THE COST OF ABUSE | Scandal, cover-up painful, but Valley Catholics' faith not shaken

By Rick Dandes
Daily Item
May 19, 2019

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Father John Hoke, St. Joseph Church, Milton, thinks the Catholic Church is just at the beginning stages of the clergy abuse scandal.

For some Valley Catholics, the litany of revelations about widespread sexual abuse of children within the six dioceses of the Church in Pennsylvania, and the subsequent cover-up, compounds their pain. 

But their core faith, they said, has not been shaken.

“I wish it had all come out at once,” said Eleanor O’Conner, who attends Sacred Heart Church in Lewisburg. “There has been so much bad news. My fear is that all the good work done by the Church will be overshadowed by this scandal. I’m not downplaying the betrayal of trust, and it makes me angry to think about it. I’m praying for the victims. I have two grandchildren, and I want them to continue as Catholics.”

Parishioner Lorna Rodriguez, who attends St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milton, said she has kept her faith separate from the scandals in the universal church.

“The people who were wronged deserve justice as do those priests who did these horrible things,” she said. “But my own faith has not been shaken.” 

The revelations of the terrible failures of some Church leaders and the horrific sins some clergy committed against children as revealed in the PA Statewide Investigating Grand Jury Report are the cause of much sadness, and even anger noted Fr. Mark Wilke, Sacred Heart Jesus Parish, Lewisburg. 

The feelings about the scandal that parishioners have expressed to Wilke in the past several months include shock and concern, he said, as well as a sincere resolve to assist with the healing process for anyone who has been hurt by a member of the Church or whose faith has been shaken.

Mike Seno, who attends St. Pius X, in Selinsgrove, said the scandal did not change his belief in the Catholic faith.

Seno contends that the instances of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church are “no higher than among sports coaches, or Scout leaders. The Catholic Church is an easy target. Pedophilia is wrong. Nobody condones it and this diocese is doing everything they can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“This has not at all weakened my faith in the Catholic Church, or the Papacy,” Seno said. “Pedophilia is a disease that affects a lot of people in a lot of areas and nobody is making excuses for it. All we can do is deal with it. When Jesus appointed Peter, the first Pope, he said the Gates of Hell will not prevail. There is a constant battle between good and evil. I see all of this as the affect of Satan in the world.” 

Not all parishioners are that involved.

“Quite frankly I’ve been so busy that I didn’t really have a reaction when I first heard about the scandal,” said Eric Mullen, of Mineville, N.Y., who was visiting Lewisburg and commented after a mass at Sacred Heart. “It’s an ongoing thing, its been happening in the Church for a while. Certainly, it is unfortunate.”

Recovery just beginning

Father John Hoke, St. Joseph Church, Milton, thinks the Church is just at the beginning of recovery, and reestablishing trust.

“The first step,” he said, “is to be honest with the people and ourselves. Revealing all of the facts. It will take a long time to restore confidence in the bishops. It is not going to be easy. But, we are on the road.” 

People have not expressed their feelings, their devastation about the scandal to Hoke, he said. “I suspect it is there. I’m devastated as a priest, and I am having to work through this scandal. I’m sure the laity is having a very difficult time as well.” 

“In the long run,” Hoke continued, “the one group that we have been losing are the millenials, but they were basically indifferent to establishment religion anyway. This will just be another reason for them not to get involved in organized religion. So the Church is going to continue to suffer for some time. This is not going to be easy. But eventually the Church will recover. That is a promise from Jesus Christ.”

It is clear to Wilke that there is a common resolve, among both parishioners and church leaders, to focus on the process of healing for anyone who has been hurt by a member of the Church or whose faith has been shaken. And to continue, he said, to review and update the processes to keep all persons in the Church safe, in full cooperation with Law Enforcement Agencies and according to state laws.

“No one that I know personally has left the Church or stopped practicing the Catholic faith because of the scandal,” Wilke said. “There has been no significant change in attendance, whatsoever.” 

Weekend Masses still have a strong attendance, between the four weekend Masses at Sacred Heart Parish Church, Lewisburg, and Saint George Mission Church, Mifflinburg, Wilke said, “over 600 people regularly attend each weekend. Also, the major holidays of Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Easter, occurring in the past few months, had similar or even higher attendance than in recent years.”  

In Danville, Father James Lease, St. Joseph Church, said he knows a number of people who have experienced discouragement, a number who have been upset, and some who have thought about leaving, but he isn’t aware of anyone who has formally left the parish on account of the Grand Jury Report.

Lease hasn’t noticed a drop in attendance, “although it’s hard to say because we have three services and attendance at each fluctuates depending on what else is going on that weekend. We’ve also had some Catholics return to the practice of the faith and others have expressed interest in joining the Church.”

Gainer’s outreach

Parishioners and clergy alike credit Bishop Gainer for his outreach to communities within the diocese.

Gainer was the only bishop in Pennsylvania to conduct a listening tour.  

“I think that Bishop Gainer demonstrated during these sessions his commitment to healing for survivors and for caring for his people,” Lease said.

Wilke and Hoke attended Gainer’s listening session in Berwick in March.

“It was an important occasion for Bishop Gainer to hear the concerns of the people, to respond to questions about the current state of the Church, and to receive comments about the future of the Church,” said Wilke.  

The listening sessions are a clear sign that Bishop Gainer is engaged in the continuing process of improving the Church, Wilke added. “Making it a safe place for every person to encounter Jesus Christ through the proclamation of the Gospel, the Sacraments of the Church, and the Teachings of the Church; also, the listening tour expressed Bishop Gainer’s leadership in assisting with the healing process for anyone who has been hurt by a member of the Church or whose faith has been shaken due to this scandal.”  

Berwick was like Custer’s Last Stand, Hoke said.

“There was a lot of emotion. A lot of anger vented,” he said. “A man who claims to have been abused came all the way from Philadelphia. He said, ‘They don’t do things like this in other dioceses.’ I admire Bishop Gainer. I don’t think anyone can say he has done a perfect job, but I think he has done an exceptionally good job. He continues to take and answer questions.

“It is an extremely difficult time for any bishop. But I believe he has been very sincere. He was not part of this cover up but he has to suffer the consequences of what other bishops have done. I think he has handled it very well.”   

Asked if the Church has done enough, with its compensation fund, defrocking of priests and the new policies and individuals put in place, Lease said vigilance must be a priority.

“I don’t know if we can ever do enough,” he said, “but we can do our best. Our youth protection policies provide safe environments for minors, our mandatory reporting policies turn investigation over to appropriate civil authorities, and we provide safe environment training for youth and adults.”