Column
by
Archbishop John G. Vlazny
|
Archbishop's
Column by Archbishop John G. Vlazny |
Your prayers are needed for healing,
protection of church
11/22/02
It seems that last week I participated
in two meetings of the American
bishops while in Washington, D.C. One
took place in the Regency Ballroom
of the Hyatt Hotel on Capitol Hill; the
other was played out in the media
by television, radio and newspaper reports
that I was able to review when
I returned to my hotel room. They sure
were different. One of my friends,
Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, was elected
chairman of our Bishops’
Communications Committee. I would say
he has a big job ahead of him. We
bishops have a real problem getting our
own message out!
In the assembly room, we bishops confronted
a variety of issues and tried
our best to handle them fairly and forthrightly.
In particular, we firmed
up our policies dealing with the terrible
clergy sexual abuse crisis of
this past year in a way that protected
children, respected the rights of
all involved and assured compliance with
the laws of both civil and church
governance. We also expressed satisfaction
with the international effort
to continue to work for a peaceful resolution
to the troubles with Iraq.
We reminded our national leaders that war
is still not a legitimate option
because traditional “just war” teaching
doesn’t seem to fit the present
circumstances. We pledged to continue
to monitor the situation and to
offer whatever moral advice we could.
Obviously we cannot dismiss the
responsibilities of government to protect
the nation, and we readily
acknowledged that we did not possess all
the facts we would need to make
the kinds of decisions our national leaders
must now make.
If we bishops began our fall meeting with
any sentiments of self-pity
because of our own perplexing situation,
we were quickly reminded that our
lot as church leaders is not at all the
most hazardous. On Monday morning,
Nov. 11, Bishop Jorje Enrique Jimenez
Carvajal, president of the Latin
American Episcopal Council and a bishop
in Colombia, together with his
priest associate, was kidnaped while traveling
to a religious function in
a town north of the city of Bogotá.
We joined his brother bishops in
Colombia as they denounced all acts of
kidnaping as violations of the
life, dignity and freedom of the human
person. The struggle for peace in
that violence-torn country remained uppermost
in out thoughts and prayers
during the following days.
Because our June meeting this year was
dedicated solely to the discussion
of uniform policies for dealing with the
tragedies of child sexual abuse
in the church, many other matters were
postponed until this month. We were
able this time to bring to fruition projects
involving the Sacred Liturgy,
support of Catholic education, the violation
of human rights of
incomparable magnitude which abortion
has become in this nation since the
Roe v. Wade decision back in 1973, migration
issues of mutual concern to
our brother bishops in Mexico, domestic
violence against women, the
support of Catholic schools, the importance
of stewardship, our Church’s
preferential option for the poor, norms
for certain financial decisions as
required by church law, and the remarkable,
challenging and impressive
experience of our evangelizing mission
as the Hispanic population
continues to grow in Catholic communities
across the United States. Yes,
it was a busy and productive week.
But, as cited earlier, even though there
were many issues discussed at the
meeting in the hotel ballroom, only one
issue seemed to prevail at the
meeting reported by the media — sexual
abuse of children by clergy.
According to news reports, we once again
fumbled the ball badly. We were
inaccessible to protestors, we caved into
the Vatican, we backed down on
our promises at Dallas, and we were soft
on ourselves.
But, as the minutes of the meeting will
reflect, we actually strengthened
the decisions we made in Dallas to protect
children, to remove ordained
abusers of children from ministry and
to exercise our responsibilities in
collaboration with you. Furthermore, with
the help of our Mixed Commission
of bishops that traveled to Rome for further
consultation with the
Vatican, we developed norms that do protect
the rights of both victims and
the accused and also ensure a judicial
process consistent with Church law
when a permanent penalty, e.g. laicization,
is being considered for a
perpetrator.
Our media desk made interviews with bishops
available to all present who
would request them. In response to so
many criticisms over the past few
months, we made a public statement of
our commitment as bishops to
implement our charter. We also acknowledged
once again the mistakes made
by bishops in the past and our role in
the suffering this has caused so
many of you. We apologized for it and
we prayed many times for all who
have suffered. Furthermore, we committed
ourselves to enhancing
opportunities for fraternal challenge
and correction among ourselves as we
would reflect upon the exercise of our
ministry and our commitment to
holiness of life.
With all of that in mind, as we look to
the coming season of Advent, I
repeat my call for your participation
in the archdiocesan Ember Days that
I have established. We observed our first
Ember Day back on Sept. 27 and
prayed then in a special way for all victims
of child abuse, especially
those abused by clergy. On Wednesday,
Dec. 4, and Wednesday, April 2,
2003, we shall also observe Ember Days
of prayer and fasting, with much
the same intention in mind. But during
these Advent and Lenten Ember Days,
I ask you also to pray for the healing
and protection of the Church in
such troubled times. We face unpredictable
consequences in the coming year
of all the lawsuits filed against this
archdiocese by victims of sexual
abuse by the clergy. We pray that it will
not unnecessarily impede our
mission.
On these Advent and Lenten Ember Days,
I plan to host healing services for
victims of sexual abuse. The first will
be on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at Holy
Redeemer Church, Portland, at 7:30 p.m.
The Lenten healing service will be
celebrated in another part of the diocese
at a site eventually to be
announced. Everyone is welcome. My prayers
won’t be enough. The victims
and I will need the support of yours too.
The Church gives us this wonderful Advent
season to prepare for Christmas.
Mary and Joseph had their troubles that
first Advent. We have ours too. We
unite with them in seeking God’s guidance
on our journey as they surely
did on their journey from Nazareth to
Bethlehem, where the Lord of Light
was born and began the work of healing
the world. May the light of Christ
brighten the lives of all victims and
restore the hope of all God’s people.