UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 503 0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )
In a new interview, a top Vatican official (Fr. Robert Oliver from the Boston archdiocese) claims “procedures” must be “developed” to deal with bishops who enable or hide clergy sex crimes. That’s patently ridiculous.
Catholic officials quickly bring the hammer down on Catholic writers who write something they consider wrong or Catholic teacher who says something they consider wrong. Like most monarchs, Catholic officials don’t quibble over ‘procedures,’ they just exercise their nearly limitless power.
So to claim that now somehow there’s some suddenly uncovered and unspecified “procedure” deficit that prevents popes and bishops from quickly demoting or disciplining the proven wrongdoers (like Cardinal Bernard Law or Bishop Finn or Monsignor William Lynn) or credibly accused wrongdoers (like Archbishop Josef Wesolowski who accused of molesting several kids in Poland and the Caribbean or Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, who is accused of repeated sexual misconduct but is second-in-command of a diocese in Paraguay) is absurd at best or deceitful at worst.
Often, when Vatican wrongdoing is exposed (like the UN’s Committee Against Torture did today), church officials immediately ratchet up their promises to give the impression that they’re taking action. Fr. Oliver’s remarks are just the latest example of this old public relations trick.
But it often ends up showing that most Catholic officials are fixated much more on their reputations than on real reform.
Finally, Fr. Oliver conveniently calls Catholic officials who help predators and hurt kids “negligent.” That is deceptive too. Clergy sexual violence is covered by many or most priests and bishops willfully, not negligently. You’re negligent when harm happens because you’re careless. But you deliberately cause harm when you knowingly destroy evidence, shuffle molesters, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, fabricate alibis, stonewall prosecutors, and deceive police, as church officials have done for decades and still do today.
For more on this Vatican official:
[SNAP]
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