Letter to the editor: Catholic church should open window to old sex abuse claims

By Dave Pasinski
Syracuse.com
February 17, 2018

http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/02/catholic_church_should_open_window_to_old_sex_abuse_claims_your_letters.html

"The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason." This poignant phrase from T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" sets a high bar for the motivation for any worthy action. Yet, since the time of Sigmund Freud, most psychologists would recognize that nearly all actions have roots that are ambiguously intertwined.

Therefore, as The Post-Standard editorial stated well, the fact that the Diocese of Syracuse is now attempting to make a good-faith "reparation" for the exploitation of the many known victims of clerical sexual abuse is an important step, even as serious questions of motivation and justice persist.

It is certainly understandable that victims, their advocates and many others of good will may also question the motivation that accompanies this program. If it is an attempt to simply close a window that would allow past claims to be brought to light, it indeed is insidious - even though it is ministered by two people completely apart from the diocese whose integrity is unquestionable.

Yet motivations may abound in all directions. Seeking to punish those perpetrators who are long dead or defrocked -- and the irresponsible, naive or duplicitous hierarchy of those past years who sheltered them -- through settlements at this point can be of questionable value also. No financial settlement can ever ameliorate innocence and trust lost, but it is nevertheless necessary to both assist victims and deter future negligence.

What would be a great sign of good faith by the New York State Catholic Conference of Bishops would be to promote that legislation that would allow a one-year window to exist to allow older claims to come forward in addition to negotiated settlements like this.

Can there be a way to both applaud this tremendous step of Bishop Robert Cunningham's initiative in this diocese and also support those victims who have been already named as well as those who may come forward now who had long been silent? If that window In the statute of limitations is allowed, would justice be advanced and better motivations of healing and reconciliation be served ever more transparently?

I believe it can and I believe that it must if there is to be a true healing.