I wrote this in my parish newsletter this weekend (I have put in hyperlinks for your convenience):
Pope’s letter to Irish CatholicsThis evening I have spent a little time on the unpleasant task of looking at some of the BBC coverage. The other day, they had a piece saying something like "Pope's letter - but will it include apology?" Now that it is impossible for anyone to deny that it has, they have dropped that piece and continued along the lines of "Apology not enough" and attack the letter for not being about Germany. They are essentially using the plight of abused children and scandalised Catholics to further their secularist, anti-Catholic agenda while distracting everyone from benefiting from the wise pastoral advice of the Pope. I got sick of it after browsing a few clips. (I suppose I shouldn't single out the BBC. The Times reported that the letter had been judged a failure even before they had a chance to read it. Cf. Damian Thompson)
There will be much comment in the media this weekend concerning the Pastoral Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict to the Catholics of Ireland. The Holy Father apologises to victims of abuse who have suffered the “grave betrayal” of these “egregious crimes”. Pope Benedict also refers to “grave errors of judgement and failure of leadership” on the part of some Bishops.
May I encourage you to read the letter itself: the text is available at the Vatican website. If you have difficulty finding it, there is a direct link in the “Rosary News” blog which can be found at the parish website. There is also a shorter official summary of the letter.
Please remember in your prayers all those who have been victims of abuse. The Holy Father encourages the Irish Catholics to offer up their Friday penances for the coming year to Easter 2011 to beg for God’s mercy, healing and for the renewal of the Church.
It would be fitting for us in England to join in solidarity with this spiritual proposal and to respond to his request to give particular attention to regular Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrament of Penance.
In one particularly contemptuous piece, a BBC correspondent says of the Pope's letter, "essentially his remedy is more prayer". So just a few snippets by way of reply to that:
Pope Benedict urges:
- "acknowledge before the Lord and before others the serious sins committed against defenceless children"
- "concerted effort to ensure the protection of children from similar crimes in the future"
- "establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected, and above all, to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these egregious crimes"
- "the tendency during this period, also on the part of priests and religious, to adopt ways of thinking and assessing secular realities without sufficient reference to the Gospel"
- "well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations"
- "a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal"
- "failure to apply existing canonical penalties and to safeguard the dignity of every person"
"You betrayed the trust that was placed in you by innocent young people and their parents, and you must answer for it before Almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals. You have forfeited the esteem of the people of Ireland and brought shame and dishonour upon your confreres. Those of you who are priests violated the sanctity of the sacrament of Holy Orders ..."Pope Benedict tells Irish Bishops:
"It cannot be denied that some of you and your predecessors failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse. Serious mistakes were made in responding to allegations. [...] it must be admitted that grave errors of judgement were made and failures of leadership occurred. All this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness [...] continue to cooperate with the civil authorities in their area of competence"More prayer would be good as well and he does indeed mention this. Penance too. Read the whole thing. It is a noble and powerful response.
20 comments:
A humble letter and yet so forthright. Somehow I doubt this would have happen under JP II (who appointed half the bishops that caused this mess).
The Holy Father’s expression of outrage is what has been missing in the USA experience. The bishops here have established tough new policies and expressed sorrow for the past failures, but we never really perceived any outrage from them for what their clergy have done and for what their brother bishops have failed to do. And I appreciate what you say about the news media, who are indeed, “using the plight of abused children and scandalised Catholics” for their own purposes, not for the relief of those who suffer.
Thank you Fr. for the suggestion of solidarity with us here in Ireland. Indeed much prayer, penance and sacrifice is needed in reparation for the great evil which was visited on so many of our young people in the past because of clerical sexual abuse.
I enjoy your blog very much and the great analysis you offer to on so many topics. Keep up the great work.
I have been thoroughly depressed, sickened, by the coverage of this throughout the last 36 hours. In particular, last night's 'Newsnight' interview with Archbishop Nichols was conducted (and edited) in an appallingly biased manner.
For the most part the victims and their spokesmen were allowed to read prepared statements without interruption (though, at times, one wondered if they had actually read the contents of the letter), while anyone speaking on behalf of the Church and His Holiness was interrupted aggressively by the interviewer, not allowed to complete their answer or furnish an accurate account of the contents of the letter.
Blatant untruths were conveyed as if they were facts e.g. the length of the letter was exaggerated making it sound unreadable.
Whilst feeling horror and shame at what has been perpetrated by priests and religious and deep compassion for the victims, we have to be realistic. Sadly, nothing by way of apology is ever going to be adequate as far as many of them are concerned. The media aren't interested in the truth and appear to want the Church to be damaged beyond repair, even destroyed.
Pope Benedict's wise remedies are the only ones that we can embrace.
Father Tim, I have commented on my blog, Bangor to Babbio: http://bangortobobbio.blogspot.com/2010/03/pope-benedicts-pastoral-letter-to-irish.html
Much of the comment from readers on The Irish Times website is, predictably, vituperative and dismissive of Pope Benedict's letter.
BBC World (TV) led with this story after it was published. The newscaster interviewing David Willey in Rome seemed to think that clerical celibacy was the problem. It doesn't explain the abuse of the other 96 percent in Ireland, though there is something particularly horrific about a priest abusing a child since he's proclaiming in a perverse way that our Saviour himself is an abuser.
Some have criticised Pope Benedict because he didn't mention other countries. But he had promised to write a letter to the Catholics of Ireland and that is what he has done. It is a call, especially to bishops, priests and religious, to return to the basics of our faith.
The Catholics of Ireland need the prayers of people around the world.
You forgot the piece the BBC did from Austria. Basically stating that an opinion poll taken saw around 1 million Austrian Catholics who may leave the Catholic Church for good. Not surprising considering Europe has lost all faith. Fortunately though Russia and many former Eastern Orthodox countries are once again rediscovering their Christian faith. A light from the East!.
"a BBC correspondent says of the Pope's letter, 'essentially his remedy is more prayer'."
As you point out, there is much much more than just a call for more prayer.
On the other hand the author clearly never heard of Lepanto & what really won that battle.
Regarding the BBC please see a comment on the blog of Damian Thompson in The Daily Telegraph regarding a comment allegedly made by a BBC commentator which is reported in The Scottish Sun at
http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2894230/TV-star-allegedly-brands-innocent-priest-a-paedophile.html
If the alleged remark was made by the BBC commentator, will the BBC take disciplinary action ?
Properly understood, the call for more prayer would have been an answer. Many commentators may not understand what "prayer" means. For us it is not just "devotions" or going to Mass, but, as St. Teresa described it, "Conversation with Christ". In this context, this would mean deep conversion.
I very much agree that we should share in the prayer and penance. We are all involved in this because we are all members of the one body. I hope our bishops in England and Wales will not miss this opportunity to call for deeper conversion in our own oart of these isles. Ther are also other things to consider, especially in this Year of Priests - things to do with priestly life-style and attitudes. There has been much shoddiness and carelessness over the last 30 years or so, especially with regard to Canon Law and so-called "pastoral solutions", leaving problems to be sorted out by others who came along later (I speak from experience). As I said to my own people this morning, the answer lies inside us - we must really live our faith. This is an opportunity for all of us. Resignations will never be enough to heal this damage. Only Christ Himself can deal with it, and so we must deepen our attachment to Him, and that does include being brutally honest about ourselves and the present state of the Church.
The Holy Father's letter will, I believe, be seen in the future as a watershed, being a timely and commanding analysis of the problem by reference to gospel standards (which are only standards in the long run) and yet not dodging any of the issues. On a slightly wry note, I couldn't help thinking that the reference to offering up, inter alia, the Friday fast will doubtless puzzle many of the faithful here in Ireland, since those under about 45 will hardly have even heard of such a thing or if they have, will consider it part of the "bad old days" that were of course done away with when enlightenment descended in the 70s.
Seriously, it is a true trial to open any of the papers over here since the pack are in full cry. In a positive sense, I suppose many opportunities for "offering it up" and avoiding uncharitable thoughts are presented each day. A notable exception was in yesterday's Irish Times where some shred of objectivity was at least displayed. The usually reliable and sober columnist Brenda O'Brien had an excellent analysis entitled "Church not the only creature in our fog of abusive past". I'm sure she'll be inundated with abuse, at least in the comments bit of the website.
And, quite startlingly, the main feature in the "Weekend" part of the paper was an analysis of the Sunday sermons in selected churches last week which was - incredibly - given without any trace of sneering. There's hope yet.
By the way, one of the pictures included was of St. Patrick's in Donegall St. Belfast where an ad orientem Mass was in progress!
Thank you Father.
I have no idea how to create a backlink, but I have linked to this on my blog and quoted an excerpt from this excellent post. I hope that is ok.
I hope that the actual words of the Holy Father are disseminated as widely as possible in order that people may rely less on a media rendering of them.
I LOVE his encouraging istruction to "remember the rock from which you were hewn". So full of tenderness and hope.
May I suggest, Father, that anyone - everyone - who is unhappy with the BBC coverage should complain ? After all; it's your money they're spending, so you do have some rights !
The BBC Complaints contact info is :
Phone: 03700 100 222*
Textphone: 03700 100 212*
Email: go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/
Write: BBC Complaints,
PO Box 1922
Glasgow
G2 3WT
*UK-wide rate charged at no more than 01/02 geographic numbers; calls may be recorded for training.
Why the postal address is in Glasgow, heaven only knows when the staff who deal with complaints are in London; but I suppose it's a good way of keeping infuriated Licence Fee payers from breaking the doors down !
Might I mention that impartiality is one of the issues which is specifically outside OFCOM's remit, so there's no point complaining to them.
I think linking abuse to the Second Vatican council and modern 'less penal' ways of dealing with sin, is erroneous. A, the abuse was happening well before the Second Vatican Council, B, only in a 'less penal' time as this are people now free to criticize the church, in the 60's, 70's, to question the church was to make yourself an outsider.
Borromeo - I remember the days. In the 70s to question the Church was to be thought avant-garde. In the 70s, to support the Church (or papal magisterium at least) was to be an outsider. That being said, there were instances of abuse in the 50s and earlier of course. The question is whether the number of cases increased significantly in the late 60s and 70s. I believe that the research shows this to be the case (the famous "bell curve" of research in US cases.)
The Holy Father does not naively blame Vatican II but draws attention to a problem which allowed priests to continue in ministry while perpetrating these crimes. The book "After Asceticism" which I reviewed here some time ago offers a good analysis of the problem, especially in relation to the uncritical adoption of personalist psychology.
We had a very good homily this morning on the comparison between Jesus' reactions to the passions described in today's Gospel and the current passions that are inflaming coverage of this whole issue. The Holy Father's letter was also available for parishioners to take and read.
Regrettably, in this soundbite age, a seven-side closely typed letter isn't going to attract objective comment and no doubt the media will continue to press on certain matters of interpretation and detail such as the nature of the tribunals. But the letter does reward a fuller reading and deeper understanding of its contents.
Borromeo - there seemed a marked deterioration in the Church´s ability to impose adaquate disciplinary procedures against offending priests after the Council. It wasn´t perfect before but even Archbishop Martin in Dublin admits that things deteriorated. Where was the program of renewal? Surely things should have improved? What part of it got WORSE have you not grasped?
Thank you Father, for the solidarity with the Church in Ireland. Whether we are Irish-born, of Irish descent or merely wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, we are all touched by this and the Holy Father’s Pastoral Letter. And even if we have no ‘green’ in our backgrounds, we are all part of the Catholic Family and the Mystical Body of Christ. When one grieves, we all grieve. The Holy Father’s letter, while directed today to the Church in Ireland, has relevance for the Universal Church.
A German article commenting on how the Protestants really can't cast the first stone:
http://www.ef-magazin.de/2010/03/20/1944-ein-gruss-vom-anderen-ufer-das-evangelische-paedagogen-netzwerk
(written, nota bene, in a periodical that is libertarian rather than specifically Christian or even Catholic)
Not every ordained man can find the vow of celibacy easy to keep to, and how much harder when "free love" is being so consistently pushed as liberating, and celibacy so consistently condemned as damaging. Sadly, some succumbed, in an era when the damage this would cause to children was not so appreciated, and an embarrassed man experimenting with his sexuality would have found it easy to do so with children and thought it less likely he would be exposed if he were to do it that way.
With humility those responsible must apologise for all that was done wrong then, personally and on behalf of the organisation. Pope Benedict has done this in his own style, he hasn't put it in a way that I would have put it knowing the misunderstandings and prejudice against our Church, but it isn't his way to think like that.
Anything else has to be done subtly and knowing what the mindset is of those in liberal circles. I find myself like GK Chesterton, a person who straddles both sides, would love to bring them together, but find the greater hypocrisy on the liberal side, and this pushes me closer to a firm identification with orthodox Catholicism.
Andrew Brown has published an article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2010/mar/23/religion-catholicism which at least suggests that child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy grew in the 1960s and peaked in the 1970s.
It is almost impossible to talk about this rationally in liberal circles, given the level of ignorance and assumption of malice about our Church which is standard there. The line "we don't claim our priests are without sin, and what happened on our Church is much the same as what happened in other organisations at the time" will just be met by some comment which mentions and completely misunderstands "infallibility", and goes on with abuse and ignorance.
What will not be admitted is how big a change in attitudes towards this there has been in liberal circles. I am old enough to remember how maybe up to the 1980s, certainly in the 1970s, sex involving children was taken as the next taboo to be broken and there were groups and people advocating it who received respectful attention.
In the 1960s the idea grew that all forms of sex were good, and anyone who opposed that was an evil prude. What we might now see as child sexual abuse was called "awakening sexuality". Rape might have been treated with "if it is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it". It was taken for granted that sex with female students was one of the perks of being a university lecturer.
The bravest and most wise stand against all this was, of course, Humanae Vitae.
Liberal circles will now admit that sex can be harmful, particularly when it is those in a position of power satisfying urges by using those they are in power over. But will there be any apologies for all that was said before which was the complete opposite of this, or even an admission that there has been a change of attitude? Don't be silly, they are asking us to apologise and admit guilt but they will not do the same.
Child sexual abuse was widespread and almost always covered up. The opinion in those days was universal that it was best for the child not to make a big fuss about it. Did any other institution act in the way Catholic dioceses are now being accused of being evil for not acting? No. Where are the big 1960s and 1970s trials of those involved in secular institutions which brought adults together with children and where abuse of this sort happened just as such as it did in Church organisations?
I write "dioceses" here because I very much suspect, and Andrew Brown's article also suggests this, that there simply was not a realisation in each diocese of how what they saw was part of a larger pattern. Each would have been very embarrassed by what they encountered, thought it to be something isolated, and handled it as was then assumed best, probably fearing even to mention it in wider circles.
The potential for children being coerced into sex causing enormous damage was not recognised then as it is now. In liberal circles I suspect then that to have reported it to what they might have called "the pigs" would have been condemned as "grassing". Turning a blind eye to it would have been seen as the same sort of liberal thing to do as turning a blind eye to homosexual sex when that was illegal.
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