Abuse in church

Pope Benedict XVI in a speech at honoring Pope Celestine V praised his 13th century predecessor for having resigned the papacy to return to living as an ascetic hermit. (“Pope praises 13th-century hermit who quit papacy,” USA Today, July 4, 2010)


Benedict’s speech prompted musings about two possibilities: Benedict may intend to resign in the wake of growing outrage about his inept handling of clergy sex abuse cases; Benedict may be considering creating a mandatory retirement age or other mechanism for easing out a pope whose faculties are no longer equal to the demands of the papacy. I have no idea how likely either is; perhaps he is actually considering neither. However, both possibilities have merit.

John Paul II in the last years of his reign as pope increasingly struggled to cope with his responsibilities as temporal head of the Roman Catholic Church. If he had suffered a debilitating stroke, what would have then happened? Now that people live longer and medical care frequently extends life even after illness or injury seriously diminishes the person’s quality of life, succession plans not contingent upon the death of the incumbent have become increasingly important.

Benedict, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1981 and for the last six years as Pope, must accept much of the responsibility for the way the Roman Catholic Church has handled cases of priests sexually abusing parishioners. Cover-ups, transfers, bureaucratic stonewalling, and other tactics designed to evade accepting responsibility and rectifying the situation have characterized that approach. God does not value priests more than God values lay people. Prioritizing care for the priests who abuse parishioners – whether by mindlessly equating forgiveness and healing, valuing sacraments more than health and well-being, refusing to believe that a “man of God” could commit such crimes, or disclaiming responsibility by hiding behind the veil of the confessional – tragically transforms the Church from a safe haven into a hostile shore.

Love for God and neighbor requires protecting the most vulnerable, putting those who would harm others in a place where such harm is impossible, and only then seeking both psychological and spiritual help for the perpetrator. Justice demands holding people accountable for their actions. Ordination does not grant one exemption from accountability. Indeed, one can reasonably argue that the Church should hold the ordained to a higher standard with a greater degree of accountability.

Sadly, the Anglican Church has had incidents in which Church authorities have wrongly attempted to shield the accused. We too must take full responsibility for our collective actions. Each parish and diocese must strive to ensure that it is a safe place for all of God's people: a place free of physical, emotional, or spiritual abuse; a place in which all find a genuine welcome, regardless of physical limitations, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, race, ethnicity, etc.