Sexual Abuse in The Catholic Church

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LESSONS FROM A WOUNDED CHURCH

Child sexual abuse committed by a number of priests is one of the many problematic cases with which the Catholic Church must deal.Not only in the United States but also in Canada, Ireland, Germany, and other countries is this scandalous crime revealed. For instance, recent news reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded “truth and clarity” about it (Reuters, 17/3/2010). So far, the Church has been involving herself in investigating every single case, counselling the victims, and giving any psychological treatment necessary for the priest-perpetrators. However, it appears that the Church has not got her reputation back completely. Here, Stephen J. Rossetti deals with this difficult subject. He compiles a book entitled A Tragic Grace: The Catholic Church and Child Sexual Abuse.

Hundreds of victims admit that they were abused by priests over than decades ago. At this point, you might be wondering why such reports seem to emerge nowadays, rather than from the very beginning. Inchapter I (A Slow Awakening), Rossetti presents K. Meiselman and D. Finkelhor’s remarks that it is owing to not only the wave of sexual openness but also the women’s and children’s protection movement. Both phenomena date back to the 1960s [pp.4-5].

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With the same optimism Rossetti goes on his mission. In chapter II (A Wounded Church) you will find a detailed report on a research he conducted. The objective is to see how deeply clergy-child sexual abuse affects the parish life. With 1,013 completed questionnaires, this research is claimed to represent the beliefs of active, lay, Catholic ministers in the United States and Canada. There is a small number of respondents who are priests and sisters, though. At the end of the research, he concludes that (1) trust in priesthood, (2) support for priestly vocations and celibacy, as well as (3) satisfaction from and (4) confidence in priests decline significantly amongst the active laypersons whose parish priest is charged of child sexual abuse [p.42].

[caption id="attachment_100590" align="alignleft" width="193" caption="A Tragic Grace: The Catholic Church and Child Sexual Abuse"][/caption] Based on this research, Rossetti then lays an emphasis on the parish in which the priest-perpetrator carries out his ministry. In chapter III (Parishes as Victims of Child Sexual Abuse) he suggests that once child sexual abuse in a parish is disclosed, it causes a long-term, traumatic effect on parishioners. This “first injury”, however, even leads to the “second injury” if the victim feels ignored [p.50]. Even though parishioners may fume with indignation over the priest, they will suffer more if the Church does not seem responsive enough. Therefore, Rossetti designs an action plan in order to meet their needs.

What do parishioners request for? Firstly, they want information from Church officials to be made public in lieu of being covered up. Otherwise, they can but rely on the secular media which is more likely to aggravate the situation by blowing up the case [p.52]. Secondly, they demand authoritative presence, particularly when the priest-perpetrator is removed temporarily from his ministry. There should not be a leadership vacuum in the parish [p.52]. Thirdly, they need a healing touch lest the trauma will not vanish and reconciliation will not emerge. An ignored trauma will become like “a cancer eating away the vitality of the parish” [p.54].

If the previous chapter expounds on the curative process, chapter IV (Red Flags for Child Sexual Abuse) focuses on the preventive action. Rossetti proposes a careful examination of the perpetrator’s intensive, psychosexual history. Furthermore, he expounds “six psychological red flags” helpful to identify which adult is more likely to sexually abuse minors in the future. Those “red flags” are (1) confusion about sexual orientation, (2) childish interests and behaviour, (3) lack of peer relationships, (4) extremes in developmental sexual experiences, (5) personal history of childhood sexual abuse and/or deviant sexual experiences, and (6) an excessively passive, dependent, conforming personality.

[caption id="attachment_100611" align="alignright" width="180" caption="A priest."][/caption] Chapter V (Suicides of Priests and the Crisis of Faith) discusses an irony involving the priest-perpetrator and society. A priest is so expected by society to behave flawlessly that once he commits a serious crime he might be despised by, or even banished from, society, as if he is a societal leper. That is why most priest-perpetrators would attempt to deny the allegation of molesting children as best as they could. If they cannot make it, they might feel so embarrassed that they end up committing suicide.

Contrary to popular belief that “paedophilia is incurable”, Rossetti insists that perpetrators of child sexual abuse can be successfully treated [p.88]. He even suggests the possibility of reassigning the priest-perpetrator, on condition that he “does well in treatment, has few negative treatment indicators, has a comprehensive aftercare programme in place, is supervised in the external forum, and […] is placed in a ministry that does not involve minors” [p.96].

In order to bring reconciliation, in chapter VI Rossetti shows that it is necessary to change our perspective towards child sexual abuse, naming the chapter “A Conversion of Perspective”. He strongly advises society and the Church to take a positive, pastoral, pro-victim, proactive approach. A positive approach is needed as we often respond negatively towards it. A pastoral care is required because, institutionally, the Church tends to emphasise the legal and psychological response, ignoring the pastoral dimension [p.106]. Indeed, victims want the Church to “embrace” them compassionately and say that she is sorry. In this sense, a pro-victim attitude is demanded since, along with the Church’s option for the powerless and the poor, the Church is expected to speak on behalf of children who are sexually abused [p.109]. Eventually, a proactive stance should be adopted in order not to be complacent once a case is resolved.

Rossetti also expresses his gratefulness in this difficult situation, saying:

“We are in a painful and yet grace-filled time. I believe this is the work of God’s Spirit and it will not be thwarted. Changes will and must come. We will become a humbler Church. It is an important grace and it will cost us much. But it has always been thus with any conversion to humility.” [p.114]

In my opinion, this book is really worth reading. Rossetti encouragingly promotes a practical-yet-holistic solution to every party involved, such as the victim, the local parish or society, and the Universal Church. Furthermore, we are invited to humbly realise that the Church is not a community of the flawless. We are all human beings and thus we are not perfect, not unless the priest. Meanwhile, applying James Fowler’s “Stages of Faith”, we are challenged to proceed from a naïve stage of faith to a more advanced one. Symbols of the divine are not merely the same as the divine itself. Finally, we know that we are sailing in the same boat and we are hoping for a silver lining amidst the dark cloud.[]

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Book Title: A Tragic Grace: The Catholic Church and Child Sexual Abuse Author: Stephen J. Rossetti Publisher: The Liturgical Press (Collegeville, Minnesota) Year: 1996 ISBN: 0814624340

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