facts and myths 2. How to use survivor first speech and actions. 3. Power dynamics in abuse 4. The spiritual/psychological experience of survivors?”

Kate
Kate
6 years ago

You keep saying this is a great time to be a Catholic in America. What’s so great about it? We were already facing a hostile culture who views our beliefs as, at best, something to be ignored. And now we find our own leaders are still hanging us out to dry. Our moral credibility has been destroyed. How are you so optimistic?

Ms Sam Webb
Ms Sam Webb
6 years ago

How profound your words are! I rejoice at the laity and clergy working together. It is a new spring for us all!