Wallowing in Misery

By Robert Nemeth
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
March 4, 2012

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120304/COLUMN22/103049897/-1/opinion

The seemingly unending flow of stories of sexual abuse prompted me to make these comments. It all started on Jan. 2, 2002, when The Boston Globe published an article with revelations about priests abusing children and church leaders who failed to stop them. The story hinted at a coverup.

Dozens of other stories followed, and the expression “clerical abuse” became part of the vocabulary. The issue went global, and thousands of alleged abuse victims came forward. The stream of accusations created a lucrative compensation industry, with enterprising lawyers specializing in sex abuse cases, and professional victim organizations producing a steady supply of clients. Cardinal Bernard Law resigned and moved to the Vatican, where he remained the target of his detractors’ venom.

While few of the cases went to court, dioceses in America have paid about $3 billion in settlements and other costs related to more than 15,700 abuse claims. The Boston archdiocese settled 800 claims, training 300,000 children and 175,000 adults to spot and prevent abuse. It spent $7 million to provide counseling and medication for victims. Massive reparations depleted resources, causing the closing of several churches. The scandal undermined confidence in the church and caused many of the faithful to turn away.

Even though statistics show that most of the alleged abuses happened between the 1960s and 1980s — indicating that church authorities have dealt with the problem — the issue is being kept alive. Victim advocates held an event in Boston they called “The 10th Anniversary Celebration & Conference: Confronting the Crime & Cover-up of Sexual Abuse by the Boston Clergy.” It featured media and legal panels, workshops, lectures and a play, “For Pete’s Sake,” written and performed by alleged victims. Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer specializing in clergy abuse cases, announced that the pressure on the Boston archdiocese must continue because church reforms amount to “hollow gestures.”

(Investigative reporting by the Globe and other media outlets produced countless accounts of every detail of the scandal. It would be enlightening to know how many abuse cases Mr. Garabedian and some of his colleagues did handle, how much money they have collected, and what percentage of the awards ended up in their pockets.)

Marking the 10th anniversary of the abuse crisis, Cardinal Sean O’Malley released a letter to Catholics, expressing his lasting regret and a humble plea for forgiveness. Instead of a conciliatory response, the cardinal’s words prompted sharp rebuke from BishopAccountability.org, a victim advocacy organization. “Sean O’Malley mastered the trick of false transparency,” the group declared. “He spoke like a healer but acts like a CEO whose priority is protecting his organization’s image and assets.”

Not surprisingly, the antichurch movement is beginning to generate backlash. At a time when sex abuse charges have shifted to college athletic programs and summer camps — with Mr. Garabedian and his ilk in hot pursuit — The Catholic League pointed out that the church has a better record than any other institution fighting the problem. In a release titled “Boston Victims Bask in Misery,” Bill Donahue, league president, said, “It’s time for some straight talk: These people don’t want to move on, and that’s because they have too much invested in maintaining their victim status.”

A circuit court judge in Missouri has turned the table on the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused by Priests, another outfit that has relentlessly pressured church leaders to reveal the scope of sex abuse. She ordered the group to disclose records to defense lawyers of an accused priest that could include emails and other material relevant to the case. All involved in the trial are under a gag order because the survivors’ network was suspected of leaking information to the press. The judge’s ruling also allowed the deposition of the network’s national director. Holding the accusers accountable as well as the accused serves the cause of justice. While members of the clergy cannot claim special privileges, they are certainly entitled to due process like anyone else.

Sexual abuse of a child is an ugly crime. It is especially painful when the abuser is a priest, because members of the clergy are in a position of trust. Those who knowingly shield the abusers deserve to be punished as well. Attempts by church leaders to cover up wrongdoing — for misplaced compassion for the sinners or fear of scandal — are wrong.

However, the seemingly endless obsession with “clergy abuse,” fueled by special interests, obfuscates the fact that while tens of thousands of priests have served millions of people faithfully and with selfless dedication, less than 1 percent of them have ever been implicated in wrongdoing. To judge them all by the sins of an errant few makes no sense. “If the impression is created that the abuse is current or recent, Catholics and the general public are led to view all priests with suspicion,” Cardinal O’Malley wrote in his letter.

I vividly remember an interview with the Rev. Daniel P. Reilly in June 2002, then serving as bishop of Worcester. He spoke of his deep sorrow over the erupting scandal: “My biggest grief is that the church I love, the greatest love affair of my life, is now under a cloud.” Then he added: “But we’ll get through, and the church will be stronger because of this ordeal.”

Robert Z. Nemeth’s column appears regularly in the Sunday Telegram.