A Church Worthy of Our Children

A joint statement of member organizations of Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) concerning the sexual abuse policy of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Forty years ago the Second Vatican Council opened the windows and doors of the Church and touched the heart of the world. Thirty years ago, reform organizations of Catholics in America came into being, seeking to keep alive the promise of that Council. Ten years ago, Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) gathered reform groups into a national forum for dialogue and decision. This year, in the midst of the greatest scandal in American Catholic Church history, COR members issued a document in April as our contribution to the resolution of this crisis. It is attached to this statement.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has recently issued a charter for the protection of children. It is praiseworthy for its call for lay involvement and for its stern insistence that predators be removed from the priesthood and made to face criminal charges. The charter is disappointing in the immunity it allows bishops from accountability, in its maintenance of the system which fosters the abuse of power, and in its preservation of unrealistic statutes of limitations.

The formal Vatican response to the charter raises issues of abuse definition, secrecy, lay participation, due process and cooperation with civil authorities.

We are guided in this statement by the overarching need to protect children. A child assumes the world is trustworthy. When that trust is broken, especially by those who act in the name of God, the child seldom recovers completely.

With the hope of healing, we offer brief words on ten issues of urgent concern.

1. Definition of Sexual Abuse

The Vatican correctly indicts the inadequacy of the definition of sexual abuse in the U.S. charter. Such a definition is not helpful unless it is specific and detailed. We suggest the definition be drafted along the lines of contemporary civil jurisprudence.

2. Accountability of the Bishops

The anger and hurt of lay people at large in the American Church are centered on the bishops, whose incompetence, neglect, complicity, or well-intentioned misguidance have led to the exploitation of thousands of children. No bishop has been compelled to leave office because of cover-up, transfer of known predators to other pastoral assignments, or payment of Church money in exchange for secrecy and silence. This immunity of bishops from accountability is not the sign of a collegial church but of an aristocratic system.

3. Pontifical Secrecy

The Vatican must revoke its recent policy of insisting that all credible sexual abuse charges against priests be sent immediately by the bishop under pontifical secrecy to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome. Pontifical secrecy is far more onerous than mere confidentiality. It guarantees that the Vatican will control the evidence. It is this very system of secrecy, the very lack of transparency, and the clerical assumption of superior knowledge that have fueled this crisis.

The U.S. charter speaks of credible allegations, but it does not adequately address the process by which they are adjudicated. Every victim and every priest must have due process. Since victims have so long been denied this, their concerns must be paramount in our deliberations. We note with regret that canon law elaborates due process for clergy but disempowers the laity at large. Canon law is flawed because it includes in the judicial process those who are parties to the dispute. When Church officers are accused, they themselves become the judges of the accusation. The Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have lost their credibility as agents of due process. Impartial and independent lay review boards with deliberative power and the imperative to report directly to civil authority itself are absolutely essential in resolving this crisis and restoring trust in the system.

5. Statutes of Limitations

Canon law and civil authority have diverse time periods for statutes of limitations. We believe all statutes of limitations should be eliminated in cases where the victim is a minor and the behavior is criminal.

6. Removal from Ordained Ministry

Forgiveness and reconciliation are essential to our life as disciples of Christ. We do not, however, believe that clearly defined, criminal sexual abuse of a minor, even once, even many years ago, should be so discounted that an ordained minister may continue to be identified as such and render service at that level. The possibility of repetition and the implication that we tolerate such dreadful actions call for the termination of formal ordained ministry in all its forms. We observe that the U.S. charter did not set in place an effective process for the review of older cases, and that this has led to idiosyncratic application of the new norms. In any instance, the dismissed priest deserves due process and should receive compassion from the community. He forfeits not the community's forgiveness, nor its gratitude for his good work, nor his further acts of reparation and service. He forfeits the right to lead the community and to function in it as a priest. He forfeits this not because of vindictiveness, but because the welfare of children and even his own capacity to be healed are better preserved by his lack of access to those who might easily become victims.

7. Lay Review Boards

Lay review boards monitor implementation of the charter and diocesan policy regarding sex abuse of minors. They are the voice of God's People and a sign of hope and healing for the victims. They must be given deliberative authority and must be an impartial, independent panel for priests and victims. The review boards may prove especially helpful in the review of old cases and in caring for priests and victims. Review boards should be staffed by professionals competent in these matters and should include a victim or a representative whom victims trust to speak for them. No member of the lay review boards should be employed by the Church. Members should be chosen in a process that is not limited to the bishop and his staff. The boards should send charges of credible and criminal sexual abuse of a minor to the bishop and the civil authorities simultaneously.

8. Cooperation with Civil Authorities

Civil authorities are essential agents in the restoration of credibility in the Catholic Church. This is both ironic and yet somehow in keeping with the Second Vatican Council's trust of secular life. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has lost its capacity to lead in this instance. All charges of clearly defined, criminal sexual abuse of a minor must be reported to civil authorities. This policy will not diminish the relationship of bishops and priests with each other, if bishops are truly pastoral and fair, and if the priests they ordain are clearly healthy and dedicated to Christ's message.

9. Clericalism

We find it deplorable that substantial reform of the clerical system and the priesthood is not cited in official Church statements on this crisis. There is a call to manage the crisis, to study the candidates in the seminary, their training, and their sexual maturity. One would have thought all this was in place from the very beginning. Official Church documents seek to maintain the clerical system. They do not show any intent to make the ordained ministry more inclusive and more accountable. Indeed, there is an indictment of homosexuals as the cause of the problem. We see abuse of power as the cause. Blaming homosexuals for a difficulty rooted in a dysfunctional Church system is an attempt to preserve the system and deny the problem. We do not need more apologies. We need change, reform, renewal, and collegiality.

10. Joint Commission

The recent Vatican joint commission of bishops summoned to revise the U.S. charter is a sign that the dimensions of this crisis are still not perceived in Rome. If an ecumenical council and a birth control commission could include laity, women, and even Christians of other churches, why was this not an appropriate constituency for the Vatican commission? The exclusion of victim representation on the commission is part and parcel of a Vatican process of deciding issues with no representation from the concerned groups.

The violation of children amounts to a new slaughter of the innocents, to a crucifixion of God's People by an abusive power system. Christ told us that if we shatter the heart of a child, we lose the Gospel. The consequences are dire. The summons could not be more urgent.

COR organizational signatures follow.

Assn. For Rights of Catholics in the Church 
John F. Sheehan 
413-527-9929

ARCC Office 
P.O. Box 85 
Southhampton, MA 01073 
arccangel@charter.net

Call to Action USA 
Don Wedd 
773-404-0004 x 270 
Linda Pieczynski (eves) 
630-323-6924 
2135 W. Roscoe 
Chicago, IL 60618 
don@cta-usa.org

Call to Action of Northern Virginia 
Sharon Danner 
703-680-0860 
PO Box 5617 
Arlington, VA 22205 
ctanva@comcast.net

Catholics Speak Out/Quixote Center 
Rea Howarth 
301-699-0042 
PO Box 5206 
Hyattsville, MD 20786 
www.quixote.org/cso 
cso@quixote.org

Catholics for a Free Choice 
Frances Kissling 
202-986-6093 
1436 U Street NW Suite 301 
Washington DC 20009 
cffc@catholicsforchoice.org
www.catholicsforchoice.org

Catholics for a Free Choice Canada 
Kathleen Howes, LL B 
416-463-0948 
P.O Box 65179 
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
M4K 3Z2 
http://www.cath4choice-canada.ca/

Catholics for the Spirit of Vatican II 
Thomas J. Kerwin, Acting Director 
303-221-7622 
4980 E. Quincy Ave. 
Englewood, CO 80110 
tjkerwin@aol.com

CORPUS 
Anthony Padovano 
973-539-8732 
9 Millstone Dr. 
Morris Plains, NJ 07950 
tpadovan@optonline.net

CORPUS/Baltimore 
John O'Brien 
410-453-0401 
mjjob@aol.com

DignityUSA 
Patrick T. McArron, President 
800-877-8797 
1500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 11 
Washington, DC 20005 
info@dignityusa.org
www.dignityusa.org

Federation of Christian Ministries 
Sr. Bridget Mary Meehan, President 
703-379-2487 
5856 Glen Forest Dr. 
Falls Church, VA 22041 
sofiabmm@aol.com

Fellowship of Southern Illinois Laity 
Lena Woltering 
618-234-4073 
FOSIL, P.O. Box 31 
Belleville, Illinois 62222. 
FOSILize@aol.com

Good Tidings Ministry 
Cait Finnegan 
570-595-2705 
PO Box 283 
Canadensis, PA 18325 
goodtidings@aol.com
http://www.marriedpriests.org/GoodTidings.htm

Pax Christi - Maine 
William Slavick 
207-773-6562 
242 Ludlow St. 
Portland, ME 04102 
william.slavick@maine.edu

Save Our Sacrament: 
Reform of Annulment & Respondent Support 
Janice P. Leary, Ph.D. 
Box 5119 
Cochituate, MA 01778 
saveoursac@aol.com

Spiritus Christi Catholic Church 
Rev. Jim Callan 
716-325-1180 
60 Bittner St. 
Rochester, NY 14604 
716-325-1180 
www.spirituschristi.org

Southeastern Pa. Women's Ordination Conference 
Regina Bannan 
215-545-9649 
323 South 17th Street 
Philadelphia, PA 19103 
http://www.sepawoc.org
rbannan@vm.temple.edu

Women’s Ordination Conference 
Genevieve Chavez 
505-525-2358 
P.O. Box 2693 
Fairfax, VA 22030 
www.womensordiantion.org 
gdchavez@zianet.com

Liaison Organizations 
CITI Ministries, Inc. 
(Celibacy Is the Issue) 
Louise Haggett 
508-872-4644
Ron Ingalls 
Cellphone: 508-277-1523 
ringalls44@attbi.com
P.O. Box 2850 
Framingham, MA 01703-2850 
www.rentapriest.com 
rentapriest@aol.com

Priests for Equality/Quixote Center 
Mark Buckley 
301-699-0042 
P.O. Box 5206 
Hyattsville, MD 20782 
markb@quixote.org

Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) 
Mary Hunt 
301-589-2509 
8035 13th St. 
Silver Spring, MD 20910 
mhunt@hers.com

Young Feminists' Network 
Joy Barnes 
703-352-1006 
P.O. Box 2693 
Fairfax, VA 22031 
grassroots@womensordination.org