UNITED STATES
Austin Daily Herald
By Wallace Alcorn
Two names from Pennsylvania in recent news coverage should shamefully remind us of the same lesson, which is terribly important to learn and use. The names are the late Joe Paterno, who had retired as Penn State’s head football coach, and the other is Father William Lynn, former aide to the Roman Catholic archbishop in Philadelphia. Whatever value there may be in protecting an institution from scandal, the overwhelming goal is to care for the needs of victims of sexual misconduct and help them recover.
Both men are guilty without either themselves perpetrating any sexual offense. The offense is protecting perpetrators — and thereby their institutions — when the concern should have been hurrying to the aid of their victims and helping them recover from abuse for which they had responsibility. While we must be fair even with perpetrators and avoid vindictiveness, our overwhelming concern must be the welfare of victims. Whatever aid and support is due to offenders, it must not be at the cost of the victims. Yet, this appears to be the single most serious and frequent reason offenders have been getting away with their behavior and victimizing yet others.
Through the years, I have been called in by Protestant churches of different denominations to consult when their pastor has become guilty of sexual misconduct. In listening to their lay leaders, I have accumulated most unpleasant data about the frequency and seriousness of this tragedy. It has not only deeply hurt the victims as well as the clergy, it has inflicted harm on the churches from which some may never recover.
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