Patheos blog
February 18, 2019
By Pat McNamara
This past Friday, my home diocese of Brooklyn released the names of 108 men accused of sexual abuse through the years. Two were stationed in my home parish, at the same time, when I was young. One was eventually sent to Canada, for health reasons, we were told. The other was just reassigned. Both have been laicized, and one has passed away. Personally, I’ve been struggling with my feelings on this. I have a great love both for my diocese and the Brooklyn presbyterate, but you can’t defend the indefensible.
Let me make it clear– this is not a problem confined to Brooklyn, but applies to every diocese in the country. Nor is it a problem confined to one faith tradition. It’s also true of schools and secular institutions dedicated to the care of the young. It’s not just a Catholic problem– it’s a human problem. But as Catholics, the sex abuse crisis has affected us deeply, and we need to talk about that.
Victims live with shame. I wasn’t subject to clerical abuse, but at thirteen I was molested by a neighbor I trusted. It only happened once, but once was enough to generate shame, self-doubt, anger, fear, and resentment. In 1981, you still couldn’t talk openly about this. You just carried it around inside and make sure nobody found out. So I do have some idea of what victims of priestly abuse have experienced. Thank God I talked to a high school counselor who helped me see it wasn’t my fault, and that nothing was “wrong” with me.
From the 1930’s through the early 1960’s, many large dioceses ordained 30-35 men a year on average. The overwhelming majority turned out to be good, loving men, on call 24/7 for the people they served. But the fact is some men should never have been ordained. Some acted out their sexuality in a way harmful to others, especially the young. They relied on the fact that nobody would believe a priest could do something so vile.
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