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 Holding Bishops Accountable
The failure to confront clerical abuse is one more symptom of a problem that will not go away.

By Diogenes

Here we are again, in a depressingly familiar place. We pick up the newspaper (in this case the Boston Globe) and read a numbingly detailed article about the failure of a Catholic archdiocese (in this case Boston) to protect young people from a predatory, pedophile priest.

Unwilling to believe our eyes, we read a quote from a 1984 letter, penned by an auxiliary bishop to the new Archbishop, Bernard Law, flatly describing Father John Geoghan as having a history of homosexual contact with minors and protesting his appointment to a parish. Tragically, the warning had no effect.

The folly of the hierarchy defies belief; one is simply astonished upon reading that priests who were repeat offenders were routinely reassigned and found new victims. The constant refrain of the chanceries, like a dreary antiphon, has been, “We had no way of knowing,” or alternatively, “This reassignment was approved by the psychiatrist.” They had “no way of knowing” that a priest who had repeatedly violated the innocence of young boys and the trust of their parents, in parish after parish after parish, often after treatment, must not be reassigned? They had “no way of knowing” that which anyone with common sense would immediately see?

It is increasingly difficult to avoid two questions: Just why is it that so many bishops seem so impervious to the threat posed by pedophile priests? And what is the solution to this constantly unfolding crisis?

As to the first question, let me put it bluntly: The American hierarchy has often behaved in this matter as badly as one could possibly imagine. It is clear that the US hierarchy has become dangerously inbred, and utterly unable to react as normal men should when a young boy is abused. Healthy, well-balanced Catholics are sickened by the clerical nonchalance they see in the face of actions which have ruined young lives and torn families apart.

What is the answer?

This is a spiritual problem. It is the same sickness we have watched for decades. The hierarchy which is unable to react when a young boy is abused is the same hierarchy which has been unable to reply effectively when the universities and colleges were secularized, when religious education was gutted, when parents were pointing out that sex-ed programs were violating their children’s innocence, when it was revealed that two whole generations were wholly ignorant of Catholic doctrine, when Mass attendance dropped by 60 percent in 30 years, when people were hurt and felt betrayed by liturgical abuses. This is not an isolated problem.

Confronted by problems in the Church—serious problems, causing heartfelt grief to their people—the bishops have acted in a way that suggests their first loyalty is not to Christ, or his Church, or the care of their people. Their loyalty is to the clerical establishment—to the system which has rewarded them with a nice pair of purple socks and a pectoral cross (to be carefully tucked into the shirt pocket so that it doesn’t get in the way). This is the old boys’ club which has promoted and welcomed them, and requires that scandals be hidden, victims be paid off or threatened or stonewalled. And, it is clear, wherever possible, the indiscreet offender must be taken care of, too.

What is the solution? Sadly, in the providence of God, media attention will be very helpful. Some bishops need to be humiliated. Ultimately they need to be held accountable, even though they refuse to be responsible. If a diocese is found to have obstructed a pedophilia investigation, or to have ignored clear signs of trouble and retained a predator in active ministry, then the bishop must resign. This needs to happen as often as necessary. If we were talking about an ordinary business corporation, there would be no questions asked here; this kind of publicity, appearing in the Sunday Globe, would lead to a resignation reported in Monday’s edition. If our bishops do not hold themselves to that standard of integrity and responsibility, perhaps their people need to hold them to it.

And Rome needs to look seriously at the whole episcopal selection process. Presently, it is dangerously incestuous; a troubled hierarchy promotes its own. It is painfully obvious to anyone who has followed the headlines of Church news over the past decade that, whatever the qualities which lead to a candidate’s promotion, integrity is not necessarily one of them. Rome has the authority to look past the preferred, favored, and carefully cultivated candidates whose names are submitted, and to “think outside the box.” Rome needs to use that authority. Rome needs to think of the children. There is nothing else which needs addressing in the Church which will not be left unaddressed until this is taken care of. Remember the children, and help us—now.

Back to Catholic World Report February 2002 Table of Contents