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  A Sign of Hope for Sex Abuse Victims

By Jason Berry
International Herald Tribune
April 25, 2005

Historians will debate why the politically visionary Pope John Paul II, who was well briefed by many bishops on the sex abuse scandals that erupted in 1993, stood passive, offering minimal leadership as criminal and civil actions mounted around the world. And they may yet be surprised by Pope Benedict XVI: If he stays true to his moral absolutism, the Vatican could take a stronger stance against priests who have molested children.

The notorious case of the Reverend Marcial Maciel Degollado, a powerful Mexican priest who founded his own order and lives in its seminary in Rome, suggests that the pope's approach to this issue may be evolving. While the case is yet to be decided and all legal proceedings are secret, it may offer some hope to victims of abuse looking for a change in Vatican policy under Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

In 1998, when Ratzinger was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a legal tribunal of the congregation accepted a case by nine seminarians who accused Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, of sexual assault. The allegations, which stretch back to the 1960s, have been presented to the Vatican on several occasions. The response has always been silence. Initially, Ratzinger as well failed to respond; in 1999 he shelved the case, later telling a Mexican bishop that it was not "prudent" to proceed against a man who had helped the church by attracting young men to the priesthood.

Late last year, however, even as John Paul praised Maciel, Ratzinger quietly reopened the case, dispatching Monsignor Charles Scicluna, a canon lawyer on his staff, to investigate the charges. Scicluna is not allowed to speak publicly about his work. The men who charged Maciel, who have spoken to reporters in the past, also agreed not to speak about his investigation.

How long will the world have to wait for a verdict in the Maciel case? In the meantime, it may be useful to ask another question: Why did Ratzinger reopen the case?

Foreseeing that he might become pope, perhaps he realized that the Maciel scandal would tarnish him. Or perhaps there is a deeper reason: Ratzinger, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, knew more about the crisis than anyone in the Roman Curia; all requests to defrock priests were sent to his office. As a theologian of fundamentalist convictions, he may have felt he had to confront a crisis tearing at the central nervous system of the church.

"How much filth there is in the church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely" to God, he said on Good Friday services last month in Rome. He later likened the church to "a boat about to sink, taking in water on every side."

Those are remarkable words from a theologian who considers the church as the seat of divine truth. Ratzinger wielded a strong hand in silencing or disciplining theologians deemed errant. His comments on Good Friday suggest he has an emerging sense of how seriously this crisis threatens the church, by contradicting the mystery of faith as espoused by ecclesiastical authority. This crisis is an epic challenge to Benedict's papacy.

The lay reform group Voice of the Faithful has renewed a call it first made to John Paul, asking Benedict to meet with an international delegation of abuse survivors. That would be a great act by the pope to promote healing - and introspection at the Vatican. The pope should also make permanent the American bishops' 2002 youth protection charter, which was due to expire last month and has been only temporarily extended. He should also make it apply to all priests, not just those in the United States.

In the past Benedict has attributed the sexual abuse scandal to "a planned campaign" by the news media "to discredit the church." Yet he has also urged bishops not to be afraid to confront Catholics "with the authority of the truth."

In the case of Maciel, and the larger crisis of which he is a symbol, Pope Benedict XVI must move forcefully in the tradition of St. Augustine: "Justice is that virtue which gives everyone his due."

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(Jason Berry is a co-author of ‘‘Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II.’’)
 
 

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