By John C. Favalora - The Archdiocese of Miami
The following is an op-ed piece written by Archbishop John C. Favalora and published by The Miami Herald on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.The Catholic Church in Europe is now grappling with the same questions the Church in the United States began dealing with in 2002: the terrible hurt the sin of child sexual abuse has inflicted on the victims and the damage it has done to the Church itself.
The process of admitting one�s sinfulness is painful. But the Catholic Church preaches that confession � combined with a resolve to �sin no more� � is good for the soul. The Church in the United States is living up to its promise to �protect God�s children.� The bishops have instituted policies and practices of zero tolerance for abusers, paid for counseling for victims as long as needed, and implemented background checks and educational programs for all clergy, religious, employees and volunteers in order to identify and prevent child sexual abuse. Our public school systems, where current incidents of sexual abuse by teachers regularly occur, have not done as much.
Despite all these efforts, the media and lawyers seeking large monetary settlements continue to focus solely on the actions of a tiny percentage of Catholic priests and religious and on the corresponding reactions of their bishops and superiors, most of them long dead.
It is all too easy to point out others� mistakes with the benefit of hindsight. We could say the same thing about those who judge the actions of people long ago from the vantage point of today. Until a few decades ago, police tended to think of domestic abuse as a private matter between husband and wife, rather than a criminal act. No one questioned corporal punishment of children in schools. And rape victims were often treated as if they had �provoked� their attacker.
Thirty and forty years ago, bishops were acting on the best advice available to them at the time. That includes the current pope when he was archbishop of Munich. The best science of the time told us that abusers could be cured. Psychologists assured bishops that treatment would work, so sexual abuse was treated like alcoholism � an illness that could be overcome through professional treatment and personal will power.
Much also has been written in the media about the so-called �secrecy� required of bishops when dealing with these cases. That comes from a lack of understanding of our system of canon law, which regulates contentious cases with confidentiality so as to protect the rights of all parties concerned, especially their right to privacy. This confidentiality requirement has never in any way prevented a bishop from reporting credible allegations of abuse to the authorities. Laws requiring such reporting were not on the books 30 years ago and still are not on the books in many European countries today. To apply today�s rules to cases many decades ago is to argue anachronistically.
Yes, people of faith and leaders of faith communities should be held to a higher standard. But media reports foster the myth that celibate priests abuse children more than married men when in fact that is not the case. Most abuse takes place in homes, is carried out by relatives and is seldom reported to police.
The media would do all victims of abuse a greater service if they devoted their resources to studying this issue in greater depth; reported on scientific studies rather than lawsuits; and advocated for programs that offered help to families touched by this evil. No victim should be forced to suffer in silence just because the abuser is a stepdad or uncle without the �deep pockets� to attract an attorney to the case.
Nothing can change the past. No amount of money or apologies can erase the hurt done to victims� psyches, undo their loss of innocence, or restore their faith in both God and the Church. But the past is not the present and it is unfair to the Church to portray it as such.
