UNITED STATES
Catholic Philly
By Father Kenneth Doyle • Catholic News Service • Posted June 27, 2017
Q. My husband was brought up a Catholic and has always been very committed to the church. I am a convert, and we are raising all of our kids in the Catholic faith. Two of my sons (who are now young adults) and my husband have watched the Netflix series “The Keepers,” and I am deeply worried about the effect this may have on their faith.
My sons have started making negative comments about the church, and even my husband has said that the series’ portrayal of how the church systematically covered up abuse has made him not want to go to Mass. (Luckily, he further commented that the most important things are God and the sacraments, and so he will continue to attend.)
I hear a lot of other people talking about the series, too. How do I convince my children that they should still be proud to be Catholics? (Newport News, Virginia)
A. Since 2002, the Catholic Church in the United States has had a universal zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse of minors — meaning that any priest credibly accused of such an act can never again be permitted to serve in public ministry.
“The Keepers,” to which the question refers, is a seven-part 2017 Netflix series based on the still-unsolved 1969 murder of a Catholic nun in Baltimore. The series examines the theory that Sister Catherine Cesnik was killed because she knew that the chaplain at her school, Father Joseph Maskell, had sexually abused students — and that civil and church authorities interfered with the criminal investigation in order to cover up that connection.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has issued a response entitled “Frequently Asked Questions Based on ‘The Keepers’”; that document is available online at www.archbalt.org, and I recommend it to interested readers. It indicates that the archdiocese had no knowledge of any accusation against Father Maskell until 1992 when an alleged victim came forward.
That person was encouraged to file a report with civil authorities, offered counseling assistance, and Father Maskell was removed from ministry and referred for evaluation and treatment. When the archdiocese was unable to corroborate the allegation, Father Maskell was returned to ministry the following year, but when additional accusers stepped forward in 1994, the priest was permanently prohibited from public ministry.
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