Philadelphia Archdiocese fulfills obligations in sex-scandal case
http://goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...WS06/101050294
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Given the scandals of the past few years, how well has Catholicism survived? More specifically, how well has the local church survived?

I am not Catholic, nor do I claim to speak on behalf of my Catholic brothers and sisters. However, I can say that I have heard from Catholic friends and even clergy that the scandals have had a very destructive effect on the overall morale of congregants, and their level of trust of their Diocesan leaders.

The measures outlined in the article (such as background checks, training, etc) are long overdue and have been implemented in other faith traditions already for many years.

They will recover and come back strong, but I believe that the whole sex abuse scandal has been a devastating blow to the Catholic church, and also to public regard for clergy in general.

I am a clergy person, and I was greatly disappointed to hear of how these alleged incidents were handled and the alleged offenders were harbored and protected, unlike the children they abused and robbed of their innocence.

Lord help us all! May we all lift this situation, and the integrity of our leaders up in our prayers.

Peace,

J

John,

As a church leader, how would you handle something like this if it happened within your church? Also, how would you concil someone who has been victimized in this way and help them to feel comfortable to truxt a church and minister again?

My apologies for the delayed response Steve- just checked back on this post.

You raise a couple of very important questions.

Sexual abuse of any kind is tremendously psychologically damaging under any circumstances, but when it happens in a church, synagogue or other religious congregation- it is especially damaging.

Why? Because people who attend or are involved with a congregation and the leaders there place their trust in them as spiritual leaders and role models. They go to them with their challenges, problems, crises and spiritual concerns, and people turn to clergy seeking guidance and support. That trust needs to be honored, respected and protected.

To betray that trust by abusing any parishioner, especially a child, is unconscionable and devastating. Not only does that erode that person's trust in clergy and their role models, AND leave them emotionally scarred, but it can also cause them to believe that even God has abandoned them- something no one should ever have to feel.

As a clergyperson myself, I seek to take every step possible to ensure that no abuse occurs in our congregation. I ask that all of our volunteers who work with children get an ACT 34 clearance completed- that is a statewide check of a person's record to be sure there are no reported cases of abuse or crime against minors.

Secondly, I work closely to see that no one adult is ever alone with a child unsupervised- there are always helpers or at least one other adult present to maintain accountability, and protect against a child possibly falsely accusing a leader of abuse.

I have spoken with people who have been abused- either by a family member, boyfriend, spouse or a leader, but I always seek to refer persons needing specialized counseling to either a pastoral counselor specially trained in this area, and/or a psychologist who can offer intensive counseling. There are also a host of support groups available for victims of abuse, including adults who were abused as children, and are still dealing with the trauma of the abuse.

I think it is tragic that a small percentage of abusive clergypersons have so seriously shaken the trust and regard of the American public, AND that so many people have been psychologically scarred by this abuse.

As we know though, trust cannot be assumed, it needs to be earned- one person, one relationship at a time.

Peace,

John

I'm Catholic.

Yes, it has had an impact on how people view the Church.

First, from the perspective of the average church-goer, which is what I consider myself to be ... the thought that someone I love, potentially in their time of need or personal development, who turns to the Church for guidance and support, could ever be subjected to something of that nature in a setting meant to uplift and empower is ... well ... unthinkable. I'm not going there. I may say something I regret.

Is that likely to happen? No. But the fact that it's out there is tough to swallow at the Joe Q. Public level, and tests the resolve of people, parents, leaders in continuing to refer people to religion as a source for strength.

Second, from that of the clergy: Imagine, saying Mass every week, and looking out at a sea of faces shrouded in complete doubt and cynicism - that was the case even before all of this happened! Imagine representing the 98 percent, or whatever the number is, of those priests who are NOT involved in this ... trying to regain trust on a level that can not be described in any other way than grass roots, when the BIG media out there is reporting on this on every channel each and every day, sometimes 24/7. What an unimaginable challenge.

Imagine the level of belief a priest must have had to have in humanity, in God, in the future to be able to be able to face an already cynical public in the days following all of these revelations. Imagine, being a seminarian, learning the 'trade' so to speak ... and all of this is happening.

What an unimaginable test of faith.

I'm still in the game. I believe it was a few bad apples, so to speak, and I think the Church is handling them. I also think that people are more empowered than ever to speak out when they're taken advantage of - something that I think most would agree is a true change of temperment in the Church.

I like my religion. Do I question it? Of course, but that's because I'm a smart person. That doesn't mean I'm walking away.

I see no reason to panic about all of this, I think the Church will become stronger - like anyone with a problem they confront and move beyond.

A bit more human, a bit more real - and all the more reason to stick with it, as far as I'm concerned.

__________________
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Jennifer,

I applaud your courage and candor. You are right- there is only a very small percentage of clergy who have committed the misconduct, but denominational leaders are right in insisting on a zero tolerance policy for the very reasons you mentioned, in addition to the liability issue which is a whole other can of worms.

You mentioned about questioning your faith- I believe that God wants us to ask the hard questions, and not blindly follow or believe without first investigating the claims of truth.

Misconduct is not something that is unique to the Catholic church either- every denomination or religious group has had it occur in one form or another; so I believe it is inaccurate and unfair to assert that this problem is one that is unique to the Catholic church.

My colleagues in the Catholic church- the priests, nuns, and parishioners whom I am friends with have told me that the scandal and all the negative media attention has had a negative effect on morale, and have blown everything out of proportion.

As you also said, it must be a tremendous test of faith for those leaders who have to deal with all the negative publicity and lowered morale/ loss of trust that this whole thing has brought about.

I pray for healing for the church, and for interfaith understanding and cooperation every day. There are a lot of barriers in this world to having faith, but then again that is part of what faith is all about isn't it- following our beliefs, and what we know in our hearts is right, even though we cannot prove that it is right?

Anyway, I am beginning to wax philosophical here so I better wrap this up, but I hope we will all continue to ask the hard questions and pray for unity and spiritual healing.

Peace,

John

What was unique about the abuse scandal in the Catholic church was the years of tolerance and cover-up by church leaders. In a church where issues of faith and governance are strictly top-down, abusive priests were shuffled from parish to parish, given minimal or no treatment or punishment, put back in situations where they worked with children and abused again. The scandal was not so much about the individual abusers as it was about people *very* high up in the hierarchy who sought to deny the problem and cover it up. When you have bad apples like those in positions of power, the situation is much more grave.

I don't think there are many other denominations where a clergy person could abuse children, be accused and found guilty, and then be sent to another position and allowed to abuse again. Even fewer where that cycle could repeat itself three, four or more times, resulting in dozens of children having been abused by one priest in a series of placements.

Indeed, the Catholic church has made important strides, and it sounds like the Philadelphia Archdiocese in particular has been successful in implementing reforms. But I worry that when people begin to dismiss what happened as having been about a few bad apples or suggesting that misconduct such as this could occur in any church that the guard has already begun to drop, and church leaders are not being watched as closely and held accountable by the laity.

Certainly there will be more abuses by priests, and although the church cannot shirk its responsibility to try and prevent that, it can't foster the expectation that no priest will ever abuse again. The assurance that it must offer is that no priest will ever be allowed to abuse more than once if they are reported.

__________________
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<<Indeed, the Catholic church has made important strides, and it sounds like the Philadelphia Archdiocese in particular has been successful in implementing reforms. But I worry that when people begin to dismiss what happened as having been about a few bad apples or suggesting that misconduct such as this could occur in any church that the guard has already begun to drop, and church leaders are not being watched as closely and held accountable by the laity. >>

I don't think saying this concerns a very few priests is 'dismissive' - it's accurate and statistically provable, as is saying it could happen in any denomination.

The Church has made strides, but the challenge I believe is less in 'cleaning house', which can be done quickly and easily once bad things are exposed - certainly those people who have committed these crimes cannot be kept on. The challenge - and where more strides need to be made - is in regaining public trust, and that takes time.

__________________
* Name: Jennifer Kronstain
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* Job: Principal / Founder, KMG Worldwide Public Relations (http://www.kronstainmediagroup.com)
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The only way anything can be done to priests is if osmeone actually writes letters and opens thier moluths and I am so glad people finally did. My grandparents belong to a church in Port Richmond where thier Monsignor is an A-1 *******. He has singlehandedly drive out 25% of the parishoners and thinks that by closing St. George, a smaller parish, that he can take in all the schoolkids he is losing and pick up more parishoners. He also lied to cousin about wedding plans and humiliated my cousin who wanted to become a priest (last time I checked, you don't do that. If I told you what he said to my cousin, your hair would curl) and actually said to a 6th grader who he *thought* was misbehaving "what? doncha have any hair on your balls?". I won't even go into what he said to my grandpop about my babci. But my then 75 year old pop almost punched him in the face. Out of all those things that happened, only one person wrote a letter and some ******* named Rev. Beach wrote back and basically called my aunt a liar because he talked to the Pastor and of course he denied everything.

So what is the ppoint of this post? Priests get away with all kinds of stuff and unless you make a fuss, no one will make any effort to validate your claims. I can only imagine what a fuss those abuse victims had to make for anyone to listen to them.

I was raised catholic (catholic school for grades k to 8. My mom almost cried when I didn't go ot Nazareth Academy for HS) but this just sickens me. How come no one is being charged with obstruction of justice? What I was always taught was that priests are people like you and me, so why not treat them like it? This includes prosecuting them if they break the law.

The scandal has definately shaken alot of people's faith, but unfortunately alot of people still have that "it couldn't happen here" attitude, or even worse, the "those people who accuse priests are liars and want money" attitude. It is kind of scarey how dillusional some people can be.

The people I feel bad for are the good clergy, who don't break the rules and just want to help. See Father Ron at Roman Catholic HS as a prime example. Just a good guy helping kids who happens to be a priest. Thjose guys will never get looked at the same again, ever.

BTW, the clergy guy above who requests child abuse forms and that kids are never alone with adults is absolutely correct. When I taught grade school, that was pounded into my head to never, ever be alone with a kid.

__________________
John Street Sucks. Duh.
STARSKREAM

I think both perspectives recently voiced have definite validity with this whole tragic situation:

-yes, abuse does happen occasionally, sadly, in all denominations, but I would also agree that most denominations have been very strict, as they should be, about disciplining abusive clergy and reporting them to authorities when they have broken the law.

-however, I would also have to agree that there would clearly seem to be an intentional cover-up that had been taking place in a number of large Catholic dioceses that significantly delayed justice being done, and in some cases needed restitution and treatment being done also.


I can understand why ecclesiastical leaders would want to keep a scandal like this quiet, but to shelter serial child molesters, even if it is only 1% of all priests, is still tragic.

I hope that trust can be re-established and healing continues to occur.

I have personally been praying about this whole situation for a long time.

My heart grieves for all of my Catholic brothers and sisters who have been impacted by this.

And, as Martin Luther King, jr. said so eloquently, "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." In other words, this is something that also has grieved people of other denominations and even other faiths. I will continue to pray for healing, reconciliation and justice.

Peace,

John