BishopAccountability.org

Vince Hatt: Abuse lawsuits hit the wrong target

By Vince Hatt
LaCrosse Tribune
July 9, 2016

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/opinion/vince-hatt-abuse-lawsuits-hit-the-wrong-target/article_017b9446-016f-5465-93f8-b632cd3773ed.html

Vince Hatt

For years I have postponed writing this commentary. I just have too many feelings to sort out. There are just too many ways to frame this. Limited to about 750 words, I must leave out important information.

But here goes: My thoughts and feelings about the sexual abuse of children by priests.

When I first heard about it, I was sad and embarrassed. Sad because some priests had hurt and taken advantage of the most vulnerable of those whom they were called to love and protect. Embarrassed because as a Catholic I would be challenged by those who like to tear down the church. As I learned more about the profound damage that sexual abuse does to children, I became horrified.

Later on, a priest I knew was listed among those abusing children. I was dumbfounded. This priest was known as a “good priest.” He preached well, was attentive to the needs of his parishioners and had young people excited about their faith. Here again I was confronted most starkly by the human reality that all of us are a mysterious mix of saint and sinner.

Then I learned that some bishops quietly moved many of these priests to other parishes. Maybe these bishops thought it was only a moral issue. These priests could confess, be forgiven and change. Maybe these bishops weren’t aware of the deep psychological damage done to children. On the other hand, maybe these bishops wanted to look good to other bishops and to the pope when they traveled to the Vatican every five years to give an account of their stewardship. I don’t know. Regardless, it was a tragic mistake that did horrible damage to many more children.

This was followed by another tragic mistake. These bishops followed the corporate model of circling themselves with lawyers. You know how this works. A mine collapses. Ten people are killed. The families sue. A settlement is reached whereby the families get millions and the mine owners admit no error or mistake. Obviously there was an error or mistake. Why would the mine owners pay millions if there were no errors or mistakes? I call this method “legalized bribery.” Incidentally, lawyers get some of those millions.

According to Jesus, there is a much better way. He said that if you have failed someone, go to that person, admit your failure, make amends, promise to do whatever is possible to heal the wound and ask for forgiveness.

Some may say this is impractical. Yet it has worked in other cultures. In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission followed a variation of this method. This court-like restorative justice body gave victims of apartheid a chance to talk about their experiences and face the perpetrators. Having your story received and accepted leads to healing. Millions of dollars for revenge often fails to heal. Revenge at first is sweet, but later it often becomes bitter.

One of my favorite forms of denial is to imagine if something were different. Imagine, for example, if Pope Francis were pope at the time this abuse became public. Would this pope, who said his first identity is that of a sinner, inspire the priests and bishops involved to say the same thing?

I am catching myself in denial much sooner when I hang out in my imagination. When the United States invaded Iraq, my imagination spent a lot of time going back to Florida during the election of 2000. What if the Supreme Court had allowed time for a recount? What if it declared the Florida election inconclusive because of faulty ballots and Florida had to re-vote? What if Al Gore had won the election and didn’t invade Iraq? But back to reality.

The reality is that the Catholic Church is paying billions of dollars in lawsuits. Some of it is justified. Victims deserve to be compensated for their suffering and betrayal. They deserve the care that is needed to heal them as much as possible.

But I wonder about the part that is for revenge or punishment. Just who is being punished? Not the bishops. Most of them are dead or retired. No bishop’s lifestyle has been substantially affected by the lawsuits.

The fact is most of the church’s money comes from the ordinary people in the pew, like me. And a loss of money results in a loss of services. Services supplied by inner-city schools, poor parishes, Catholic Charities and a host of other programs. Why punish those who won’t get help from these programs?

I think Pope Francis has a decent chance of writing the last chapter of the book about the sexual abuse of children. The advent of ISIS is possibly the fourth chapter of the book titled “The Results of the Invasion of Iraq.” There are many more chapters of this book to go.

 




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