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	Is the Church in Crisis? Times of Malta August 9 2010 http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100801/opinion/is-the-church-in-crisis Paedophilia and other sex abuse by the clergy and cover-up by the Church are often making news lately. The Church authorities are being blamed not only for the cover-ups but also because, removing offending priests from the situations in which they abused youngsters and putting them in other but similar situations, they were exposing more youngsters to the priests' likely harmful behaviour. The 'attack' on the Church is quite ferocious. Not even the Pope is spared, and some are even seeking to take him to court. People from different quarters are interpreting what is happening differently. Some consider it a concerted effort to harm the Church; others, more cynical, a concerted effort to grab more money from the Church. The hierarchy, too, is reacting in different ways. On the one hand, repentance for what has happened is expressed; on the other, the hurt that is being inflicted upon the Church is judged to be excessive and not totally merited. There may be some truth in seeing these accusations as excessive; however, too much defensiveness on the part of the Church would be counter-productive. Besides, some soul-searching about the underlying causes of what is happening would be beneficial for all. Most information reaching the public is coming through the media and often it is fragmentary. In this article I would like to make some sense of what is happening. The issues are two: paedophilia and other sexual abuse (especially ephebophilia) have been performed by a number of clergy and religious; when this came to the knowledge of the Church authorities there was a cover-up. Had the authorities denounced the culprits, these would have been tried in a civil court and, if found guilty, received the appropriate punishment. Nobody would have implicated the Church. This did not happen and we need to find out why. This exercise will take us to the realm of the speculative but this is no reason for not making some propositions and reflections. I am going to suggest three reasons for the cover-up. In the first place, I think this was because of the shyness of the Church of appearing to be sinful. This is an old story. Already in the time of the concordats, a clause was often inserted that in the case of a priest breaking the law, the police should come for him by night and pull a sack over his head so that he won't be recognised and be a cause of scandal. The Church's fear of scandal is explainable by the false assumption that sinfulness in her own ranks would be detrimental to her evangelisation. A second reason - but one on which the first rests - is the overemphasised distinction between the clergy and the laity. The Church has always been associated with the former. The Second Vatican Council tried to correct this fallacy especially through the Constitution on the Church in which "the people of God", which in the past referred to the laity, is now taken to refer to all the members of the Church, hierarchy, religious, and laity. Unfortunately, this idea did not catch on, neither with hierarchy nor with the laity. When we speak of the 'Church', we keep on thinking of priests and religious. The third reason - and here we are on the level of pure speculation - has been ignorance. I am suggesting that the Church authorities' evaluation of paedophilia was that it constituted a sinful act. In a motu proprio issued on April 30, 2001, Pope John Paul II stated: "A sin against the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue by a cleric with a minor under 18 years of age is to be considered a more grave delict, or delictum gravius." But 'sinfulness' is forgiven when repentance is shown. They may have missed the point that, more than sinfulness, this was a question of 'sickness'. Sickness is not healed by repentance and forgiveness! Other methods are called for and, in the meantime, it is absolutely necessary to take measures so that the potential aggressor won't strike again. It is my opinion that the authorities of the Church had not appreciated this enough. On the practical level, the Church authorities are doing all they can: they are repentant, they are trying to make good the harm done, and they have adopted zero tolerance. So far so good; but this situation demands much more. It begs to seek an understanding of the nature of the Church and of the demands of evangelisation. It is my belief that the Second Vatican Council, especially through the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, has already supplied many of the answers. Lumen Gentium refers to the Church as 'in pilgrimage'. This means we are not there yet and, consequently, we should not expect to have arrived. This should show in the ministry. Preaching as if only the listeners (read the laity) needed conversion does not convey this message. It looks more like the Church (read the hierarchy) trying to convert the world rather than the Church (including priests and people) trying to seek conversion. This separation between clergy and laity, rather than diminishing, judging from the mentality of some clerics, seems to be increasing. This is how Kevin Seasoltz puts it: "Many seminarians and recently ordained priests favour the cultic model of priesthood and have adopted the traditional clerical lifestyle. "They are often preoccupied with clerical dress - with cassocks, birettas, capes, French cuffs, lace surplices and clerical vests. They see themselves as part of a separated clerical caste." (The Furrow, Vol. 61 (3), p. 141). This is contrary to the spirit of the Council and detrimental to evangelisation. Pope Benedict XVI said he is heading a sinful Church. This is laying the evangelisation of the Church on very strong foundations because it is laying these foundations on the truth. This is the way to get rid of triumphalism, an important project of the Council and a must for serving the world. Presenting herself as flawless would be self-defeating for the Church. Scandal is not avoided by hiding offences but by admitting that the Church is still sinful and in need of conversion. The Fathers of the Church were very aware of the Church's sinfulness and they were not scandalised. Nor would our people be if, with humility, they were made to feel part and parcel of the Church rather than second-class members. For this to happen, a change of mentality on the part of the clergy is called for.
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