Washington – At its holiest time of the year, the Roman Catholic Church is being forced to confront not only the central mystery of the faith — life after death — but also a more worldly riddle: What did the Holy Father know, and when did he know it?
Questions about whether Pope Benedict XVI was personally involved, as he rose through the church hierarchy, in sweeping incidents of sexual abuse by parish priests under the rug have put the Vatican on the defensive. A top legal official of the Holy See even felt obliged to argue, in an interview with the Rome newspaper Corriere della Sera, that the Vatican is not legally responsible for any failure by individual bishops to properly handle reports of abuse — and that, in any event, Benedict is a head of state and thus beyond the jurisdiction of any foreign court.
A spokesman said that Benedict sees the sex scandal as a “test for him and the church” and is spending Holy Week in “humility and penitence.” Another official, Cardinal William Levada, took a much more aggressive approach, releasing a lengthy statement attacking newspaper stories that have sought to investigate Benedict’s role. Levada, who is prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — essentially the Vatican’s chief enforcer on matters of faith, a post Benedict held for more than 20 years before becoming pope — singled out the New York Times’ reporting as as “deficient by any reasonable standards of fairness.”
The most explosive allegation is that Benedict, in his old job, did not take action to defrock a Wisconsin priest, Lawrence Murphy, who had molested as many as 200 boys at a school for deaf children. Benedict’s office halted a church trial of Murphy when it was learned that he was terminally ill; the priest was investigated by civil authorities as well but never faced charges. He died in 1998.
The particulars of this case, and another one from when Benedict was archbishop of Munich, do raise real questions about the pope’s handling of abuse allegations. It was all-too-common practice for priests found to have raped or abused young boys to be quietly reassigned, and ultimately that is what happened in these instances.
The larger problem for the church, this Easter season, is not just that the man considered the Vicar of Christ is personally being scrutinized but that the sex abuse scandal has become a major issue outside of the United States. For years, those so inclined could put the whole thing down as an overreaction by litigious Americans. Now the scandal has spread throughout Europe. German bishops are operating a hot line for abuse victims, Danish and Swiss bishops have launched investigations of old claims, and an Austrian cardinal has held a service for victims in which he admitted the church’s guilt. Last month, Benedict sharply rebuked Irish bishops for errors of judgment in handling allegations of rape.
Even more disturbing, the scandal has spread to the heart of today’s church — Latin America. In Brazil, where more Roman Catholics live than in any other country, a television network aired a video that purported to show a priest in the northeast state of Alagoas having sex with an altar boy. That priest and two others have been suspended by the church and are under investigation by police.
Here lies the real crisis for the church. The United States, with its ethic of individualism and its legions of trial lawyers, can be thought of as a special case. European societies are aging, and the continent’s majestic churches are often practically empty at Mass. It is countries such as Brazil and Mexico, with their growing population and burgeoning economic development, that represent the future for the Vatican. But there is intense competition throughout the developing world from evangelical Protestant denominations, and any suggestion of scandal and corruption can only damage the Catholic Church’s prospects.
Easter is a time for Benedict, as the spiritual leader of a billion people, to meditate and reflect. Then he must act. It is time for the pope to be comprehensively honest and open about the tragic failure of the church to prevent or punish horrific sexual abuse — including his own errors — and he must credibly assure the faithful that such crimes will never be allowed to happen again. Even more urgently, molesters still serving as priests must be defrocked and reported to civilian authorities.
Penance, as Benedict well knows, is a sacrament. It is not optional.
Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at)washpost.com.
(c) 2010, Washington Post Writers Group
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today during our fundraiser. We have 5 days to add 340 new monthly donors. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.