Borre: Jesuits join the confession rush

By Peter Borre
BostHerald
January 15, 2019

https://bit.ly/2QQsElI

The Northeast Province of the Jesuit order — the pope’s own special ops forces — has released the names of 50 priests “credibly accused” of sexual misconduct with minors.

This follows the lead of the order’s West Province, which released the names of more than 120 priests and brothers in the order last December.

But why now, 17 years almost to the day of the Boston scandal, and what does it mean for the church?

In soccer, an “own-goal” occurs when a member of the team puts the ball in his own net.

Pope Francis — himself a Jesuit — managed an own-goal last November by blocking U.S. bishops from devising their own solution to the spiraling abuse problem, and instead ordered the heads of the more than 100 national Catholic bishops conferences to Rome for a Come-to-Jesus meeting next month.

This has had the possibly unintended consequence of globalizing the clergy sex abuse scandal. It’s created a rush of ranking prelates to the media confessional box — with nearly 50 American dioceses and religious orders publishing their own lists since the Pennsylvania attorney general’s report of last August.

The often secretive Jesuits are now in the position of having to play catch-up … and avoid embarrassing one of their own.

The Jesuit order was established by a Spanish soldier in the 16th century, as the pope’s elite corps of priests at a time in the Renaissance when the Church was in crisis.

Over several centuries the Jesuits have become famous for their emphasis on education, with prestige schools and universities throughout the U.S.

But apparently, with proximity comes opportunity.

Also, this pope is the first-ever Jesuit to sit on the throne of St. Peter, after 265 predecessors.

So it would be a striking failure for Francis’ own order to fail to disclose past transgressors when so many dioceses are posting lists, and more than 15 state attorneys-general have investigations underway.

Within the Catholic clergy there are always tensions between diocesan clergy and religious orders. The Archdiocese of Boston lists alongside its diocesan priests 49 religious orders — including four variants of Franciscans.  What makes the Jesuits unique is their rigorous training — 12-15 years before final vows — and their acute intelligence. But humans are fallible, even the ones who wear roman collars.

In my days as a student at a Jesuit school in Rome there was a saying:

Errare human est, sed in errore perseverare est stultum.

To err is human, but to persevere in error is stupid.