Learning from the McCarrick report

By Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Catholic Spirit - Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
December 03, 2020

https://thecatholicspirit.com/only-jesus/learning-from-the-mccarrick-report/

Archbishop Bernard Hebda

While the diocese of Gaylord has been described as a pine-scented Eden, it presented me with a steep learning curve. The Lord manifested his goodness, however, in giving me a very patient flock. I had initially worried about the weighty responsibility of passing on the teaching of the apostles, and leading the Church liturgically, but I soon learned that a bishop in the United States is challenged in multiple areas: leadership, governance and administration.

I had been out of the country and working in Rome when the Church in the United States was rocked by the abuse crisis of 2002, so the Dallas Charter had not really been an everyday, lived reality for me before I came home to serve as the bishop of Gaylord. I knew, however, that the diocesan protocols prompted by the Charter and the related Essential Norms would have to be meticulously followed in any case where the allegation was that a minor had been hurt. As a young, inexperienced bishop, I prayed fervently that I would never be presented with an allegation involving someone under 18. And God was good to me. Yet, I have learned over these last 11 years that the abuse crisis has been, and will continue to be, a lived reality throughout the United States and across the globe.

The recently released McCarrick report reminds us of a reality that has become increasingly apparent to me in the last 11 years: Abuse is insidious regardless of the age of the victim. My heart aches not only for those abused as children, but also for the seminarians and priests, all adults, who felt powerless to come forward to report the abuse they had sustained, or didn’t trust that a bishop or cardinal would be held accountable. My heart aches as well for the women and men who have come forward over the years to present to me similar accounts of abusive behavior that they sustained as adults. I’m embarrassed and ashamed when I think back to situations early on when I failed to acknowledge the depth of the harm, or at times mistakenly apportioned some blame to those making the allegations merely because of their age. While canon law and some civil laws may treat adults differently than minors, our Church is not going to be healed until we get this right.

I’m grateful in this archdiocese that Paula Kaempffer, our Outreach Coordinator for Restorative Justice and Abuse Prevention, has been including in her programming those who have been harmed as adults.

I’m similarly appreciative that our Office for Ministerial Standards, in collaboration with the Title IX officer from the University of St. Thomas and the faculty at our two seminaries, has been educating our seminarians to recognize situations of abuse and instructing them on how they could safely report any abuse that they have experienced. I’m thankful as well to Victoria Johnson, the archdiocesan ombudsperson, for her willingness to be an independent advocate for all survivors, regardless of the age when abuse occurred.

From now until Christmas, our Advent wreaths will be ablaze to remind us of the light that Jesus has brought into an otherwise dark world. In this holy season, may Christ continue to bring to the light all that needs to be reformed, all that is in need of conversion, and all that needs to be healed. May the Light of Christ, indeed, be our hope, and teach us to be a Church of light.