Column
by
Archbishop John G. Vlazny
|
Archbishop's
Column by Archbishop John G. Vlazny |
Church must use ‘dark moment’ to advance
God’s kingdom
7/5/02
In mid-April I prepared a letter for the
people of the archdiocese about
the child abuse scandal that has been
haunting Catholics in the United
States for months, if not years. I asked
pastors to read the letter at
Mass on Sunday. It was another effort
on my part to communicate with you
about the church’s response to the on-going
revelations of past grievous
wrongdoings of priests and the reported
cover-up by bishops and religious
superiors.
One statement in the letter was particularly
troublesome to many of our
people. I wrote, “Church leaders in the
past, still rather unfamiliar with
the nature of child abuse, did not deal
correctly when allegations were
raised. These times are particularly difficult
because the church is being
held responsible for events that occurred,
in most cases, many years ago,
by standards that were only understood
and agreed upon over the last
several years.” Some felt that statement
was a cop-out at best, a foolish
circumlocution at worst. I apologize for
my lack of clarity and I would
like to set the record straight.
When I made that assertion in writing,
I was thinking especially about the
situation here in our own archdiocese.
Some 50 persons have introduced
lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Portland
in recent months based on
their claims that they were victims of
sexual abuse by priests. The
incidents that serve as a basis for these
claims reportedly occurred
between 20 and 60 years ago. Many of the
alleged perpetrators are dead.
Discovery is difficult. Legitimate defense
is problematic. Yet it is our
sincere desire to respect victims and
to make every effort not to cause
them any further harm. At the same time,
we do not want to be insensitive
to the pain of the families and friends
of those accused.
First of all, it was my intention to douse
the flames of blame that are
being directed at my predecessors, the
former archbishops of Portland, who
are accused of covering up these incidents.
It is my honest judgment that
in many cases they knew nothing about
the abuse. When they did, they
failed to recognize the harm done to victims
and the likelihood that one
act of child abuse would be repeated again
and again unless perpetrators
were removed from positions of trust.
It would be shockingly sinful for a
bishop today not to reach out to victims
of abuse or to enable an abuser
by reassignment. Much has been learned
over the last three decades through
the study of human behavior and the painful
experiences of too many
victims and their families.
Yet, when the church finds itself litigating
sexual-abuse claims, the
standards raised by plaintiffs’ attorneys,
seemingly the basis of court
decisions and mediation settlements, are
the ones that have been
established more recently on the basis
of our learning and our experience.
But when it comes to penalizing the church
for not acting correctly in the
past, in my judgment, this is unfair and
subjects the church as a litigant
to injustice.
Furthermore, many fault bishops for not
reporting such incidents to civil
authorities in the past. In this matter
it is good to remember two things.
First of all, it was not the law in most
states at that time. This in
itself is not a totally acceptable excuse,
but one must remember that
until recent years clergy were looked
upon as professionals with whom
either a victim or a perpetrator could
have a privileged communication,
similar to that still enjoyed by attorneys.
Such is no longer the case.
The law has made it very clear that clergy
do not enjoy the privilege of
confidentiality when they receive information
about child abuse. In Oregon
we are now mandatory reporters. In our
recent charter the bishops agreed
that priests and deacons would become
mandatory reporters in all states,
irrespective of the local civil statutes.
The more important statement in my letter
last April was this: “I want you
to know that I am committed to integrity
and honesty in dealing with all
allegations of child sexual abuse. This
archdiocese complies fully with
civil authorities. We are making every
effort to heal the hurts of the
past in a manner befitting disciples of
the Lord. We are resolute in our
determination to protect the safety of
our children.” This is our posture
today and will hopefully always be the
basis for our reactions when
confronted with allegations of sexual
abuse by church personnel.
Many of you continue to be shocked and
scandalized by the stories of abuse
that have flooded the media quite pervasively
during this calendar year.
Like you, I too am disheartened by the
revelation of such sinful and
perverse behavior on the part of those
who are entrusted with the most
sacred responsibilities of our church
community. The charter that the
American bishops proposed in Dallas last
month was our best effort thus
far to make the church’s response more
effective and acceptable.
But we should not be naïve to think
that stopping child abuse is the
unique concern of those who are fanning
the flames of the present scandal.
Ever since the end of the Second Vatican
Council many of us have been
working hard to make ours a church of
all the baptized, truly a people of
God. Unfortunately, others now want to
seize this opportunity to widen the
gap between clergy and laity in a destructive
struggle for power. A
greater involvement of the laity in the
life and governance of the church
will be a blessing only when it is accomplished
in partnership with those
who are ordained to be their shepherds.
Still others are using this moment to promote
whatever agenda is theirs.
For them these revelations of child abuse
provide a unique opportunity to
promote optional celibacy, to embarrass
and marginalize homosexuals, to
denigrate the sacramental nature of holy
orders as a sacrament instituted
by Christ, to ridicule the church’s teaching
on chastity and respect for
life, to democratize the church. You name
it! It’s out there.
Last but not least, there are those who
seize the moment to destroy the
church itself. After all, in a world where
“everything is permitted,” a
community like the church, which promotes
moral values and right
relationships, is suspect at best and
outcast at worst. Historically,
whenever folks have been interested in
destroying the church, their first
target is the priesthood. It has been
ever thus. Is there any surprise
that it is so now?
How should the church behave in these trying
times? We need the wisdom of
Solomon, the patience of Job, the strength
of Samson, the confidence of
David and the holiness of Mary and all
the saints. This too, my sisters
and brothers, will pass, but not without
genuine conversion in our hearts
and in our practices. I take this opportunity
to renew my personal pledge
to serve you faithfully and lovingly,
to protect our children, to work
toward healing and reconciliation for
those who have been sexually abused
by the clergy and to seize even this dark
moment as a unique opportunity
to build God’s kingdom here on earth.