Column
by
Archbishop John G. Vlazny
|
Archbishop's
Column by Archbishop John G. Vlazny |
While we cannot redo past, we can deal
effectively in future
3/1/02
Early last month I promulgated a Child
Abuse Policy Statement for the
Catholic community here in western Oregon.
I took the occasion to express
once again my deep regret for the scandal
of child abuse in the Church,
and I asked forgiveness of any person
who had suffered from abuse by any
personnel of the Archdiocese of Portland.
Child sexual abuse is a matter of grievous
concern for everyone. Many of
you may remember that when an unusually
large number of abuse cases were
settled in the fall of the year 2000,
I agreed to appoint a task force to
review archdiocesan policies, procedures
and practices relevant to child
abuse. Father Dennis O’Donovan, our Vicar
General, chaired that task
force. Another priest, a canon lawyer,
a civil judge and two victims who
had settled their grievances with the
Church through mediation assisted
him. I am grateful to these wonderful
folks as well as to the members of
the Presbyteral Council, the Archdiocesan
Pastoral Council and my Cabinet
who reviewed the statement before it was
issued.
Unfortunately, while we were issuing the
statement which resulted from the
reexamination and strengthening of our
own archdiocesan policies and
procedures, there was much media attention
to allegations of child abuse
by Catholic priests in other church communities.
Once again the church was
embarrassed in the public forum. Many
of you raised questions about the
church’s integrity in dealing with these
situations. A number of priests
took the opportunity to share with me
their own personal struggles with
all of this because of the lack of trust
they sense among a growing number
of their parishioners. Members of the
secular media, some of whom are at
times quite unfriendly to the Church,
berated and belittled the bishops
for their ineptness, insensitivity and
untruthfulness. It was a difficult
month.
One letter from a Catholic here in the
archdiocese pretty much summed up
the sentiments of many. This gentleman
wrote, “It appears the hierarchy of
the Catholic Church in the United States
is not aggressively attacking the
problem of pederast priests. The same
pattern always seems to emerge
whenever a story like this comes up. The
parents are asked to keep quiet
so as not to embarrass the church, the
priest is quickly transferred to
another parish and everybody thinks the
problem is solved. Too often,
though, the pattern of molestation continues
at another parish.”
Hindsight offers some marvelous perspectives.
Unfortunately, it comes too
late. I have now served as a diocesan
bishop for nearly fifteen years.
There is no matter which has consumed
more of my time and energy and
prayer than this one. Church leaders have
learned painfully about the
realities of child abuse and have truly
responded with increasing care and
compassion as more and more is learned
about this travesty. You have
provided me with some wonderful colleagues
in church leadership who do
everything in their power to assist victims
appropriately and also to
establish policies that will do everything
humanly possible to eliminate
such abuse from ever again causing harm
to our children.
From what I have learned over the years,
I now recognize that church
leaders 20 years ago, still rather unfamiliar
with the nature of child
abuse, often dealt with this matter as
a moral problem. An offender was
probably sent off on retreat, instructed
to make a good confession,
penalized in some way and then given another
chance, seemingly in line
with Gospel teaching. There was still
a great unawareness of the tragic
effects of child abuse on the victim and
as a result little or nothing was
done to help victims. People kept things
like that quiet in those days.
Subsequently, when it was obvious that
the “moral solution” was
unsuccessful, offenders were sent for
psychological treatment. Treatment
centers were focused on rehabilitating
their clients. After a period of
treatment, the patient was frequently
sent back to a bishop and
recommended for reassignment in a new
place, with some minimal safeguards.
Even when a bishop or religious superior
wondered about reassigning such a
person, he or she was reassured that all
would be fine and that the person
needed a second chance in order to move
ahead with his or her life. Even
then, little attention was paid to the
victims. This, of course, was the
great mistake.
Finally, between 10 and 15 years ago Church
leaders came to understand
that perpetrators of child abuse were
so afflicted that, even after
treatment, they could not be allowed to
hold positions of trust and
responsibility in dealing with vulnerable
children.
The media, the courts and even many of
you now hold church leadership
responsible for events that occurred many
years ago by standards that were
only understood and agreed upon over the
last 10 to 15 years. In no way
does this explanation diminish the harm
that was done to victims, but it
does, in my judgment, clarify levels of
responsibility and guilt. I want
you to know that in the year 2002, the
women and men who collaborate with
me in the leadership of this local archdiocese
are all committed to doing
whatever is best to deal with this matter
pastorally and effectively today
and in the days to come. Sad to say, we
cannot redo the past.
On the other hand, there are those who
are beginning to feel that the
Child Abuse Policy I have put in place
is an overreaction and is asking
too much of parishes, institutions and
pastoral workers. Screening
procedures can be tedious and certainly
will limit the involvement of
professional personnel and volunteers
who work with children to do so
until the process is completed. The educational
requirements will require
the time and attention of church employees,
even those who might regard
this as someone else’s problem and not
their own. The revision of the
school curriculum in our Catholic schools
so that our children will
understand such matters as safe touch
and appropriate boundaries with
adults adds yet another requirement for
teachers and school administrators
who are already overextended.
All these obstacles notwithstanding, the
church of western Oregon is
committed to preventing and addressing
fully child abuse by all church
personnel and to recognizing and responding
to signs of child abuse in the
children it serves.
It’s Lent. I always tell folks at the beginning
of Lent that the hardest
penance will probably not be the one we
choose. It will be something we
neither seek nor expect. This Lent we
Catholic people bow our heads in
humble acknowledgement of past failings
in recognizing and dealing with
the consequences of child abuse. We pray
for the guidance of a gracious
God, who loves us all, sinners and saints,
and sends His Holy Spirit to
lead us in the ways of justice and peace
for all.