Since 2002 Msgr Scicluna has been investigating cases of sexual abuse for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, at first under Cardinal Ratzinger. Scicluna gathered the evidence against Maciel and spoke to numerous victims, They and Jason Barry have a high opinion of his honesty, sincerity, and sympathy.
Like all the others – Jason Barry, Tom Doyle, Richard Sipe, myself – who began looking into sexual abuse in the Church, he had no idea of what he was getting into or how it would change his life.
When the question about what it had meant in terms of his life path, to be involved in these huge scandals, is asked, his face turns serious: “I understood that the Church did not crumble, despite these scandals, and this is precisely because its foundations are supernatural. There is no other way to explain it.”
Some seek to minimize the effects of abuse or to compare it to abuse by a coach or teacher.
Scicluma used strong words to underline the fact that violence shown towards minors by clergymen constitutes “an abuse of spiritual power”. “Yes, it is true – adds the Maltese prelate – there is a specific difference between repeated abuse by a lay person and that carried out by a priest, on victims that expect to see in them the figure of the “good shepherd”. Scicluna’s face darkens and he looks saddened. “If a priest commits the abuse, the trauma caused to the victim is even deeper, the spiritual trust that existed is destroyed and a person’s faith is lost.”
We ask the “promoter of justice” whether the change in mentality that Benedict XVI has asked for, is taking root in the Church. “I believe – he says in a faint voice – that a change in mentality is only possible for those who have the courage to meet the victims of abuse, to welcome them and to listen to their stories. If this does not happen, one may have read up on every detail of the scandal, be fully prepared, but that person will not be able to fully comprehend the trauma that these immense sins cause. The reaction and anger expressed by the victims of priests is unlike that found in any other type of case, because it comes from deep within the soul”.
Scicluna seems to suspect and fear that the bishops still don’t get it, but hopes they will.
For this reason, reveals Scicluna, the bishops that will be participating in the seminar in February 2012 will need to have met with the victims of paedophile priests in their respective countries, prior to attending. “It is a traumatic experience that is life changing, as in my case. Thanks to God, to the strict laws that are in place and to the development of a new conscience, these cases have decreased dramatically compared to previous years. We need to continue to support the victims who have for so long been seen as “threats” to the good name of the Church, instead of being treated as individuals who have been wounded in their innermost soul. We need to welcome and help these victims ensuring above all that the traumatic experiences they have been through are not repeated”.
I am less hopeful – it will take a massive shock, far greater than the ones we have experienced, to change the hearts of the clerical careerists who infest – perhaps dominate – the hierarchy of the Church.
What might such a massive shock look like. I can’t imagine any greater than we have had.
Maybe we need a useful Marian apparition which addresses itself to the precise issue precisely?
Caroline, if the Church needs a Marian apparition to do the right thing, then the Church is in far deeper trouble than anybody imagines.
The problem, as I have said, is that for centuries, hierarchs have behaved with a fundamental sense of entitlement and manifested profound institutional arrogance. Unless they repent, nothing will change.
I am so glad to be out of the RCC.
Here’s a shock that I think is possible. In response to the Irish government, the Vatican fail to adequately explain their stance/policy/actions. Irish government is fed up enough to break diplomatic ties with the Vatican. Once one country does it, other countries will do it. No more diplomatic corps. No more politically shaped power.
“I am so glad to be out of the RCC.”
Your soul is in DANGER!!!
Molly, nothing is stopping the Irish government from doing that now. Besides, nations maintain diplomatic relations with other nations for various reasons. The United States maintained an embassy in the USSR since FDR’s presidency, despite the fact that the ideologies guiding both nations were (and are) fundamentally irreconcilable. National interest dictates which entites receive ambassadors and which don’t.
No, Tony, it’s not, but thanks for your concern. the Catholic Church has placed itself above God. My faith is in Jesus Christ and His word in Scripture.
Tony, leaving the RCC doesn’t equal rejecting God or His Son, as long as one remains a Christian. Christ did not die to found an institution, as many Catholics mistakenly believe. Christ died to atone for human sin and to redeem those who embrace His sacrifice as their own. While Catholics believe that, such theology isn’t really taught with any intensity in the Church, anymore.
Well, Joseph, that’s an odd thing to say since it is taught in the prayers that are said at every Mass.
btw, as terrible as this all is, it is, sadly, nothing new. People in positions of power, whether financial, spiritual or anything else will do horrible egregious things and betray the people in their charge. It hasn’t gone on for centuries; it’s gone on forever, and will until the Second Coming. We must always be vigilant because that reality will NEVER change.
Thomas, it might be said at the prayers in every Mass but how many Catholics actually believe those prayers? How many understand, let alone believe, the theology behind them? In fact, how many believe in the Real Presence, these days?
Well, now you are shifting your argument. The fact is, it IS taught in the Catholic Church, and I just returned from Mass where the priest focused his homily on having faith in a person, namely Jesus Christ.
Yes, you will find more dynamic preaching in many evangelical churches. Believe me, I know- I am the son of a Baptist preacher. And there are many reasons for that dynamism, some good and some not. But I think it is totally false to say that the Catholic Church does not preach Christ, and Him crucified for our salvation.
Thomas, I never said that the Church doesn’t preach “Christ and Him crucified for salvation.” I said that “such theology really isn’t taught with any intensity anymore.” My questions about whether Catholics as a whole actually believe that, or whether they even believe in the Real Presence (a substantial plurality these days don’t) reflect that point.
Next time you criticize my opinions, have the humility to read what I actually said, not what your defensiveness interprets.
Preaching is teaching, my friend. But we are simply speaking past at each other, so I’ll stop at this point.
It is a nicety, I suppose, that some decent men believe Monsignor Scicluna to be on the up and up, but it’s difficult to swallow. Scicluna works for men who have absolute power to punish bishops who covered up for pedophile priests, the same curial men who insured that more children would be devastated because of their their negligence: Ratzinger, Levada, etc. etc. etc.
Does Scicluna remain silent when Cardinal Law is honored by prancing around on basilica altars?
Monsignor Scicluna might be the best they got, but it isn’t saying much.
AW