As we enter this period of "sede vacante" at the
Vatican, a friend of mine shared an "Open Letter" last week with our group.
Her message brought to mind the many forms of abuse and
violence being revealed in the news about the actions of official members of
the Church--especially in the sexual abuse of children over the years.
What she wrote moved me to send a "Letter to the
Editor" at the Hartford Courant. That
letter, admittedly a plagiarized edit of Judy's email with her gracious permission,
was published March 3rd.
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/letters/hcrs-12758hc--20130227,0,5135814.story
Here is her email. My commentary follows it:
Dear Laity
& Priests,
It is time. We
have experienced over ten years of ongoing revelations of clergy sex abuse
scandals involving the rape of children, the protection of pedophiles, and the
conspiracy of cover-up by bishops around the globe.
We have a pope
who, as head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, was the key
person responsible for every abuse case reported.
We have Los
Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahoney, clearly exposed in clergy sex abuse cover up
activity, and now Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien whose resignation has been
accepted early amid allegations by four priests of inappropriate behavior.
First, I would
like to commend the four priests in Scotland for reporting to the Vatican their
experiences. Those “inappropriate actions” were examples of abuse; sexual
harassment at the least, perhaps assault—and definitely abuse of authority. It
took great courage to report this man, and I am sorry for the pain it has
caused them. It is the systemic dysfunctional clericalism within the Roman
Catholic priesthood that has destroyed any sense of integrity that may have
been present and more importantly prohibits any real integrity to flourish.
It is time for
the laity and the priests to assume responsibility for our part in this
disgraceful reality.
Our sin is
complacency. But it can be forgiven quickly and sincerely if apologies are
made, accompanied with action.
1. Provide
a safe and welcoming environment which encourages and even urges all victims of
clergy sex abuse to come forward.
2. Provide
a safe and welcoming environment which encourages and urges all priests and
seminarians, past and present, former or currently working, to come forward and
name the bishops who violated them through sexual harassment or abuse.
3. Recognize
that within the priesthood there is a certain percentage of the population that
is gay. Also recognize that while celibacy is a vow taken at ordination it is
not necessarily a gift given or call heard by each priest. It is an unfortunate
mandatory requirement at this time. Require any priests weather gay or
straight, who are living double lives, to come forward. Let us tackle the
issues of celibacy, homosexuality and sexuality and equality. It is time.
4. Priests
and Laity hold public rallies and press conferences proclaiming apologies to
victims while holding signed letters and petitions to our bishops stating
that we will not financially support the diocese until the following
things occur:
a. Public
listing of all priests credibly accused by lay persons
b. Public
listing of every bishop reported of harassment or abuse by priests.
c. Release
of all records showing any cover-up of pedophiles or other abuses of authority.
d. Full
financial disclosure of the diocese
It is time.
The truth and
only the truth will set us free! Be not afraid.
Judy Lorenz
Great rallying statement, Judy! You've provided material
that could be edited down to 200 words as "Letter to the Editor"
today for newspapers across the country seeking counterpoint to the saccharin-sweet
"We'll Miss You" messages on "B16 End Day."
What
are daunting are the various forms of inertia apparently plaguing even those
who term themselves "progressive Catholics." With all the ubiquitous
Catholic reform organizations around the world, one would think that the
message of your "OMG!" would be heard "from the housetops"
of the media in all languages. Seems the outrage of the progressive element
even just here in the U.S. was missed in the poll results in the USA
Today article "U.S. Catholics Split on Church Direction Under New
Pope" on Feb 21st:
Looking back over Benedict's papacy,
U.S. Catholics are overall pleased with the work he has done. However, his
favorability rating isn't as high as its peak of 83% right after his papal
visit to the United States in April 2008.
About 74% of U.S. Catholics polled
express a favorable view of Benedict, 85, who served eight years as pope.
Benedict was a staunch conservative when it came to church teachings, but
brought about many technology changes to modernize the church. He tweets from
an iPad, has a Facebook page and provides Vatican news from a YouTube channel.
Pope Benedict's ratings have never
soared as high as his predecessor Pope John Paul II, who was rated favorably by
90% of U.S. Catholics in three separate Pew Research polls in the 1980s and
1990s.
U.S. Catholics are united on some
fronts. Most give Benedict negative ratings for his handling of the sex-abuse
scandal in the church. Among Catholics who say they followed news of the
pontiff's resignation, 63%
are displeased with how he addressed the sex-abuse scandal, while 33%
give him positive ratings. These ratings are significantly
more negative than in April 2008. [emphasis mine]
Seems
those who want to respond to the "OMG!" and other calls for church
reform have their work cut for them with those of the 33% as well with those
other 4% who, I'm guessing, "don't know".
Seems
those who want to respond to the "OMG!" and other calls for church
reform have their work cut for them with those of the 33% as well with those
other 4% who, I'm guessing, "don't know".
In
addition to the children, there are so many voiceless who have suffered what
Judy outlines in her email at the hands of the men in charge of the Church who
see themselves as powerful and forget the message of the Gospel Jesus.
One
cannot but wonder how all good Catholic people haven't risen up in an outrage
and a call to action akin to that expressed in Judy's email. The Catholic
Church—or better, the people of God—have certainly responded with outrage to
past situations with action.
The
unfortunate alternative to inaction is the blessing for the Czar offered by the
Rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof which we might apply to the new
pope: "May the Lord bless and keep him. . . as far away as possible!"
or at least far enough away to let God's Spirit truly have free reign. If the
Holy Spirit were in charge and being heeded by our church administrators, the
abusers of children and the other voiceless would have received justice instead
of cover-ups. After all, as I always say: The Holy Spirit knows what she's
doing!
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