Dear Parishioners, 

Items in the news of particular concern to a Catholic  parish community must include the clergy abuse crisis  and the way it’s being handled, the Obama health care  plan and the divide between Catholic leaders for  support or non support, and the continuing  investigation of our American Catholic Nuns. While  this weekend we celebrate and highlight the many  vibrant ministries in our parish life and invite you to  visit with and become part of them, we also need to be  aware of ministry and issues beyond our parish and  even national boundaries. To be comprehensive and  fair, I’ll limit myself to just one of these issues at a  time in subsequent bulletins. As always, I invite your  feedback, reaction and corrections. 

The clergy abuse scandal. The first thing is  to admit and deeply regret that abuse of minors by  clergy clearly took place and went greatly undetected  and unprevented. How could such a thing happen, so  widespread and for so long? Statistics which show that  sexual abuse is no more common among Catholic  clergy than among the general population or not  nearly as common as among family members is no  defense whatsoever. That’s just one form of denial of  which there has been more than enough already. 

Denial – Let me share a personal experience.  I was on the job as Diocesan Chancellor in 1970 for  less than one full day(!) when I received an accusation  of clergy abuse – by an 8th grade student about the  parish priest and his 4th grade sister. What did I do?  Within 24 hours I arrived at the family home along  with our Diocesan attorney to interview children and  family. The parents assured me that the children had  made it up as a joke; the 8th grader admitted it was all a  joke; the 4th grader told us nothing had ever happened.  End of case - till the real truth came out years later.  What I should have done was to insist on further  separate interviews and checked with parish staff and  possible other witnesses; but the family was in denial  that such a thing could ever happen and to some  extent I was too. When the now famous Steve Kiesle  case took place in 1978, civil and criminal action was  taken immediately; Fr. Kiesle was permanently  removed from any assignment and ministry at once.  Looking back, I am astonished that the highly  publicized crime was ruled as only a misdemeanor with  no jail time served. Perhaps our courts and community  were in denial too. Finally, while the U.S. Bishops  have taken a proactive stand to detect  and prevent future abuses, no one has ever stepped  down as accountable for what has taken place on their  watch. 

What we have done. The Bishops have  agreed to a “zero tolerance” policy when it comes to  clergy abuse; safeguards have been put in place which  include mandatory safe environment training,  “Megan’s Law” checks for all ministries and ministers  from clergy staff to Eucharistic ministers and choir  members; fingerprint checks are mandatory for all  staff members and employees; victim assistance  programs have been put in place and under the  leadership of Sr. Barbara Flannery the Diocese of  Oakland established the nation’s first outreach  program to survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Now the  abuse crisis has surfaced far beyond our U.S. borders.  There have been several bishop’s resignations because  of the admitted mishandling of cases; there has been  admission that this is not just a U.S. or English  speaking problem; there has been public and repeated  invitations for survivors to step forward and the  Vatican newspaper has suggested that had women been  in positions of authority and decision making much of  this would not have been allowed. 

Role of the Pope. Personally (and waiting to  be proved wrong) I don’t believe Pope Benedict (or  Cardinal Ratzinger) had any direct knowledge or  involvement in handling cases. The Steve Kiesle letter  was just a matter of routinely enforcing Pope John  Paul’s policy of refusing requests for a laicization until  the petitioner was elderly, frail and hoping for Last  Rites and Christian burial! In other cases Cardinal  Ratzinger sought stronger measures and as Pope  Benedict has taken them. 

A Word of thanks. Still the “Vatican’s” first  reaction through papal preacher and highly placed  Cardinal was to attack the media for spreading “petty  gossip”. Such reactions serve neither survivors nor the  Church; we should have learned better long ago. More  appropriate is the statement of the former Master  General of the Dominican Order who writes, “We owe  a debt of gratitude to the press for its insistence that  the Church face its failures. If it had not been for the  media, then this shameful abuse might have remained  unaddressed”. 

Your Pastor,
Brian T. Joyce