Reconciliation requires more

Toledo Blade
November 24, 2018

https://www.toledoblade.com/opinion/editorials/2018/11/24/reconciliation-requires-more-from-catholic-church/stories/20181127011

Since the early 2000s, waves of revelations about clergy sex abuse and the systemic cover-ups that hid that abuse for generations have rocked the Catholic Church.

And despite paying billions of dollars in settlements, despite creating institutional reforms, despite apologies and promises that such abuses were no longer tolerated, victims continue to come forward.

And the church continues to demonstrate that its first priority is to protect itself and its predatory priests, rather than to protect its most vulnerable parishioners.

In the case of 51-year-old Riley Kinn, the church is doing nothing less than stonewalling a man who is taking church leaders at their word that abuse allegations would be taken seriously.

Mr. Kinn kept silent for nearly 40 years before he reported in 2017 that he was abused as a boy by Rev. Joseph Schmelzer at his childhood parish in Fostoria.

In response, the Diocese of Toledo has ducked his questions, refused to hear him out, and denied that his accusations were credible. All of this despite acknowledging two other previous credible accusations against Father Schmelzer and removing the man permanently from public ministry in 2007.

This is not how a church behaves if it is committed to reform. This is not how a church behaves if it truly regrets the abuse of children.

This is how the church has routinely treated sexual assault victims seeking the barest amount of justice — an acknowledgement that a wrong was done to them and some accountability for person who hurt them.

In the post-Spotlight era, church officials have too often waved off condemnation stemming from sexual-abuse allegations as being something of the past.

Yes, that was the way the church operated in the past, but this is a new era. No, allegations were not always taken seriously in previous generations, but they are taken seriously now. Too many contemporary church officials hope to shield themselves from criticism by pretending that this is a new era with new rules.

The church’s handling of accusations against Father Schmelzer is clear evidence that not much has changed.

The Toledo Diocese owes Mr. Kinn much more than unreturned phone calls and patronizing correspondence that ignores his questions. The diocese owes him answers. It owes him respect. And it owes him accountability.