“PRIESTS WERE RAPING LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS AND THE MEN OF GOD WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM NOT ONLY DID NOTHING – THEY HID IT ALL”
‘WE DID NOT ACT IN A TIMELY MANNER’ – must rank amongst the greatest understatements in history. While failure to act to protect vulnerable children is unforgivable, systematic cover up is on a different scale. In his response to the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing allegations of sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children by 300 Roman Catholic clergy over 70 years, Pope Francis failed to mention their damning indictment that: “The main thing was not to help children, but to avoid scandal,” ….“Several diocesan administrators, including the bishops, often dissuaded victims from reporting abuse to police, pressured law enforcement to terminate or avoid an investigation or conducted their own deficient, biased investigation without reporting crimes against children to the proper authorities,” The report describes systemic abuse from the lowest to the highest level. After a two day silence Pope Francis released a three-page letter to – ‘The People of God’ calling on all members of the church to ‘pray and fast’ – “This can awaken our conscience and arouse our solidarity and commitment to a culture of care that says ‘never again’ to every form of abuse.” Some might think it offensive to suggest that the ‘people of God’ require to fast and pray in order to awaken their conscience, for the ‘people of God’ are not the problem. It is the ‘men of God’, the priests, bishops and cardinals who have sheltered and protected the abusers within their ranks for decades with the full knowledge and support of the Vatican who must be held accountable.
Sadly the report is the tip of the iceberg. The church hierarchy of bishops and cardinals is adept at utilising effective strategies of denial and delay, including the legal statute of limitations which prevents prosecution beyond a prescribed timetable. Of the 300 clergy identified in the report only two people have been charged. The report confirms the deliberate strategy of concealment, denial and delay. “The longer they covered it up, the less chance that law enforcement could prosecute these predators because the statute of limitations would run”.… “Almost every instance of child abuse (the grand jury) found, was too old to be prosecuted.” The amounts of payments made in secret over many decades, a tacit acceptance of guilt in itself, is now coming to light, these involved ‘gag’ orders, sometimes not fully understood by the families, which prevented any further disclosure or prosecution. Today the church is paying the price for the abuses and while financial recompense does not heal the wounds, it can help alleviate some of the legacy of misery, not least by making abusers accountable for their actions. Where prosecution looks likely, a policy of declaring diocesan bankruptcy to avoid financial penalties is increasingly being implemented to protect the church, an unbelievably callous final insult. Eighteen U.S. dioceses and religious orders in the USA have filed for bankruptcy protection during the crisis, according to the watchdog group Bishopsaccountability.org.
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston who heads the Vatican’s Commission for the Protection of Minors has warned that “the clock is ticking” for the Catholic hierarchy “Catholics have lost patience with us, and civil society has lost confidence in us,” Meanwhile the world awaits a meaningful response to the catastrophe that is unfolding for those who have served the church faithfully and for its members whose faith must surely be tested by the scathing report. The catholic church is unique in refusing to hand over paedophile priests to to be investigated under the prevailing judicial system, maintaining the right to investigate allegations under its internal process of evaluating abuse cases and handing out discipline. The most usual response is relocation to another parish or even another country. The most extreme penalty imposed for the minority found guilty is removal from office and a ‘a life of seclusion, prayer and penance’ leaving the former priest in the community, free to abuse again.
Unless backed up by action, expressions of sorrow and regret are as hollow as the repeated promises by Pope Francis to end the abuse. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests issued a statement urging survivors and supporters to demand that every US state’s attorney general launch similar investigations with a requirement that all internal documentation dealing with allegations past and present be handed over by the church to investigating authorities. Based upon the past record, observers are skeptical regarding Vatican intentions. The pope scrapped the proposed Vatican accountability tribunal several years ago and the church routinely opposes the removal of the statute of limitations for victims to prosecute and sue abusers, and yet claims to be on the side of victims
UNTIL THERE IS RECOGNITION THAT THE CULTURE OF ABUSE AND COVER UP GOES RIGHT TO THE TOP, NO REFORM IS POSSIBLE.
The dilemma faced by Pope Francis is that any root and branch investigation would inevitably implicate the much loved former Pope John Paul ll and other popes involved in the decades-long cover-up of abuse. A policy of secrecy and none disclosure is practiced by the Vatican hierarchy, perhaps best illustrated in the cover up of Marcel Maciel a Roman catholic deacon, one of the most notorious pedophiles. Maciel was protected by the Vatican for decades because he filled their coffers with money and their churches with newly ordained priests. Maciel established seminaries preparing youths for the priesthood, this was in fact a global pedophile network which provided thousands of priests for the church. His organisation Regnum Christie with 70,000 lay Christians supported by 300,000 volunteers was present in 18 countries, owned 128 schools and 22 universities, amassing a fortune of 20 billion dollars.
The Vatican archives hold the evidence of abuse provided by seminarians and others who were subjected to routine, appalling sexual abuse and control. Maciel was a morphine addict and had several children, two of which he abused. He was a favourite of Pope John Paul ll and accompanied him on his papal visit to Mexico long after formal charges had been filed against him in ecclesiastical courts in Rome. Cardinal Sodarno, then Secretary of State and currently Dean of the College of Cardinals, was advisor to both Pope John Paul, and his successor Pope Benedict. Sodarno has been embroiled in scandal for many years, particularly accused of accepting bribes from Marciel Maciel. Both pontiffs were aware of the allegations of paedophilia but refused to act until the sexual abuse scandal threatened the church. Prior to his ordination as Pope Benedict, the former Cardinal Ratzinger had attempted to remove Maciel but was blocked by Sodarno, he eventually removed him on becoming pope but hew was never charged with his ofenses. The Legion of Christ was investigated and ‘reformed’ but was not disbanded.
Many believe that this and other attempts to cover up paedophile scandals are what lay behind Pope Benedict’s sudden resignation. Cardinal Sodarno, now Dean of the College of Cardinals is an advisor to Pope Francis. We are left to ponder what proportion of the abused seminarians went on to leave the priesthood, how many became good priests and also how many became abusers, as part of the corrupt global network they were initiated into.
Vows Of Silence — ABC Nightline segment on Marcial Maciel and Legion Of Christ, 31March2010 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=REk2U7YVRwQ
Scandal at the Vatican: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcBx0TMMIfE
See: #Letters to Priests