Friday, November 15, 2002
Anyone who followed the deliberations Wednesday of the nation's Roman Catholic bishops on the highly-charged issue of sexual abuse of children by priests had to have been impressed with the sincerity and seriousness displayed by the church leaders as they strove to adopt a plan of action to deal with this criminal behavior.
But words alone won't appease the many Catholics and nonCatholics who have questioned the bishops' commitment to a "zero tolerance" policy that would remove from active ministry priests who have abused minors. While the rules adopted by the bishops during their meeting in Washington, D.C., forbade the transfer of abusive priests to parishes in other diocese, bishops would still retain a great deal of power over the proceedings.
"The changes they have made will increase their own discretion, their dependency on Rome and the secretiveness of the process," Peter J. Isley of Milwaukee, a board member of the 4,300-member Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests, told The Washington Post. "It's still all about power, hierarchy and secrecy, the things that have practically defined the Roman Catholic Church since the 16th century."
It is to be expected that Isley would paint the worst picture possible of the sexual abuse policy adopted by the bishops, but he does strike a chord when he talks about "power, hierarchy and secrecy." After all, the crisis that has gripped the American Catholic Church can be traced to the decision by some bishops to protect priests who were found to have abused children and even to deny the existence of child abusers and pedophiles among the Catholic clergy.
Will they do it?
Thus, when the Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Catholic magazine America, points out that one of the provisions of the policy allows a bishop to keep a priest out of ministry regardless of a tribunal's outcome, the question that must be asked is this: How many bishops will do that?
Indeed, while the participants in this week's conference promised to apply the sexual abuse rules to themselves and to offer each other not just "fraternal support" but also "fraternal correction," the reality is that only the pope has the power to discipline bishops.
And Pope John Paul II has been unwilling to take a hard-line on the issue of priests and bishops who are responsible for the crisis in the church.
In fact, the sexual abuse policy adopted this week by the American bishops was somewhat of a retreat from the one embraced in June in Dallas. The Vatican objected to giving bishops the authority to permanently remove from ministry priests who are accused of sexual abuse or pedophilia.
The new policy provides for the temporary removal of an accused priest and spells out the procedure for dealing with the complaint.
Time will tell whether the American Catholic Church is on the right track, but it is clear that openness and the active involvement of the laity are essential to restoring the credibility of the clergy.