Diocese Foot-dragging Made Matters Worse in Priest Sex-abuse Probe

Saginaw News
February 22, 2019

https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2019/02/diocese-foot-dragging-made-matters-worse-in-priest-sex-abuse-probe.html

The following reflects the opinion of The Saginaw News Editorial Board.

The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw is facing a crisis, and its initial slow response didn’t help.

Prosecutors say the diocese “stonewalled” law enforcement as it investigated claims of child sexual abuse by clergy. Some of those claims go back decades, prosecutors contend.

For victims of clergy sex abuse, the wounds run deep. Some describe a lifetime of guilt and doubt after church officials and their parents either ignored their stories of sexual abuse as children or hushed them up – priests wouldn’t do that.

Would they?

The Catholic Church today is grappling with the sex-abuse scandal across Michigan, the United States and worldwide. Pope Francis is meeting this weekend with church leaders at the Vatican to discuss the issue.

A common thread is the church’s refusal through the ages to acknowledge the victims. And even now, when a priest is accused and charged in criminal court, the church has been too slow to respond.

In the Saginaw Diocese, allegations of sexual misconduct facing the Rev. Robert DeLand Jr., who heads to trial in March, date to 2017.

Diocese leaders at first said they would cooperate with authorities investigating the matter. But prosecutors say the church wasn’t as forthcoming as they felt it should have been. It led to a police raid of diocese offices in 2018 and created bad blood between police and church leaders.

When MLive/The Saginaw News began asking church officials for information, the diocese put off interview requests. Eventually, interim Bishop Walter Hurley and former diocese delegate Michael Talbot, a retired appeals court judge, agreed to answer questions. Hurley admitted things should have been done differently when it came to answering police questions.

DeLand’s arrest has shaken the faith of the Saginaw Diocese’s 100,000 members in mid-Michigan, with church officials admitting the sex-abuse scandal has hurt attendance and tithing.

As the state Attorney General’s Office continues its investigation into sex-abuse claims in all seven Michigan Catholic dioceses, there’s a lesson to be learned from what happened in Saginaw. Cooperation between all parties is essential. There should be no foot-dragging when it comes to sharing information.

Victims who say their abuse damaged them for years need compassion and understanding. Though it is painful for the church to face a sex scandal that’s been brewing for decades, only by bringing it into the light can the healing begin.