Post #47

My Roman Catholic church has a tradition of speaking on various subjects but not such a great tradition of listening. Consider the whole sexual abuse scandal – if church leaders had paid more attention to complaints years ago, we would not be dealing with the crisis facing the church today; instead, they chose to sweep those complaints under the rug and hope it would go away.

Consider the current environment where leading theologians, clergy and others have called on Joseph Ratzinger to apologize on behalf of the church to those abused by clergy. One has to wonder if those who lead the church, either in Rome or in the various dioceses have changed much. In every diocese, there are influential priests who have the bishop’s ear while others are largely ignored and in some cases, ridiculed by their fellow priests for speaking out … or they are subjected to the wall of silence, shunned, where theirs is a solitary voice.

It is as common in the seminary as it is in the diocese although the impetus to conform in the seminary is much stronger. There, the often inexperienced and incompetent formation directors wield the ultimate weapon – a negative evaluation. Misplaced priorities at the seminary level are best demonstrated in Edmonton, Canada where tens of millions of dollars are being spent on a new seminary and theology school while thousands of people in that city go hungry every day. Even at that level the precocious future priests are being given the message, “me first”. I wonder what Jesus would say about that?

It was refreshing to see a letter from Fr. Jim Connell, pastor of Holy Name and St. Clement Catholic churches in Sheboygan, Wisconsin as he pondered how the Catholic Church has dealt with clergy abuse. Subsequently, it prompted him to challenge church leaders.

Here is an excerpt of an editorial from the Sheboygan Press.

“In a 10-page open letter last week, Connell questioned whether children in the La Crosse Catholic Diocese might still be at risk because the diocese uses a standard of proof in sexual abuse cases that makes it harder for victims to prove they were abused. Connell notes that the diocese, which was headed by now-Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, exonerated clergy 64 percent of the time, compared to a national average of just 10 percent.

Connell said his decision to go public came after months of unsuccessful attempts to get church leaders to change the policy he questioned.

Connell also asks:

"Why is it so difficult for the leaders of the Catholic Church to do the right thing?"
Asking these questions could not have been an easy decision for Connell, nor making public his concerns. But we think his actions will end up being of great help to the church as it deals with issues of clergy abuse.

It is hard to argue with those who contend the Catholic Church has spent too much of its time and effort protecting the image of the church rather than helping the victims of sexual abuse by priests to heal.

Connell is being scorned and criticized by some for bringing his concerns to public attention. But the church should be listening to someone who has knowledge of church law and who has served on the Milwaukee Archdiocese's sex abuse review board. Connell is also doing more than just asking questions. He is working to help the victims of abuse by forming a priest group that meets regularly with victims to hear from them what the church needs to do to help them.

This is a most important ministry.

If the Catholic Church is to survive the scandal of clergy abuse, it must not only look deeply and objectively into how it mishandled abuse allegations in the past, but also whether the process of investigating abuse claims isn't unfair to victims. It should also be listening to concerns raised by Jim Connell and others in the clergy."

Amen.

You can read Fr. Connell's letter here: http://www.sheboyganpress.com/assets/pdf/U0160122626.PDF