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story Dont expect change at meeting, some say
By PATRICK ONEILL
Nothing short of the bishops donning sackcloth and ashes in a
public display of repentance for sex abuse by priests will satisfy some
critics. However, those expecting the U.S. bishops to make significant changes
at their spring meeting are probably unrealistic.
In the face of what is being called the worst crisis ever to hit
the U.S. church, the bishops will gather in Dallas June 13-15 to try to stop
the bleeding that each passing day seems to be getting heavier as more
allegations are reported.
NCR talked with two bishops and several church observers to
learn their predictions of how the bishops at their meeting would deal with the
crisis.
Bishop Walter Sullivan of Richmond, Va., said decisive action must
be taken by his brother bishops to restore credibility.
As far as Im concerned, sexual abuse of a minor is a
rape -- a rape pure and simple. Sullivan said, and a person should
be accountable to the law, not just to the church, but to the civil law. I told
our priests 15 years ago that if any of them committed such actions that
Id be happy to visit them in prison.
In other words we have to take this thing seriously. We seem
to act gingerly with these priests.
Sullivan said bishops should be given the power to quickly laicize
a pedophile priest. Currently a bishop must submit a case to a prolonged
juridical trial.
While action in the face of charges of sexual abuse should
be swift, Sullivan said the bishops must also protect priests from false
accusations.
Sullivan added his voice to the chorus of scholars and journalists
calling for an open dialogue at the June meeting. The only way were
going to be credible is to be open and honest, he said. The day of
hiding this and pretending it doesnt happen is gone.
Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America, said a
lot of unrealistically high expectations are being put on this June
meeting.
Im not sure exactly what the bishops can do other than
talk, Reese said. Frankly, I would be nervous if guidelines are
drawn up with this short notice and without having wide discussion, he
added. This is an organization with 300 members. It acts very slowly, and
when it acts fast it can do dumb things.
I think much more important is what every bishop does in his
own diocese. Theyre dealing with very, very complicated legal and
psychological issues. Im not sure the bishops can come up with a quick
fix that will stop the blood from gushing.
Some observers say there is no precedent in the U.S. church to
compare to the current scandal.
Certainly there have been crisis moments in the church, but
nothing thats an internal crisis of this magnitude, said Kathleen
M. Joyce, a Catholic on the faculty of Duke Universitys School of
Religion in Durham, N.C. Some people have compared it to the Reformation.
I dont think its quite that, but there really is no historical
parallel that I can think of for this kind of challenge to business as usual
within the administration and structure of the church.
Joyce said a real gesture of penance might help the
bishops take charge of the kinds of images that the media will
associate with this story. She says a service with signs of them asking
for forgiveness could be powerful imagery.
Jesuit Fr. Gerald Fogarty a professor at the University of
Virginia and an expert on American Catholic history, said his research in the
Vatican archives uncovered just one reference to a case of what we would
call pedophilia.
My own sense is that this is a new problem, he said.
Im not saying that it didnt exist in the past. Im only
saying that it didnt have these same proportions.
Fogarty, who says Mass at three Charlottesville parishes, said his
pastoral sense is that the people in the pews are supporting their
local parish priest, but theyre very angry with the
bishops.
The bishops, he said, should try to set uniform rules for dealing
with priests who are proven pedophiles. They know now there is no cure
for this, he said. They can only be treated. No priest with proven
charges against him should be reassigned to a parish where he would have
contact with children. I think that should be made a national norm.
However, Fogarty said, because the Vatican doesnt grant
legislative power to bishops conferences, the U.S. bishops are limited in
how they can respond to the crisis. The conference is a place where they
confer, and the Holy See does not want it having legislative power, he
said. The only way in which the conference decision can bind the entire
hierarchy is if theres an absolutely unanimous decision or if their
majority decision without unanimity is approved by the Holy See. So, sooner or
later, the Holy See gets involved.
A conference as such cannot legislate. Its hamstrung.
And in a case like this, it illustrates part of the problem. They can offer
guidelines, not make policy.
Fogarty said the bishops could put a system in place that
can immediately investigate, turning over information to the police because it
is a criminal action, but, by the same token, making sure that the rights of a
falsely accused priest are protected.
Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly of Louisville, Ky., said the bishops
need to recognize that trust has been broken, and it must be
restored through action and not just words.
Apologies are important, Kelly said, but
wont mean much if people continue to be hurt.
Patrick ONeill is a freelance writer living in Raleigh,
N.C.
National Catholic Reporter, April 26,
2002
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