Church and World
The Catholic Church at the Crossroads: Decline or Reform?
It is difficult to talk about the Catholic Church without mentioning the present crisis which is published in every newspaper. In this documentary section we want to make known some of the facts as well as the essential solution: The Church needs a reform “in the head and members” (an expression from the time of the Gregorian Reform in the Church during the Middle Ages).
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Document 1
The scandal of pedophile priests that has shaken the Church for several years is providing the secular media with an opportunity to accuse the Pope himself of wrongdoing and to call for the abolition of clerical celibacy. The Parisian daily newspaper Le Monde offers a selection of these attacks, in which one finds insinuations aimed at discrediting Benedict XVI personally, alongside an implicit demand for married priests. The readers may judge for themselves:
• A forthcoming Roman document on pedophile priests “will not remove the questions about what Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for more than twenty years, knew about all those scandals” (page 6).
• “Of all the monotheistic religions, the Roman Catholic Church is the only one faithful to this discipline (of clerical celibacy). Such a widespread phenomenon [as the recent scandal] has never been observed in religions where the pastors are married. The Church ought to re-examine its view of sexuality instead of fostering immaturity in its clerics. In Austria, the Most Reverend Aloïs Kothgasser, Archbishop of Salzburg, deemed that ‘the Church must ask itself whether it can keep up this way of life or whether it must change it.’ In 2008 the head of the German Church, the Most Reverend Robert Zollitsch, asserted that ‘the connection between the priesthood and celibacy is not a theological imperative.’ The Church is not out of the world. If it wants to espouse contemporary humanity, it would do well to put an end to this anachronism.”
The journalists who faithfully relay and amplify the theses of progressives [within the Church] sound surly, and no wonder: on March 12, during an audience granted to the participants in a meeting organized by the Congregation for the Clergy, Benedict XVI clearly reaffirmed “the value of sacred celibacy, which is a charism required for ordination in the Latin Church and is held in very high esteem in the Eastern Churches.”
Concerning the media campaign against the Pope, Fr. Federico Lombardi, spokesman for the Holy See, issued a press release dated March 13: “[T]he archdiocese of Munich has replied, with a long and detailed communiqué, to questions concerning the case of a priest who moved from Essen to Munich at the time in which Cardinal Ratzinger was archbishop of that city, a priest who subsequently committed abuses. The communiqué highlights how the then archbishop was completely unconnected with the decisions in the wake of which the abuses took place. Rather, it is evident that over recent days some people have sought—with considerable persistence, in Regensburg and Munich—elements that could personally involve the Holy Father in questions of abuse. To any objective observer, it is clear that these efforts have failed.”
On the same day, March 13, L’Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, printed an interview with Msgr. Charles J. Scicluna, promoter of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose job it is, among other things, to investigate members of the clergy who are accused of abusing minors. The most illuminating excerpts from this interview follow:
Nonetheless, that document (a Roman document establishing norms to follow in cases of solicitation during Confession and of other “particularly serious crimes” of a sexual nature, such as the abuse of minors—Editor’s note) is periodically cited to accuse the current Pontiff of having been—when he was prefect of the former Holy Office—objectively responsible for a Holy See policy of covering up the facts….
That accusation is false and calumnious. On this subject I would like to highlight a number of facts. Between 1975 and 1985 I do not believe that any cases of pedophilia committed by priests were brought to the attention of our Congregation. Moreover, following the promulgation of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, there was a period of uncertainty as to which of the “delicta graviora” [“particularly serious crimes”] were reserved to the competency of this dicastery. Only with the 2001 “Motu Proprio” did the crime of pedophilia again become our exclusive province. From that moment Cardinal Ratzinger displayed great wisdom and firmness in handling those cases, also demonstrating great courage in facing some of the most difficult and thorny cases, “sine acceptione personarum” [“without regard to persons,” i.e. without favoritism or human respect]. Therefore, to accuse the current Pontiff of a cover-up is, I repeat, false and calumnious.
What happens when a priest is accused of a “delictum gravius”?
If the accusation is well-founded, the bishop has the obligation to investigate both the soundness and the subject of the accusation. If the outcome of this initial investigation is consistent [with the accusation], he no longer has any power to act in the matter and must refer the case to our Congregation, where it is dealt with by the disciplinary office.
Who staffs that office?
Being one of the superiors of the dicastery, I’m on that staff, along with a bureau chief, Fr. Pedro Miguel Funes Diaz, seven other priests, and a lay lawyer who follow these cases. Other officials of the Congregation also collaborate, depending on the language and specific requirements of each case.
That office has been accused of working little and slowly….
Those are unjustified comments. In 2003 and 2004 a great wave of cases flooded over our desks. Many of them came from the United States….In recent years, thank God, the phenomenon has waned, and we now try to deal with new cases as they arise.
How many have you dealt with so far?
Overall in the last nine years (2001-2010) we have considered accusations concerning around 3,000 cases of diocesan and religious priests, which refer to crimes committed over the last fifty years.
Of the 3,000 accused, then, how many have been tried and condemned?
Currently we can say that a full trial, penal or administrative, has taken place in 20 percent of cases in the diocese of origin—always under our supervision. Only very rarely is there a trial here at the Vatican, which allows us to speed up the process. In 60 percent of cases there has been no trial, above all because of the advanced age of the accused; administrative and disciplinary measures have been taken against them instead: they may be prohibited from celebrating Mass in public or from hearing confessions, or obliged to live a penitential life in seclusion. It must be made absolutely clear that in these cases, some of which are particularly sensational and have caught the attention of the media, there has been no acquittal. It’s true that there has been no formal condemnation, but if a person is obliged to a life of silence and prayer, then there must be a reason….
That still leaves 20 percent of cases…
We can say that in 10 percent of cases, the particularly serious ones in which the proof is overwhelming, the Holy Father has assumed the painful responsibility of authorizing a decree of dismissal from the clerical state. [For those priests, “laicization”] is an extreme but unavoidable measure. In the remaining 10% of the cases, the accused priests themselves requested dispensation from their priestly duties, requests which were promptly accepted. Among these were priests who had been sentenced by the civil authorities for that crime.
Where do these 3,000 cases come from?
Mostly from the United States, which, in the years 2003-2004, represented around 80 percent of the total number of cases. In 2009 the United States’ “share” had dropped to around 25 percent of the 223 new cases from all over the world. In recent years (2007-2009), the annual average of cases reported to the Congregation has been 250. Many countries report only one or two cases; although a growing number of countries are involved, the phenomenon itself is much reduced. Recall that there are 400,000 diocesan and religious priests in the world—a statistic that does not correspond to the perception that is created when these sad cases occupy the front pages of the newspapers.
(DICI, 3/22/2010)
Document 2
On March 19, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI sent an open letter to the bishops of Ireland in the wake of the recent scandals. Here are some excerpts:
“Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Church in Ireland, it is with great concern that I write to you as Pastor of the universal Church. Like yourselves, I have been deeply disturbed by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children and vulnerable young people by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious. I can only share in the dismay and the sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them....
“In recent decades, however, the Church in your country has had to confront new and serious challenges to the faith arising from the rapid transformation and secularization of Irish society. Fast-paced social change has occurred, often adversely affecting people’s traditional adherence to Catholic teaching and values. All too often, the sacramental and devotional practices that sustain faith and enable it to grow, such as frequent confession, daily prayer and annual retreats, were neglected. Significant too was 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. The programme of renewal proposed by the Second Vatican Council was sometimes misinterpreted and indeed, in the light of the profound social changes that were taking place, it was far from easy to know how best to implement it. In particular, there was a well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations. It is in this overall context that we must try to understand the disturbing problem of child sexual abuse, which has contributed in no small measure to the weakening of faith and the loss of respect for the Church and her teachings....
“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. I recognize how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that grave errors of judgement were made and failures of leadership occurred....
“I encourage you to discover anew the sacrament of Reconciliation and to avail yourselves more frequently of the transforming power of its grace. Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organize periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part. Through intense prayer before the real presence of the Lord, you can make reparation for the sins of abuse that have done so much harm, at the same time imploring the grace of renewed strength and a deeper sense of mission on the part of all bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful.”
Document 3
Sam Miller, a prominent businessman in the Cleveland area, had these words to say in 2008 in the May/June edition of the Buckeye Bulletin:
“I’m going to say things here today that many Catholics should have said 18 months ago. Maybe it’s easier for me to say because I am not Catholic, but I have had enough, more than enough, disgustingly enough.
“During my entire life I’ve never seen a greater vindictive, more scurrilous, biased campaign against the Catholic Church as I have seen in the last 18 months....
“The Church today, and when I say the Church keep in mind I am talking about the Catholic Church, is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by an infinitesimally small number of wayward priests that, I feel, have probably been totally weeded out by now.
“You see, the Catholic Church is much too viable to be put down by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer take your choice, they can’t do it, they’re not going to do it and sooner or later they are going to give up. But you’ve got to make sure that you don’t give up first....
“Walk with your shoulders high and your head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency today in the United States. Then remember what Jeremiah said: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’ And be proud, speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. Be proud that you’re a Catholic.”
(Source: Angelus Press)
Document 42
The Daily Telegraph, one of England’s most popular newspapers, featured an editorial by Gerald Warner on March 22 entitled “Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal: Time to Sack Trendy Bishops and Restore the Faith.” In it, Mr. Warner argues:
“It has become fashionable to claim that the sex abuse scandal currently afflicting the Catholic Church is ‘its biggest crisis since the Reformation’. Oh, really? Tell me about it. The abuse issue is just a small part of the much larger crisis that has engulfed the Church since the Second Vatican Catastrophe and which is more serious than the Reformation...
“Should bishops be forced to resign? Oh yes–approximately 95 per cent of them worldwide. These clowns in their pseudo-ethnic mitres and polyester vestments with faux-naïve Christian symbols, spouting their ecumaniac episcobabble, have presided over more than sexual abuse: they have all but extinguished the Catholic faith with their modernist fatuities. They should be retired to monasteries to spend their remaining years considering how to account to their Maker for a failed stewardship that has lost countless millions of souls.
“Benedict XVI should take advantage of a popular wave of revulsion against the failed episcopate to sack every 1960s flared-trousered hippy who is obstructing Summorum Pontificum. It is a unique opportunity to cull the hireling shepherds and clear away the dead wood of the Second Vatican Catastrophe. It is time to stop the apologies and reinstate apologetics; to rebuild all that has been destroyed in the past 40 years; to square up to liberals and secularists as so many generations of Catholics did in the past; to proclaim again the immutable truths of the One True Church that, in the glory of the Resurrection, can have no legitimate posture other than triumphalism.”
(Source: The Daily Telegraph/Angelus Press)
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