By James F. Lowe
Daily Hampshire Gazette
April 17, 2010
http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/04/17/church-crisis
For some in Hampshire County, an area priest's call for Pope Benedict XVI to resign over the clergy sex abuse scandal represents a courageous stand against hypocrisy.
For others it's an unmitigated attack verging on heresy.
The Rev. James Scahill of St. Michael's Parish in East Longmeadow last weekend demanded accountability from the pope and others in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Those who haven't been truthful about their knowledge of clergy sexual abuse have violated a crucial tenet of the faith, he said.
The homily sent shock waves well beyond Massachusetts.
While many in the church may agree with Scahill, it's a "long shot" that others will join him in speaking out, said John Sheehan, a chapter leader for Voice of the Faithful, a lay group pushing for church reform.
"Any group pulls together to protect its own," Sheehan, a Southampton resident and member of Immaculate Conception Church in Easthampton, said in a phone interview.
"That's why it's rare for someone to step out of line and say, #Wait a minute, the emperor has no clothes on here,'" Sheehan said.
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| The Rev. James Scahill of St. Michael's Parish, a Roman Catholic Church in East Longmeadow, has called on Pope Benedict XVI to step down and is demanding greater protection of children. |
Peter Pollard of Hatfield, a coordinator with the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Scahill has long been an advocate for abuse victims and critical of the church's handling of the scandal.
"The remarkable part is not that he's done it, but that no one else has," Pollard said.
Parishioners leaving Friday morning Mass at Easthampton's Immaculate Conception Church weren't so enthusiastic.
One called Scahill's remarks "a little over the top." When asked her opinion, a woman helping prepare Sunday's church bulletins said, "Nothing you can print."
Elise Feeley said the focus should be on helping abuse victims and preventing future abuse, rather than on laying blame.
"I think we need to do it in Jesus' way, and that is to help the sinners and the victims," Feeley said. "We need to understand we're all sinners and come up short of the glory of God."
Other observers disagreed with Scahill more forcefully. New Hampshire blogger Paul Melanson accused the priest of "merely regurgitating what he's heard from the liberal media and other anti-Catholic sources."
The Roslindale-based Catholic Action League of Massachusetts said Scahill should apologize for his statements.
"We do seem to have a movement by dissident and disaffected Catholics to attack the pope," said the group's executive director, C.J. Doyle, citing Scahill's sermon as well as recent newspaper columns criticizing Benedict. He said the evidence cited by these critics was "of the flimsiest nature."
Scahill's rationale
Scahill's criticism of the pope stem from Benedict's former role as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversaw investigations into alleged clergy sexual abuse around the world. Earlier, as an archbishop in Germany, Benedict approved the transfer of an accused priest who was later convicted of molestation.
It isn't the first time Scahill has spoken out about clergy sexual abuse. In 2002 his parish withheld financial contributions from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield until convicted priest Richard Levigne was taken off the diocese's payroll. Voice of the Faithful saluted his stand when awarding Scahill its "Priest of Integrity" award two years later.
His sermon, which he delivered at four Masses last weekend, reportedly drew standing ovations and at least one shout of "Heretic!" from the congregation. A spokesman said the full text of the sermon was expected to be available this morning online at stmichaelsel.org.
Scahill didn't respond last week to interview requests from the Gazette. One church official said the parish had been bombarded with more than 350 inquiries from media around the world.
Early in the week, Scahill did grant a handful of interviews to Springfield newspapers and TV stations, as well as to CNN.
Speaking to the cable network, he summed up his position this way:
If Benedict knew clergy abuse was being covered up by the church and did nothing to stop it, then he is guilty of crime.
On the other hand, "if by the slimmest of chances" the pope didn't know about the abuse, then he has demonstrated himself to be incompetent to lead the church.
"If he can't take the consequences of being truthful in this matter," Scahill said of the pope, "his integrity should lead him for the good of the church to step down, and to have the conclave of cardinals elect a pope with the understanding that that elected pope would be willing to take on this issue transparently. Not just in promise, but in fact."
In a prepared statement issued Monday, Bishop Timothy McDonnell expressed "sorrow, sadness and shame" for clergy abuse victims and their families.
But the bishop said it was a "sad irony" that Scahill chose to make his remarks on Divine Mercy Sunday, a day he said is supposed to be about forgiveness and reconciliation.
According to published reports, Scahill said he chose the date because it coincided with another holy day, the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, or Doubting Thomas, a figure Scahill said stands for skepticism.
McDonnell wrote that his diocese and others around the world "are vigilant in the efforts undertaken to ensure such tragedies can never happen again."
"Nevertheless," McDonnell continued, "I realize that current efforts do not take away pains caused by past actions. I pray that the divine mercy, God's mercy, ease the pain of all who suffered."
The background
The clergy sex abuse scandal first broke out in 2002 with a flurry of revelations about priests sexually abusing youths in parishes from Boston, Springfield and elsewhere. Now the issue is flaring up again, as new allegations come to light across the United States and Europe.
Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests rallied Thursday outside the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield to demand the creation of an "international, online registry of proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests."
A recent Associated Press investigation found evidence of 30 priests accused of sexual abuse whom the church transferred to other countries, including one eastern Massachusetts priest was later sent to Brazil and then Italy after being accused of child sexual abuse.
Wearing a button that read "Protect kids, not predators," Ashfield resident and Survivors Network member Bill Nash said Bishop McDonnell had been receptive two years ago when Nash told him about his abuse at the hands of a priest at a Wisconsin seminary.
He said he hoped McDonnell would be willing to listen again. But when he rang the doorbell at McDonnell's chancery, an attendant told him the bishop wasn't in.
Mary Lou Bowen, a Longmeadow resident and member of Scahill's parish, was there to show support for SNAP. She said the pastor's sermons often invite parishioners to think hard about clergy abuse issues, she said, and so last Sunday's homily didn't come as much of a surprise.
Of the pope Bowen said, "He's been lying to us and allowing children to be molested around the world. If he didn't know about it, he's incompetent."
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