Sermon On the Abuse Scandal
21st Sunday of Ordinary Time B, August 26th, 2018
Fr.
Paul D. Williams, Jr., pastor, Saint Joseph's, Dalton GA
Last
week, my nephew called me. He's a journalist for an online
publication and we're very proud of him. He wanted to talk with me
about the latest abuse scandals in the Church: the resignation of
Cardinal McCarrick after the revelations that he abused boys and
young seminarians, and then the Grand Jury report from the Dioceses
in Pennsylvania that documented not only horrific accusations of
priests abusing minors but also the cover-up by Bishops and leaders
in the Church - over seven decades. In light of that, he asked me
how I was doing, if I was dispirited, traumatized, or ashamed?
I told
him “no”. Why? Because we priests went through that in 2002
when the Scandal first became nationwide and worldwide, starting in
Boston. It was then that we first had to deal with the trauma and
shame of the Scandal – that there were predators in the priesthood,
and many bishops over many decades covered up for it, shuffled them
around, treated the victims shamefully, and generally allowed a
culture where this happened. In the 16 years since, I've reached a
certain serenity about it, knowing there are some things I cannot
change, but changing what I can and being faithful to my calling.
After
2002, the Bishops finally began to address the problem with what was
called “the Dallas Charter”, which was basically a “zero
tolerance” policy. All throughout the US, including here in the
Archdiocese of Atlanta, new policies were implemented, including the
training and vetting of all priests, leaders, and ministers in the
Church. Training about awareness, prevention, and reporting of child
abuse by anyone – we are mandated reporters here and I have on
occasion had to call civil authorities when abuse in our community
has been revealed. Some of you may have even participated in the
VIRTUS program which we implement here in the parish. All of this was to create a "Safe Environment", which I believe we have here in our community.
It also
changed the way we priests and the Church at large ministers. Trust
is gone, so the days of - camping trips, altar server outings,
priests hanging out with families in their home, or kids dropping by
the rectory to visit - are over. All offices and classrooms have
windows on the doors, confessions are held in an open, visible place,
priests won't meet with you privately unless the secretary is in the
other room, and certainly not after office hours. Priests have
become less a beloved member of the family that you can trust
implicitly and more of a professional, with boundaries. That's the
state of the Church nowadays, and I accept that.
Since
2002, a large number of priests have been removed for or convicted of
past abuse, and in general, the system as it is today protects the
vulnerable, especially minors. The Pennsylvania report revealed that
93% of abusive priests were ordained before 1985. It also confirmed
something we already knew: that 80% of the victims were teenage boys,
meaning it was not “pedophilia” as psychologists define it (which
is abuse of prepubescent children), but “ephebophila” or to use
an old word, “pederasty”. In other words, the vast majority of
abuse came from homosexual priests fixated on youth, namely
teenage boys.
So what
is different about these new scandals? I really feel that “the
other shoe has dropped”, something that really should have happened
in 2002. The key thing that the Cardinal McCarrick affair and
Pennsylvania report have revealed is this: that many of the bishops
and leaders who allowed such horrific things to happen are still in
power, some were even promoted and worked their way up in the
hierarchy, all the while knowing what they had done, or in the case
of McCarrick, were still doing.
So, in
the past couple of months, we have heard a lot of statements from our
bishops about their sorrow and shame. But, as C.S. Lewis once said,
"a long face is not a moral disinfectant." Sorrow needs to
be followed by action.
As they
say, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. And when the crime is so
horrific, the cover-up is all the more atrocious. That was true in
2002 as it is today. We know that no sector of society is exempt
from having abusers their midst (schools, colleges, sports programs,
Boy Scouts, Hollywood, even families), and it appears that cover-ups
and shuffling of abusers happens in those other sectors as well.
But
this is what I shared with Archbishop Gregory a few days ago: “The
Church should be the one place where those enablers (of abuse) are
held accountable. As a writer in the National Review recently said,
"we don't need new polices, we need better men." And if
that means some heads need to roll, así sea, so be it.”
My
suggestion to Archbishop Gregory was what I like to call the
“Alessandro Serenelli” option. He was the young man who in a
passion of anger and lust killed St. Maria Goretti. He was convicted
and sent to prison and remained a bitter and angry man until she
appeared to him in a dream. It changed him. He repented and showed
his remorse by his behavior, and after an early release from prison,
he spent the rest of his life as a gardener in a monastery.
So my
suggestion is simple: those guilty enablers of abuse in the Church
need to be punished (civilly, canonically, or simply shamed into
resigning) and then serve the rest of their lives as gardeners in a
monastery - never to be heard or seen again in the Church. Let God
figure out if their "long faces" are sincere.
One of
the difficulties the bishops have faced is the question of priest
abusers who are now deceased. I do know that here in the Archdiocese
of Atlanta, when the Archbishop hears of such abuse even after years
or decades, he immediately responds to help the victim survivor,
sometimes personally. The Archdiocese, within the Office of Child
and Youth Protection, has a Victim Assistance Program and a 24-hour
hotline (1-888-437-0764). I have personally seen victims who have
been treated with respect, compassion, and most importantly, given
the assistance they needed to heal from past abuse. But there may be
more victims out there, and they need to know that not only will they
be heard, they will be helped.
Knowing
that, I suggested to the Archbishop this week that we name a deceased
priest who has been credibly accused of abuse from decades ago. He
agreed in this particular case. From 1975-1981, Fr. J. Douglas
Edwards served as pastor here at St. Joseph's in Dalton. He had also
previously served at my dad's home parish of OLPH in Carrollton in
the early Seventies, where I served as pastor from 2002-2009. Fr.
Edwards has been associated with claims of abuse that were brought to
the attention of the Archdiocese, some within the last 10 years. I
personally know two of the victims who have made those claims, and as
I followed Fr. Edwards as pastor by a few decades, I have seen how
the damage caused by abuse often takes many years to surface. Though
nothing can change what happened, healing, even after many years, is
possible. I want to personally assure you that I am here, the
Archbishop is here, the Archdiocese of Atlanta is here, to listen to
and respond to the needs of anyone who has been harmed by past abuse.
This is
difficult, no doubt. Some people have asked me, and I have asked
myself, why would I want to be associated with a profession, the
priesthood, that has become synonymous with child abuse in the
popular culture? One reason and one reason only: the Eucharist.
“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
I fell in love with the Lord in the Eucharist, and he called me to
be a priest. And when he calls, how could I say no? He makes it
clear, as we read last week, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have
life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is
true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” Despite the failings
of many bishops, priests, and leaders in the Church, nothing can take
away that great gift. Jesus remains in his Church, often suffering
with its members, so that after all the trials and tribulations of
this life, he might give us eternal life.
