On
the Abuse Scandal in the Roman Catholic Church
In
recent times the Roman Catholic Church has once again been rocked by
news of widespread abuse of children and other vulnerable people by
Roman Catholic clergymen, mostly priests but also including the
former Archbishop of Washington, D.C. We hear that this archbishop
routinely imposed on Catholic seminarians, men preparing for the
priesthood, to join him in bed for grossly inappropriate activities.
The abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church isn’t new. We’ve
heard about it for decades. We’ve heard of priests who sexually
abuse children. We’ve heard of bishops who cover up for them and
rather than remove them from the priesthood simply transfer them to a
different parish, where they have continued their abusive behavior.
We’ve heard of such behavior in dioceses across the United States
and in other nations as well, including Chile and others in South
America. A former Vatican official who intensely dislikes the
policies of Pope Francis has accused the Pope of knowing about and
covering up instances of abuse. The source of that accusation is
suspect, but we cannot simply dismiss it without more information. I
know of one Catholic laywoman whose faith in the Church has been
shaken if not quite totally destroyed. I have heard of Catholic
priests whose faith in the Church has been shaken too, to the point
where they have even considered leaving the Church and its
priesthood. The abuse scandal presents the greatest challenge to the
institutional claims of the Roman Catholic Church perhaps since the
Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.
In the
September, 2018, edition of the Seattle University School of Theology
and Ministry Newsletter the school’s Dean, Dr. Mark Markuly, has
published a lengthy and thoughtful essay under the title “Can the
Catholic Church Overcome Its Sex Abuse Scandals?” In that essay
Dean Markuly says that “Inadequate theologies have perpetuated this
chronic sex abuse situation. The church needs new theologies of
gender, sexuality, ordination, authority, ecclesiology (the nature of
what a church is and does), and a half dozen other issues.” He at
least suggests that he agrees with voices within the Catholic Church
calling for nothing less than a new Reformation and saying the Church
faces a crisis as severe as the one that produced the Protestant
Reformation some five hundred years ago. I am a Protestant
clergyperson not a Catholic one, but I received my formal theological
and ministerial training at the Seattle University School of Theology
and Ministry, so I have perhaps a bit more of a grounding in Roman
Catholicism than do most Protestant clergypersons. More importantly,
when institutions are in crisis it is always helpful for them to hear
from outside voices, voices that can perhaps analyze the issues the
crisis presents more clearly than can the persons directly involved
in the crisis.1
So for what it’s worth I will here add my outside voice to the
literature addressing the Catholic Church’s abuse crisis.
Dean
Markuly is absolutely correct when he says that “inadequate
theologies have perpetuated this chronic abuse situation.” Beyond
that, inadequate theologies created the conditions in which the
“abuse situation” arose in the first place. The Dean points to
theologies of gender, sexuality, ordination, authority, and
ecclesiology as contributing to the problem. He is absolutely right
about that, but I think we need to make a distinction between
theologies of gender and sexuality on the one hand and theologies of
ordination, authority, and ecclesiology on the other. I’ll address
these two areas of theology separately, starting with the Catholic
theologies of gender and sexuality.
We
think of the issue at hand as being one of sexual abuse, and for the
most part it is. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that the
Catholic practice of priestly celibacy is the root of the problem. I
don’t want to dismiss the issues around priestly celibacy as a
cause of the problem entirely, but I don’t believe that they lie at
the root of the problem. Yes, the Roman Catholic Church requires its
priests to be celibate. They do not marry. They may not engage in
sexual activity of any kind. I and many others believe that the vow
of celibacy that all Catholic priests must take forces them to deny
or at least to suppress a significant part of their humanity. God
created us all as sexual beings. There is no reason for us to deny
that reality. That we are sexual beings raises a host of moral issues
with which we all must deal, but denying ourselves all outlet for our
sexuality is, it seems to me and many others, not healthy.
The sex
abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic church is not an issue of
homosexuality among Catholic priests. Yes, we have known for a long
time that many Catholic priests are homosexual. I’ve heard it said
that that’s in part because a Roman Catholic priest doesn’t have
to keep answering questions from his family about why he isn’t
married. Be that as it may, the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church
has nothing to do with homosexuality. Most men who sexually abuse
boys are heterosexual. Homosexual men are no more likely to be child
abusers than are heterosexual ones. Driving homosexual priests out of
the Church would do nothing to solve the abuse crisis.
I do
not believe that the epidemic of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic
priests is primarily a sexual matter. It is primarily a matter of
power. The sexual abuse scandal is grounded in and arises from a
fundamental problem with Roman Catholic ecclesiology and church
polity. We can start to see this problem by realizing that the
polity, that is, the institutional structure, of the Roman Catholic
Church is imperial. The church is modeled on the political structure
of the Roman Empire. That Empire had an emperor at its head who had
nearly unlimited power. The Roman Catholic Church has a Pope at its
head who has nearly unlimited power. The Roman Empire had a
collective body immediately below the emperor called the Senate,
which had some legislative authority. The Roman Catholic Church has a
collective body immediately below the Pope called the College of
Cardinals, which has some authority in the Church. The Roman Empire
was administered by local officials called “ediles.” They were
appointed by and answered to the Emperor, not by or to the people of
the areas they administered. The Roman Catholic Church is
administered by local officials called bishops. They are appointed by
and answer to the Pope, not by or to the people of the Church in the
areas they administer. The Roman Catholic Church has one level of
authority below the Pope, namely, the parish priests. They have
spiritual authority over the people, but they are appointed by the
local bishop and are primarily responsible to him, not to the people
of their parish. Thus we see that the structure of the Roman Catholic
Church is essentially imperial, modeled on the structure of the Roman
Empire. Imperial structures create imperial policies. That it does is
one of the Roman Catholic Church’s foundational problems.
Then
there are the claims that the church makes about the Christian faith
and about itself. The Church calls itself the depositum fidei,
the depository or treasury of the faith. The Church says “extra
Ecclesia nulla salus,” outside
the church there is no salvation. The Church thus sets itself up as
the one indispensable institution in the life of faith. The fullness
of the Christian faith, it says, is found only in itself. Outside of
itself there is no salvation. Depart from the church and you are not
saved. Those assertions are official Catholic doctrine. We
Protestants of course disagree with them, but the issue before us
isn’t whether we agree with them but what their effect is on the
Church’s internal dynamics. The
Church comes to be all about power. The Church says to the people: We
have what you desperately need. We can give it to you, or we can
withhold it from you. We
have the power to save your soul or to condemn it to everlasting
torment. You dare not openly defy us. You may not even loudly
disagree with us, for we have power over your eternal soul. We
control your access to God. God may save you, but God does that only
through us.
I
know of course that not all Roman Catholics think in terms this
stark. I had a wonderful experience at the Seattle University School
of Theology and Ministry with many wonderful Catholic instructors and
fellow students. They never tried to make us Protestants into
Catholics. My sister-in-law recently converted to Roman Catholicism,
and I’m confident that she wouldn’t assert the things I’ve said
here about the Roman Catholic Church as unquestionable truths. I do
not object in theory to people being Roman Catholic. I do object to
that Church’s official dogmas about itself.
Under
those dogmas preservation of the Church in all of its unquestioned
sanctity becomes the highest value. The
Church becomes a value in its own right rather than for what it
offers to the people who live their spiritual lives within it. To
this way of thinking the people can do without almost anything in
life, but they cannot do without the Church. It becomes essential to
preserve the Church and, just as importantly, to preserve the
people’s faith not in God and Jesus Christ but in the Church.
Beyond
that, the sanctified position of the clergy within the Church creates
an environment of privilege. In Catholic theology the priest stands
in loco Christi, in
the place of Christ. Catholic theology of ordination makes an
ordained person existentially different from unordained people. The
Church teaches that in the sacrament of ordination a man’s being is
transformed into something new, something different, something
better. This existential change is said to be permanent. A
priest may resign from or be removed from the priesthood, but his
ordination remains. His transformed,
exalted status remains. In my
Protestant tradition we understand ordination differently, but I can
imagine that for some men, not most but a few, the Catholic theology
of ordination gives them the idea that they can do no wrong. What
they do is right because an ordained man has done it. Surely the
exalted understanding of the priesthood plays a role in preparing the
ground for abuse.
It
seems clear that these and
other aspects of Roman
Catholic theology create the opportunity and the temptation for
priests to engage in abusive behavior toward vulnerable people,
especially children. They see themselves as holding exalted positions
in the church, never mind that the collar and stoles they wear are
supposed to be symbols of service not superiority. The people of the
church are taught not to challenge them, or at least not to challenge
them about anything fundamental in the Catholic faith. No one expects
a priest
to ask anyone to engage in inappropriate sexual behavior and
certainly not to force that behavior on anyone. Surely there must be
some explanation grounded in the structure of the Church that induces
so many priests to abuse others. The exalted position of the priest
seems to be part of that explanation.
The
Roman Catholic theology of the church itself,
its ecclesiology, explains how the hierarchy has reacted to protect
not the victims of abuse but its perpetrators. The Church is more
important than any person in it, whether a priest or a victim of
priestly abuse. The Church holds the faith. The Church holds the keys
to the Kingdom, and it must be protected at any cost. That at least
seems to be how far too many bishops and archbishops have thought
about the matter. Exposing
the abuse and disciplining those who committed it either through
internal discipline or by turning them over to civil authorities, or
both, would open the Church to criticism. It might shake the belief
of the members in the sanctity of the Church. Never mind that all the
cover up that has gone on has done that far more than dealing with
the issue head on would have. So prelates chose cover up over
corrective action. When they did they were acting in a way that Roman
Catholic ecclesiology fully justified and even dictated.
So
what is to be done? At a more
superficial level the Church needs to remove priests (or others) who
have abused anyone from the priesthood. No institution can withstand
the backlash against abuse by its representatives when it takes no
action against them. Certainly the Roman Catholic Church cannot, at
least not in its current configuration and size. Then the Church
authorities must turn the abusers over to civil authorities for
whatever prosecution the law allows. Sadly that prosecution will be
blocked in many cases by the statute of limitations, but the Church
must do what it can to see that its lawbreakers are brought to
justice.
That
is the least the Church must do. Those actions will clean out a lot
of evildoers. It will not however do anything to address the
underlying causes of the problem. To address the underlying causes of
the problem the Church must reexamine its underlying theologies that
created or contributed to the problem, as Dean Markuly suggests. The
Church could start by examining whether or not its imperial structure
corresponds to Gospel values. Many of us Protestants ask: What does
all the pomp and circumstance around the Roman Catholic hierarchy
(especially in the Vatican around the Pope) have to do with the
values of an itinerant Jewish preacher from Galilee whom we call Lord
and Savior? Not much if anything at all many of Protestants answer.
Yes, the Vatican houses some of the greatest creations of the human
spirit in its collections of paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, and
other sacred items. Still, Jesus preached against worldly show. In
the Gospel of Luke he says the poor are blessed and the rich are
cursed. Luke 6:20 and 24. In
many ways the Roman Catholic Church is the Roman Empire alive and
operating in the world today. It’s time for it to reexamine the
ecclesiology that created and that maintains an institution that on
its face so contradicts the values Jesus taught, lived, and died for.
The
Church also needs to
reexamine and transform the way that it handles the priesthood and
its theology of ordination, including
its limitation of the priesthood to men.
For one thing,
women priests
would be statistically
less likely to abuse children than male priests seem to be. Beyond
that, St. Paul said that in
Christ there is no longer male or female because all are one in
Christ. Galatians 3:28. Jesus of Nazareth was a male human being, but
the risen Christ surely
transcends small human
distinctions like male and female. The Roman Catholic Church has
immense difficulty changing its doctrine. That’s
because changing doctrine suggests that earlier doctrine was wrong,
and Church doctrine cannot be admitted to be wrong. The Church’s
doctrine says only men may be priests. Yet
that Roman Catholic doctrine
says that doesn’t change the undeniable truth that women have as
much potential for being first rate pastors, preachers, and
sacramental clerics as men
do. At
Seattle University I sat with wonderful Roman Catholic women who were
in tears because they so strongly feel the call to all aspects of the
priesthood, and they knew their Church would never let them answer
that call. it is past time for that reality to change. Opening
the priesthood to women would be one action the Church could take
that might address some of elements that have led to the abuse
crisis.
I
said above that priestly celibacy is not a major factor in this
crisis, but it does play at least a small role. That
priests must be celibate is not a matter of Roman Catholic doctrine.
It is only a matter of canon law, so
it is easier to change than is the doctrine of the male only
priesthood. Yes,
married men sometimes become child abusers too, but the Catholic
practice of priestly celibacy deprives priests of the intimate
personal relationships that are so important to most of us in keeping
us on track and making our lives meaningful. Sexual abuse is, as far
as we know, statistically much less common among married Protestant
clergy than it is among unmarried Roman Catholic clergy. Changing the
law on priestly celibacy would be another thing the Church could do
that would probably help to reduce the incidence of abuse by priests.
Most
significant I believe is a reexamination of the Roman Catholic
Church’s claim that it is the one and only depositum
fidei, the depository of the
faith. It must reexamine and reform its belief that salvation is
fully available
to people only in the Church. That
assertion is first of all bad theology. Clearly a great many people
find an authentic connection with God outside the Roman Catholic
Church. I am one such person, but there are millions upon millions of
other people who are
as well. Roman Catholicism at its best is a powerful, inspiring, and
uplifting version of religious faith, but it is not the only one that
“works” for people. It’s time the Catholic Church got away from
claiming that it is. Elevating
the Church to supreme importance the way the Roman Catholic Church
does is a major factor in the priest abuse scandal. It’s past time
for the Church to change it.
The
Catholic priest abuse scandal has no easy solution. It is grounded
too deeply into the very being of the Roman Catholic Church for there
to be an easy solution. Still, one thing is clear. The Church must
change the way it has handled the scandal. It must change it
radically, and it must change it now. Half measures will not do. In
the sixteenth century the Catholic Church instituted various reforms
in response to the Protestant Reformation at
the Council of Trent. It is
time for the Church to institute reforms again, to
hold another Council of Trent, this
time not in response to a challenge from us Protestants but in
response to a crisis that is of its own making. It
must act radically, and it must act fast. The people of the Church
are hurting. They wonder how it could happen. They want to Church to
respond forcefully and effectively. It’s obvious from the outside
that the Church needs to act. Is it obvious from the inside? I think
it is becoming obvious if it isn’t obvious already. May God be with
the Roman Catholic Church
and guide it
as it
seeks
appropriate ways to respond.
1Actually,
we Protestant clergypersons may be more involved in the Catholic
Church’s current crisis than we know. I remember a Protestant
clergy ethics and boundary trainer telling a room full of UCC and
Presbyterian clergy a few years ago that everyone thinks we’re all
child abusers. I think, or at least hope, that that claim is an
exaggeration. Still, Protestant clergy have committed abuse too,
although as far as we know that horrific issue is not as widespread
in the Protestant churches as it is in the Roman Catholic Church.
