MANILA (PHILIPPINES)
Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
August 22, 2023
By Fr Shay Cullen
Love of neighbor, if genuine, will drive us to be involved and act for justice
The power of real Christian faith in a person is that it motivates the believer in Jesus of Nazareth and his words to take action to help the downtrodden, to protect, empower, strengthen and enlighten the weak, stand with sexually abused children, support them and work for justice.
That faith, empowered by the belief that goodness, the love of justice, service to the poor, and care for the needy, will overcome and defeat evil and wrongdoing, and will bring healing and justice to the victims of sexual abuse.
While all good Christians oppose the crimes against children, they may feel helpless about how they should respond and find the correct action to bring an end to the abuse and find healing for the child victims.
This is where Christian communities must stand together and find a strong united voice rooted in the Gospel to condemn the abuse of children. They must take to social media, radio and television and print media to explain what is happening in the world and how abuse is spreading on the Internet and through sex tourism.
Laypeople and church leaders with good hearts must voice their intolerance and their Christian denunciation of inaction against the evil of child abuse.
Church authorities and bishops are too often silent and tolerant of pedophile priests. Too few church leaders campaign and speak out and act against the evil of child abuse. Many cover up the abuse and shelter the accused and pay off victims and their families.
The bishops should be prophetic and follow the examples of Jesus of Nazareth when he said the abuser of children should have a millstone tied around his neck and he be thrown into the deep sea (Matthew 18:6).
Every Christian should trust in the Spirit to guide and empower them to challenge authorities that tolerate sex tourism and child abuse.
They can defend child rights and campaign for stronger laws to protect children.
Preventive education is essential so public speakers must hold training seminars for teachers, social workers and other government officials.
The clergy must preach about the suffering of the victims of this horrific crime and encourage all to report abuse and support their pursuit of justice.
Lay people must be prophets of prevention. They must speak against the corruption in government and hypocrisy in the Institutional Church as did Jesus against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They can voice their support for victims and give them protection and help.
They can support all that Pope Francis is trying to do to stop clerical child abuse and bring abusers to accountability.
They must challenge, too, the inaction by law enforcers and make a call for support and meaningful healing and empowerment of the abused children so they have the self-confidence to pursue legal action against their abusers and bring them to justice.
Pope Francis has said of child victims in his letter, To The People of God: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it (1 Cor 12:26). These words of Saint Paul forcefully echo in my heart as I acknowledge once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons. Crimes that inflict deep wounds of pain and powerlessness, primarily among the victims, but also in their family members alike. . . ”
They can be healed and be empowered to testify and convict their abuser through therapy. In the Preda home, they are empowered to testify clearly, and strongly to convince the judge to convict their abusers. Every year, on average, 18 child abusers are convicted. A victory for the judiciary too.
The true Christian and many non-Christians of good will have faith that goodness, love and action for justice will overcome evil. This is faith as Jesus taught it, belief driven by compassion and action to help the abused overcome the suffering and injustice.
That is the faith that the real followers of Jesus of Nazareth have and they are the true followers of Jesus among the People of God. For all to be true Christians, all must strive to have faith that drives us to action.
As St. James wrote, “Faith without action is dead.” Prayer is good, but if it does not motivate us to help others in need, it, too, is dead. Just empty words floating in the wind. If we fail to act and just think that going to church is enough to be a Christian, we are mistaken.
We allow apathy to rule us while surrounded by oppression, crimes against the poor and children and allow evil to thrive by doing nothing. It will gain us nothing. If so, then we are far from being a true disciples of Jesus of Nazareth. Love of neighbor, if genuine, will drive us to be involved and act with a love of justice.
There are hundreds of thousands of true Christians including good, spiritual and action-oriented priests and bishops and consecrated people that are striving for justice, truth and helping the needy in many different ways. They are truly dedicated and have a heart to serve and not count the cost. They work for the Gospel values and seek no reward.
We are blessed if we can be worthy to work with them, especially those that help the victims of child abuse, and be members of the Christian community working for justice to bring about a new community that lives with compassion and service to the poor.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.