Justice in truth and righteousness: My thoughts on the current crisis in the Church

Fr. Deogratias Ekisa S.T.D

August 31, 2018 

The events of these last few weeks and particularly the last few days in the Catholic Church have certainly been troubling for many Catholics.  Some friends have called or written to ask me what I make of it all.  Those who know me well know that I could never be accused of lacking an opinion about many things; but on this issue, I am stuck for words!  it has taken me days to reflect on and come up with thoughts containing any semblance of coherence, because it is truly disturbing and complex, and has many layers to it. 

The scandal of the abuse 

The way I see it, sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, especially of minors and vulnerable adults, is a scandal not only in the dictionary sense of "an action that brings disgrace," but especially in the Catholic Catechism sense of "an attitude or behaviour which leads another to do evil" (CCC 2284).  As Catholics we are ashamed by the actions of some in our number, especially because they are our spiritual leaders.  As Catholics we also join non-Catholics who are angry that these terrible deeds happened and that they were allowed to continue for many decades.  As Catholics we are certainly disillusioned. 

Of course our shame, anger and disillusionment pale in comparison to the pain of those who were physically and emotionally abused.  I have not read the Pennsylvania grand jury report because I was warned that it is heart-wrenching. I will take the word of those who have read it that it contains many horrible things committed by some clergy.  My tiny experience of that pain was listening to a victim of clerical sexual abuse, for whom I was playing the role of intermediary as she was in the process of reporting the matter to the diocesan authorities.  The story of this victim brought tears to my eyes, and all I could say to her was that I was sorry for what she went through, sorry for what my brother in the priesthood had done to her as a child.  As has been highlighted, the abuse was not only the physical and emotional sexual abuse, but also the impunity and even the opportunity to keep abusing, granted to the perpetrators, by their ecclesiastical superiors who had oversight over them, as well as by their peers and even subordinates who knew but did not speak up.

The work of the civil authorities who are handling the various cases, as well as the steps taken in recent years by the Church to be more on top of this issue, give me some hope that these sins will not be allowed to happen again.  A small good sign of this development is the much smaller number of abuses being reported as having been committed in the last decade, as compared to the previous ones, as well as the often decisive actions taken when they are reported.  Clearly even one more victim is one too many; and one more case of impunity that goes on to offend is one too many.  That is why the vigilance on the part of the civil authorities, as well as laity and clergy must never stop.  I am especially hopeful because this time round, unlike in past situations, we as Church and clergy are saying sorry, asking for forgiveness, and working towards making things better.  The Archbishop of New Orleans gave a good example of this changed attitude, during a special mass for healing and forgiveness.  Similarly I felt that Cardinal DiNardo's desire for a thorough investigation of what has happened in the past is commendable and should bear fruit.   In the Cardinal's own words, "The questions raised deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence. Without those answers, innocent men may be tainted by false accusation and the guilty may be left to repeat sins of the past."

The scandal raises questions 

Besides the pain of the victims of the abuse, and as a result of it, as well as all the recent revelations and allegations levelled against the hierarchy all the way to the Pope, we Catholics feel like the roof of the church building in which we are is collapsing on us and the walls of the building are crumbling all around us, the ship of Peter is sinking and we are in it. 

• Regarding the abuse, we are asking ourselves questions like, "How could so many priests do all those horrible things?  How can a whole bishop and cardinal do those terrible things?"  And in that second sense of scandal, we are led to wonder unfavourably, "Is my parish priest or bishop a paedophile?  Can I trust him around my kids? Who can I trust?" 
• Regarding the lack of justice for the victims, we are asking questions like, "How could the bishops have allowed those priests back in the parishes knowing what they had done?  How could they have believed that a paedophile can be cured?  Even more disturbing is the recent allegation by Archbishop Viganò that Pope Francis (and his predecessors, and other prelates) allowed Cardinal McCarrick to continue ministry despite knowing about his previous abuse of seminarians and priests, over whom, although not minors, he had a relationship of authority? 

People are asking themselves: What if those alleged things are proved to be true, and Pope Francis is forced to resign?  What will happen? What can I do?  Where can I go? Do I become Protestant?  Do I join the Orthodox Church?  And for us priests, do I leave the priesthood? 

The Scandal elicits anger 

Besides asking questions, many people are also angry; they are angry at the abusers, but also and especially at the hierarchy who allowed these things to happen.  According to the Catholic Moral Tradition, anger can be righteous, when its object is evil, as Jesus was angry when he saw the desecration happening in the temple (Jn. 2:13-16).  There is no doubt that what we are dealing with here is evil.  People are asking that those who have done wrong should be punished.  And as the Catechism puts it, such righteous anger is "praiseworthy to impose restitution to correct vices and maintain justice" (2302).  But such righteous anger cannot contain hatred or be a desire for revenge for its own sake. 

Unfortunately, some of the anger I am seeing and hearing seems to be of the latter kind.  And while I can understand where it is coming from, righteous anger loses its shine and in fact its soul, when it becomes a means for giving needless offence. Some in the media and social media, particularly in Catholic circles, are writing and talking about the current situation in an ugly manner, devoid of logic and justice, and filled with vitriol.  Historically the US Church, just like the rest of American society, has a venerable and robust tradition of debate, even challenging Rome, especially when Rome seems to be going astray.  But such debate and discussion in the Church has often followed the rules of civility, fairness and logic. 

But now these values seem to be in short supply.  The time-honoured legal principle of “innocent until proven guilty” not just for those accused clergy who would like to challenge the allegations in court, but even for all the bishops and the pope, has been jettisoned.  The whole episcopate and priesthood is being painted with the broad brush of abuse and/or cover-up.  Then there is the sport of leaping to conclusions without analysing the evidence, instead, finding easy solutions to what is a complex issue, and thus committing the "fallacy of causal oversimplification."  And then there is the well orchestrated movement gunning for Pope Francis personally, even before the accusations against him have been either proven or disproven. Some of the tactics being used, such as open letters, public petitions are more suited to party politics than the Body of Christ.  I have even seen calls for the return of the medieval English punishment for high treason – hanging, drawing and quartering – and other such punishments for anybody merely accused (and not necessarily guilty) of these crimes.   

In the past, such unfair and ugly tactics have been used by the secular world and other self-declared enemies of the Church, which, understandably, would use any ammunition to destroy the Church.  Today these ugly tactics are being used by certain Catholic media, Catholic laity, Catholic priests and bishops, in a vivid reminder "et tu Brute". What seems to unite them is a dislike for Pope Francis and his vision of the Church.  It seems to me that for them, righteous anger that seeks justice has been replaced by opportunistic anger that seeks to use this terrible situation to achieve the goal of regime-change; this observation is expressed better by the Ave Maria University President.  Righteous anger must not only stem from a desire for righteousness but must also be exercised in righteousness.  I submit that holding the perpetrators accountable and getting justice for the victims can be achieved without ignoring the basic principles of justice and logic, and certainly without the vitriol and additional injustice that is surrounding the whole debate. 

This unrighteous anger has four consequences, perhaps some of them unintended. 

• First, in muddling things up, the victims of the sexual abuse and the cover-up of the abuse itself are supplanted by tangential ecclesial tribal disputes in the Church, indirectly subverting the search for justice. 
• Secondly, this ugliness is giving scandal to Catholics and non-Catholics, besides the scandal of the abuse and cover-up, as they are seeing an ugliness in their brethren that has heretofore only been seen in the worst form of divisive party politics.  
• Thirdly, if all this pressure were to eventually force Pope Francis and the majority of the bishops to resign, whether guilty or not guilty, whether involved in the cover up or only tangentially involved, then we are creating a situation where the papacy and the hierarchy are a ping pong ball being played by the two main ideological camps in the Church.  Regime-change, will no longer be the work of the Holy Spirit, but the work of whichever side can muster enough forces to have its way.  The length of a pontificate will be as long as that of the recent Australian premierships and the change of pontificates will be similar to the change of regime in Animal Farm.
• Finally, for the aggressive secular atheists, Christmas this year has come early, since others are doing their work of destroying the Church for them.  As a Luganda saying aptly puts it, "Ky'obadde oyagaliza embazzi, kibuyaga asudde" (meaning– the large tree which you were preparing to cut down with an axe [a fairly arduous task] has now been felled by a storm [in one fell swoop], saving you the trouble). 

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What are we to do? 

It is particularly in the middle of crisis, that as Christians we must be our best selves, that we must dig deeper into the reserves of faith, hope and charity that God generously gives us. 

Our faith tells us that God is always faithful and that his Church will survive, especially because the truth, which always leads to justice will prevail.  Just as in the past, when Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were harangued by people of the opposite ideological group, regarding their handling of sexual abuse, we will survive.  The faith that many Catholics have not only in God but in their Church, albeit a Church that has sinful members and leaders, will carry us through.  

Our hope for continued purification and renewal in the Church has the firm foundation of knowing that these three scandals, the abuse, the cover-up and the ugly discourse, can ever triumph over the love and faithfulness of God to his people; never have and never will.  And clearly the signs of change, including the righteous anger of God's people will certainly bring about change. 

But most of all, our love for God and our neighbour should inspire us to do something ourselves.  We must in humility pray for forgiveness for the sins of the human side of the Church.  We must pray for the victims of abuse.  We must also pray for the conversion of the abusers, the necessary precursor for their forgiveness by God.  We must pray for our priests and bishops, and especially for the Holy Father, that they remain steadfast and committed to the truth and to God.  And we must pray for ourselves, that we will not also abandon Jesus Christ, because Judas Iscariot betrayed him, Peter denied him, and the rest of his close confidants ran away from him.  We must pray that we will have the courage, like the women who went to the tomb, to remain close to our Lord and perhaps even be the ones to bring the good news of resurrection to the apostles and the rest of the Church. 

I must end by acknowledging and thanking the many people who have comforted me and other priests and bishops, especially their immediate pastors; they do this despite knowing us to be frail and imperfect, but also knowing our good will and best intentions to serve them and God.  And so they trust that God can continue using unworthy instruments for his purpose of building up his Kingdom. 

But I must leave the last word to people who are far more competent to speak on these matters and far more articulate.  I would recommend Bishop Robert Barron's treatment of the current crisis.  Always non-ideological, he bases his opinions in the theological and ecclesial tradition, and shows us a possible way forward, one based in truth and justice, one that serves both for the victims of abuse and for the whole Body of Christ.  He has also offered a word of comfort for Catholics asking and answering the question: WHY REMAIN CATHOLIC? (WITH SO MUCH SCANDAL)?