UNITED STATES
The American Conservative
October 8, 2018
By Rod Dreher
I am a supporter of Courage, the Catholic ministry to same-sex attracted men and women who wish to live faithful to the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexuality (that is, they seek to be chaste). So it’s a hard blow to read Crux’s report today about the role Courage’s beloved founder, the late Father John Harvey, played in advocating the restoration of abusive priests to ministry. Excerpts:
In a 1992 article in Crisis, a conservative magazine, Harvey described the arguments he had offered at the Ninth Bishops’ Workshop in Dallas in 1990. Harvey argued that priests who sexually abused minors often did so because of sexual addiction, and therefore guilt could not be imputed. On that basis, he claimed bishops could not impose canonical penalties.
Instead, he argued, most should be rehabilitated and returned to ministry. While he went on to note that there should be certain conditions, such as barring participation in overseeing youth ministry, he criticized bishops for a double standard in not treating abuser priests the same way as they often treat alcoholics or drug addicts, who are generally sent to rehab and then put back in the field.
In the article, he criticized bishops moving toward a zero-tolerance policy.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.