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Abuse Survivors and Their Allies Remember Benedict’s Legacy: “Failed to Achieve,” “Words Rang Hollow,” “Never Once Contacted, Spoke To, or Apologized,” “Did Not Do Enough”
William D. Lindsey
And it’s not merely LGBT Catholics and their allies (I’m referring to my previous posting) who see Benedict’s legacy in decidedly more sober terms than do the leading luminaries who dominate the discourse at the center of the Catholic conversation: the same is true for Catholics who have survived childhood sexual abuse by clerics, and those who stand in solidarity with abuse survivors. Here’s a selection of statements from this group of important commentators:
Kristine Ward of National Survivor Advocates Coalition:
Pope Benedict made a sensible decision. It is evidence the papacy and the Church can change.
Let’s hope it is a signal of strength for the next pope to take the steps that the Church needs.
The Church is in bad shape and needs the tremendous power of the papacy to be used courageously and forcefully for good – starting with the sexual abuse crisis, the largest crisis the Church has faced in 500 years. . . .
And:
Pope Benedict should bar Cardinal Roger Mahony from entering the conclave. The Los Angeles documents are evidence enough that this high honor of voting for the next Pope should be withdrawn from him. There should be an empty chair to mark Mahony’s spot.
And:
The next pope should end corruption in the Church starting with a papal balcony announcement of the removal of criminally convicted Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Anne Barrett Doyle of Bishop Accountability:
Joseph Ratzinger leaves the papacy having failed to achieve what should have been his job one: to rectify the incalculable harm done to the hundreds of thousands of children sexually abused by Catholic priests. He leaves hundreds of culpable bishops in power and a culture of secrecy intact. . . .
Benedict’s words rang hollow. He spoke as a shocked bystander, as if he had just stumbled upon the abuse crisis. But more than anyone in the Vatican, he knew about the damage done to innocent children. As archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Ratzinger had allowed the transfer of accused priest Rev. Peter Hullermann, and certainly managed many other abuse cases as well. Since 1981, when he was named head of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith (CDF), he had been at the center of the Vatican’s abuse bureaucracy, reviewing many files and, unfortunately, implementing Pope John Paul II’s policy of not laicizing abusive priests. In Spring 2001, the Pope gave Cardinal Ratzinger and the CDF sole responsibility for abuse cases, and in that role, Cardinal Ratzinger read hundreds of files and became the Vatican’s most knowledgeable and powerful person on this issue.
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