Clergy sex abuse scandal continue

Social justice news
March 2002

Beginning of the end of violence in Northern Ireland?—news analysis
Bush budget 'trickles down' and leaves out social service programs
Clergy sex abuse scandal continues
Giving peace a small chance in the Middle East
Humanitarian emergency follows collapse of Colombia's peace process
IRS warns against "slavery reparation" tax scam
Measuring the human cost of the war on terror
Pax Christi plans summit in a "time of terrorism
Pope calls for immediate Middle East ceasefire
USCCB calls refugee admissions stall a crisis
Vatican opposes Iraq attack, favors Palestinian state

Clergy sex abuse scandal continues
The scandal of child sex abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic clergy continues to torment Catholic faithful, as new evidence, accusations, settlements, and apologies come forth almost daily.

The Catholic Church has weathered sex scandals many times before. In the United States in 1997, the Diocese of Dallas shelled out an unprecedented $119 million in compensatory and punitive damages to eleven victims. But never has there been such a far-reaching, such a national scandal, as this one. Clergy accused of sex abuse are being outed all over the country and the numbers are shocking.

In a case that ignited the scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston, John Geoghan, a now defrocked priest, abused an estimated 130 children as the archdiocese shuttled him from parish to parish. Evidence shows the archdiocese was aware of Geoghan's offenses and continued to give him positions with access to children. Already 80 other priests in the archdiocese have been removed from their posts due to concerns about past allegations and their names turned over to prosecutors.

In the mind of most Catholics, however, the Cardinal is a day late and a dollar short.

According to a Boston Globe poll, almost 50 percent of Boston Catholics think Cardinal Bernard Law should resign. The Arizona Daily Star has called for the resignation of Tucson's Bishop Manuel Moreno because of secret settlements totaling $10 million for sex abuse cases involving four priests and 11 victims.

Catholics across the country are finding out that their dioceses shelled out millions in secret settlements to abuse victims over the years. To avoid repeating the mistakes of Boston, many dioceses are starting to come clean. Already in New Hampshire, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Portland, Maine, lists of priests accused of sex abuse have been released.

And while the public continues to be stunned over the pervasiveness of child sex abuse by priests, many find the way in which it has been covered up and kept secret even more troubling. The National Catholic Reporter describes a recent town hall-style meeting held at St. Paul's Parish in Harvard Square. Pastor Msgr. Dennis J. Sheehan invited area Catholics to an open microphone and expressed his, "considerable anger and wonderment at the closing of ranks and secrecy that seem to be much more concerned with protecting the image of the church than with protecting the safety of children and integrity of religious life."

And while the cover-up has been deemed horrendous, some feel Law's attempts to atone have made an awful situation even worse. Several Boston residents interviewed expressed concern over the risk inherent in Law's sweeping suspensions of all priests accused of abuse. Lorna Oates, a high school teacher in Cambridge, says, "I think the worst part is that [Cardinal Law] is now hanging other priests out to dry in order to save himself. Instead of reacting in a deliberate and thoughtful manner at the time of the abuse, he is lashing back with a knee jerk reaction. How would a teacher feel if every accusation of wrongdoing to a child lead to an immediate and unquestioned removal from his or her position?"

One of the priests suspended in the wake of the Geoghan scandal is Father George Spagnolia of Lowell, Massachusetts. He denies the accusations against him and says he has not received due process. He refuses to go down quietly from his post as pastor at St. Patrick's Parish and has retained both canon and civil legal counsel. His parishioners vocally support him. The allegation against Spagnolia was lodged some 30 years ago and parishioners say he is a great asset to their community, seated in a low-income area, and has changed the lives of many there.

Another Boston priest says he is also innocent, although because of his age and health he prefers to keep his name out of the papers and put the incident behind him. A retiree who now lives out of state, the accusation was lodged against him over 25 years ago. He maintained his innocence at the time, but his superiors encouraged him to agree to settle the case out of court, assuring him that the matter would always be sealed in secrecy. Now that seal is broken, and friends of the priest say he is devastated. A Boston resident who is a close to the man says she can't even go into a church anymore because she feels so upset about the situation.

The Boston sex scandal has been likened to Watergate, and Eugene Kennedy, the prominent psychologist and author of The Unhealed Wound: The Church and Human Sexuality, has drawn a convincing parallel to the recent Enron debacle. In Newsweek he says, "The church reacted as institutions often do—as Enron did—and that is to deny, to delay, to dissemble, to fool themselves into thinking that all was well."

But while Enron has no chance of bouncing back, Jason Berry, author of Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children, thinks there is still hope for the church. "This is a system that can absolutely be reformed," he says, "I think the main structural reform hinges on celibacy. I certainly don't suggest that celibacy causes priests to molest children, anymore than being married would be a cause of incest. But to change the terms of candidacy to married persons, men and women—it would rejuvenate the church, like a new flowering.

"Many bishops might privately agree with this , but they throw up their hands and say, 'What am I supposed to do about it? Go to the Pope and ask him?' But these are revolutionary times and they call for deep structural change."

But would the church ever actually change the terms of candidacy? "It all depends on who the next pope is," Berry says. "A visionary leader, someone like John XXIII, could easily make such a change."

In fact another Boston Globe poll in February showed 74 percent of Boston-area Catholics disagree with the church's policy on celibacy.

"Is celibacy linked to pedophilia?" an ABC News headline asked. Newsweek cites research that indicates 5 to 6 percent of the general male population is afflicted with pedophilia. But it is important to note that most of these people never act on their urges. While the USCCB says it does not keep statistics on pedophilia in the clergy, Berry says according to his calculations, about 4 percent of priests have acted on pedophilic urges.

Though Berry does not believe celibacy is a cause of pedophilia, some wonder if a lifestyle of celibacy is a draw to those who are already sexually dysfunctional. Kennedy says in Newsweek, "The church offers a comforting home to young men who are psychologically and sexually immature."

Clearly, these are issues that run deep and it will take a great deal of time and resource to discover long-term solutions. What is the church to do in the meantime? Berry says, "In the immediate term, every diocese in this country should release the numbers. They should hire independent accounting firms to detail how much has been lost, how much has been paid out by the diocese [to settle sexual abuse lawsuits].

"This would cause a flood of sensational news for a while, but eventually it would settle down and lead to healing. It would demonstrate a level of openness, honesty, and collegiality with the laity, which I think is a very important step."

The Vatican released new guidelines for dealing with pedophilia in December, but the guidelines kept investigations and reporting within the church structure. Bishop Wilton Gregory, USCCB President, issued a statement of apology in mid-February saying, "The attention to this issue gives me the opportunity to renew the promise of our bishops that we will continue to take all the steps necessary to protect our youth from this kind of abuse in society and in the Church. . . . we still have much for which we need to be forgiven—and much to learn."

How much damage will this scandal claim before all is said and done? One can only guess.

"As far as my feeling toward the church—I think this tragedy in Boston is an example of the Church at its worst (and there are many examples of this throughout history), but I still have faith in what the Church at its best can be and is every day in Boston through the works of other dedicated priests and laypeople who serve this community," says Laura Hoey, a Boston attorney and member of the Parish of the Sacred Heart in East Cambridge, "My faith has never been closely tied to the male hierarchy of the Catholic church."—Tara Dix

Back to page top