When Colm O’Gorman left home just after he turned 18 years old, he spent six months on the streets of Dublin homeless and wondering what he did wrong in life to be sexually abused by a Catholic priest for years. Now he’s only left with words to describe the agony of long ago, but the horror never left him.
Catholics filled with righteous anger over the vile behavior of the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, and Catholics determined to help reform the Church in order to cleanse the Church and prevent similar wickedness in the future, have something to learn from Rabbi Fackenheim. In our case, the lesson must be: Don’t give the Evil One victories.
Many of our Bishops in the United States have reflected wisely and well on the situation facing the Church in the United States concerning the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy. The Pennsylvania Grand Jury report detailing incidents is just the latest in a sad and shameful story.
In a forceful letter released just ahead of his Aug. 25-26 trip to Ireland, and just after the blistering Pennsylvania Grand Jury report on sex abuse crimes and cover-ups in six dioceses, Pope Francis wrote Monday “no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated.”
Although Pope Francis got credit from survivors for good intentions after a letter on Monday on the abuse crisis in which he confessed that the Church “showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them,” the overall reaction perhaps could be summarized as, “We’ve heard it all before.”
If Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington is forced to resign after last week’s Pennsylvania Grand Jury report raised questions over his handling of abuser priests while head of the Pittsburgh diocese, a leading victims’ advocate believes “many cardinals and bishops would also have to go.”
The Jesuit-run University of Scranton announced it was rescinding honorary degrees given to three former bishops of the Diocese of Scranton, and removing their names from buildings.
As I transition away from the Editor’s desk and into my new role with DeSales Media, I wish I had cheerier things to write about. Unfortunately, the clergy sex abuse scandal that has gripped the Church for so many years continues to haunt us.
It is with great sorrow that I address the horrific stories in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report detailing the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy.
Pope Francis has responded to new reports of clerical sexual abuse and the ecclesial cover-up of abuse. In an impassioned letter addressed to the whole People of God, he calls on the Church to be close to victims in solidarity and to join in acts of prayer and fasting in penance for such “atrocities”.
