You may be aware that over the last 30 years, in the USA and around the globe, we have learned of a pandemic of priest sex abuse of young people, children and teens, How do we understand this?
1. Horrific Nature of this Scandal. First, we know that sexual abuse of the young and powerless is a violation of unimaginable magnitude. Second, we Catholics look to our priests as representatives of Christ; we trust and admire them deeply, even as we know their flaws. That those we most trust and admire would violate our little ones is a sin of immense gravity. There is no minimizing or denying this tragedy, trauma, pain and shame.
2. Church as Human (sinful) and Divine. Except for Mary, we are all sinners, including pope, bishops, priests. At the foot of the cross, Mary and John and the other women were there as the nucleus of the Church about to be born. But all the other apostles, notably Peter the denier, had abandoned Christ in his agony. Ours is a Church of sinners...essentially. At the same time, Christ has promised to be with us, through his Holy Spirit, until the end of time. However bad our priests, bishops and even pope, Christ is with us, guiding the Church infallibly in its teaching and sanctifying us efficaciously in the sacraments.
In my high school religion class the priest shocked us by asking our response if we learned our mother was a prostitute. He allowed us to sit quietly, stunned. Then he said: we would all be horrified, ashamed, angry. But eventually, she is your mother. And you love her....whatever. And so with our Mother the Church: she has prostituted herself in many ways. But she is still your mother.
3. Two Scandals. The actions of priests and the "coverup", the failure of the bishops to protect the victims. This essay will address only the first. The second is also complex and deserves treatment in another essay.
4. Pedophilia. This is sexual attraction to or interaction with children, before the age of puberty, prior to around the age of about 12. This is a serious psychological sickness. A pathology. There was a small number of priest pedophiles who did immense harm. Often they were serial offenders, harming many victims. However, the vast majority of the abuse was not against children but against teenagers. So the scandal was not one of pedophilia.
5. Homosexual Predation on Adolescents. Over 80% of the reported abuse was of adolescent males. It is surprising that there was relatively less violation of females. Overwhelmingly it was a practice of homosexuality. This is not to identify homosexuality itself with abuse of the young; the vast majority of homosexuals and self-defined gays are innocent of such behavior. The facts are simply undeniable, even as their assertion is misinterpreted by gay-friendly progressives as homophobic. It is also a fact that large numbers of homosexuals report being abused in their youth.
6. Sexual Addiction. Much of this predatory behavior came out of sexual addiction. Similar to drug or alcohol addiction, (as well as gambling, work, consumption, hoarding, eating and other) sexual addiction is a psychological compulsion which is largely out of the person's control. An addict may firmly intend to resist the behavior but be actually incapable of doing so. Happily, in the last 50 years or so we have learned much about addictions and the measures that can bring varying degrees of freedom. This includes psychology as well as 12-step programs of support such as Alcoholics Anonymous. If deep seated in the psyche, an addiction may be a permanent structure of ones personality that is never completely cured. But its power can be greatly diminished so that one can become "sober" and live largely free of the affliction with the proper supports, accountability and help in place. Unfortunately, we lacked this knowledge in the period (1965-2000) when much of this behavior occurred. So, the priest afflicted with such an addiction had little hope for triumph over it.
7. Split Personality. In the worst cases, where the addiction was most powerful, there seems to have been almost two personalities in the same priest. Oftentimes, the priest had a tremendous reputation as pious, compassionate, charismatic and deeply devoted to the Church and the care of his people. These qualities seem to have been sincere and authentic. At the same time, a second personality, the addict and predator, had an invincible hold on the priest's soul. So, he lived a kind of a double life: a real Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde life. Tragic and catastrophic!
8. Demonic. We do not want to underestimate the powerful action of diabolical spirits in this scandal. The evil that resulted is beyond measure: the profound harm to the victims, the bondage of the priests to compulsive sin, the loss of faith of so many, the damage to the work of the priesthood, and it goes on and on. This is clearly the masterful work of Satan. In our time, he has clearly targeted the family and the priesthood and used disordered, compulsive sexuality as his weapon.
9. Time Period. Chronologically, there was a surge in priestly abuse immediately after the cultural revolution of the 1960s and the emergence of a militant, progressive, sexually-liberational Catholicism after the Vatican Council in 1965. This would be approximately 1970-2000. Why this period? Several reasons. First, the sexual revolution across the West deeply influenced our entire society, including the Catholic priesthood. Secondly, within the Church there was a strong movement to liberalize our sexual ethos and accept behavior previously prohibited. Thirdly, there was a large flow of homosexual men into the priesthood in these years. Over the centuries we have always had significant numbers of homosexual men in the priesthood. It is an obvious choice as they would not marry. Many and maybe most were gifted, spiritual men who lived chastely and served the Church well. But in the moral environment of the sexual revolution and a progressive Church increasing numbers practiced with young men, whether out of compulsion or choice. The good news is that the Church has now reacted to the abuse and the number of allegations has greatly decreased. Some years ago we learned that active pedophiles on the internet were warning each other that the Catholic Church had become the most inhospitable of institutions to their practice. (This is NOT to suggest that sexual abuse was entirely the province of progressive priests. Some of the very worst predators were flawless in their theological orthodoxy. In these cases, obviously, the hypocrisy, denial, splitting and psycho-moral-spiritual pathology is that much deeper.)
10. Are Priests Worse than Others? There is no data to show that abuse is worse in the Catholic priesthood than in other professions: teachers, coaches, ministers, rabbis, etc. There are a number of reasons why the Catholic priesthood was targeted by media, lawyers and victims while other groups were not. First, the Church is seen as having lots of money so lawsuits promised rich rewards for the victims and their lawyers. The Church is, of course, wealthy in real estate (churches, schools, etc.) but not overflowing with cash as they operate so many programs. Secondly, there is a resentment against the Church as the sole institution that firmly advocates traditional sexual morality in the face of cultural liberalism. So, we can see progressive elites, especially in law and the media, taking pleasure in the pronounced hypocrisy of a Church that fails to walk its talk.
11. Chastisement. This justified attack on the Church has a good consequence: it has humbled and chastened the Church. We can see God's hand here: painful as the humiliation is, it can show us our sinfulness and need for God's mercy and grace. The Church has lost much prestige, power and status, but there is hope that a Church is emerging that is small, faithful, trusting and pure.
12. Dallas Charter. In 2002, in the face of this scandal, the American bishops implemented the Dallas Charter of Protection of Children and Young People. This was a plan to protect our children. It had a flaw: it directed that any priest credibly accused of abuse would be immediately dismissed from his priestly work. The problem is that "credible" means any accusation that is possible, not obviously impossible or contradictory. This means that an accusation that is false, a misunderstanding or an intentional lie, is treated with respect. The priest is then treated as guilty until proven innocent. This is, of course, an understandable reaction to the tolerance previously show to priest abusers. The result is that now priests live in dread of a single credible accusation. Without due process or an opportunity to face the charges and defend himself, a priest accused is relieved of his duties, loses his life work and reputation and cast into a limbo of shame and assumed guilt. Some priests, for example, now in their 70s or 80s, face charges about 50 years ago and suffer the stigma without the ability to defend themselves. This is a severe injustice against priests. Now many priests can suffer the consequence of the actions of other priests over the decades.
13. Priestly Crisis. Our Catholic priesthood is in deep trouble. It is widely disparaged in our society as a coven of child molesters. A priest is vulnerable to shame and disgrace at a single accusation, however deceitful or misguided. There is a severe shortage of priests that will get worse as most of our priests are elderly. Young people, for a variety of reasons, are not joining the priestly or religious life.
And so, let us pray for our priests. That they be protected from the attacks of the devil under the mantle of Mary our Mother. That there be an increase in vocations to the priesthood. That the victims of abuse and their families find healing and peace. That the Church and the broader society protect our little ones from violation. That our priests radiate the holiness and chastity of Christ.
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