BishopAccountability.org
	History Will Judge the Catholic Faith By Daniel Frondorf Cincinnati Enquirer April 26, 2010 http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100426/EDIT03/4250366/1019/EDIT/History+will+judge+the+Catholic+faith As the clergy sex abuse scandal continues to evolve globally and is no longer simply an American anomaly, survivors of clergy sex abuse all around the world, like me, are left to wonder how and why we were forsaken by seemingly indifferent Roman Catholic leadership all those years ago. Surely the holy, ordained men running the world's most pre-eminent religious organization were concerned for the children and teenagers who were molested, fondled, abused, sexually handled, mistreated, sodomized and even raped by priests and other employees and agents of the Catholic religion? When reports of this abuse came to their attention, the welfare of the kids and their wounded souls certainly were the top priority? Sadly, we have discovered that no, in fact, we were not. Instead, Catholic leaders and administrators from local levels to the highest offices of the Vatican were more concerned with protecting their image, reputation and stature, as well as dealing with the offending parties in a rehabilitative manner. The victims and survivors were seemingly forgotten, apparently because the "psychology of the day" told Catholic leaders that if no significance was given to the abuse, the offended child would simply brush it off as just another ordinary but slightly painful childhood event. As years passed and wounded kids grew up and became capable of dealing with their demons, the truth about the Catholic Church is increasingly coming to light after decades of silence and darkness. Recently attempting to deflect bad news, the pope and his cardinals, bishops and even his local parish priests have circled the wagons offering obligatory apologies, prayers, explanations and veiled references to the scandal muttered during Vatican homilies. The Catholics even have something terrible in common with the Jewish people - their own version of anti-Semitism as a "persecuted" faith. These reactions would be laughable if they were not so hurtful. Promises of accountability, cleansing of the "filth" within the faith, better treatment for victims and harsher treatment for abusers are worth nothing if not followed up by action. The lack of accountability for those who enabled and in fact promoted sexual abuse within the church is a searing knife in the heart of a victim, re-victimizing the adult who was hurt as a child. The church has made strides in recent years here in the United States, and kids are safer today in all walks of life because of the actions of so many courageous victims. It is my hope that these norms established by the American church are adopted by bishops in other countries. The church needs to take a long hard look at the past and realize that those kids from decades ago are still thirsty for justice, accountability and healing. History will judge the Catholic faith at how well it responds to the needs of those left behind.
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