Quiet Ex-pope Emerges at Exactly the Wrong Time

New Mexican
April 16, 2019

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/editorials/quiet-ex-pope-emerges-at-exactly-the-wrong-time/article_c0a8df8e-5696-5f11-a6dd-c7cae711a87e.html

Emeritus Pope Benedict picked a strange moment and an unfortunate topic to return to the public eye — just before Holy Week, writing about the scandal of sex abuse in the Catholic Church and choosing to blame the 1960s for the sins of the church.

The Catholic Church, as with any human institution, has a history of misdeeds that dates back to its very founding, well before the swinging ’60s. Among those — and we can never forget the Inquisition — are abuse of children, the faithful, nuns and others by priests in holy orders. Over the years, such sins were covered up by bishops and the hierarchy because, sadly, institutions seem more intent on protecting themselves than caring for people. That is just a fact of human nature and human history.

What makes abuse by priests and subsequent cover-ups so horrific, of course, is that the institution hiding the sin is supposed to represent Jesus on this Earth, showcasing the gospel through its actions. The Catholic Church seeks to teach, to set an example and to show humanity how good Christians are supposed to live.

It goes without saying that good Christians do not abuse children, wrecking lives and destroying faith, and good Christians do not hide and enable such sin. The church’s actions when it comes to the abuse of children by clergy have been the opposite of what Jesus would want them to do.

And the 1960s, with the sexual revolution, have nothing to do with the scandal of an institution protecting grown men at the expense of children. That sin is entirely on the shoulders of the priests who abused children and any bishops and others who protected them.

We in New Mexico know that clerical abuse of children did not begin in the 1960s. We also know that for Benedict to cast blame outside the church is the opposite of taking responsibility; any Catholic accustomed to confessing sin through the sacrament of reconciliation knows how deftly decent priests show the penitent that finding forgiveness means admitting culpability. Guilty priests, just like the sinners whose confessions they hear, must accept responsibility for their actions. So must the institutional church. Benedict’s letter, on the other hand, deflects responsibility and blames others.

That the shadow pope would step to the limelight on this most controversial issue is regrettable. The first modern pope to resign — popes generally die in office — Benedict had pledged to remain in the background when he left his post in 2013. For the most part, he has done so. Chiming in on the church’s inability to deal with its sex scandal is hardly in keeping with his original intent.

That’s especially true considering the Vatican recently held a summit to grapple with how to put the scandal behind it. Pope Francis heard the testimony of victims of sexual abuse and promised concrete actions to set the church on a new course. Benedict’s rambling letter placing blame away from the church puts the faithful in the position of having to choose between two leaders.

This increases the pain of an already suffering church. New Mexico, as we all know, faced the scandal of clerical abuse in the 1990s, when decades of actions by abusive priests — and cover-up by church big shots — came to light. Those old wounds still hurt and linger. Just last week, an abusive priest who had escaped justice was found guilty of sex crimes against children in federal court. Attorney General Hector Balderas is pursuing other charges against priests accused of pedophilia.

After all, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has admitted at least 78 priests and religious brothers have been “credibly accused” of abuse, but the lawsuits were settled privately for undisclosed amounts. Bringing a priest to trial and winning a criminal conviction is another step in healing. Extending the statute of limitations so that accused pedophiles can be brought to justice even years after the abuse occurred is reform New Mexico should take and that the local archdiocese should support. The universal church must become steadfast in putting victims first, and this letter from Benedict does not do that.

The clergy who abused children are guilty, and so are church leaders who covered up the crime. Any casting of blame away from the rot that still needs to be removed from the Catholic Church is wrong, especially as the Christian world enters its holiest of times.