Benny D Is Still not Addressing the Betrayal and Organizational Failure

Although, the Catholic Church is beginning to act on the child sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy, it is not addressing the personal betrayal and its organizational failure through all of its current bureaucracy efforts.

The Catholic Church has been moving on the sexual abuse of minors for some time. This history introduces the penalty in 1983 for:

A cleric who in another way has committed an offense against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the delict (bad act) was committed by force or threats or publicly or with a minor below the age of sixteen years, is to be punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants”.

With minor changes until 2001 when then Cardinal Ratzinger (later our own beloved Benny D) issued the Motu:

This new law was promulgated in the motu proprio “Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela” on 30 April 2001

The relevant point is that the hierarchy ( top bosses) of the Church is to be involved in resolving matters of sexual abuse of a minor; the text of which is:

Art. 6

§ 1. The more grave delicts against morals which are reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are:

1° the delict against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue committed by a cleric with a minor below the age of eighteen years; in this case, a person who habitually lacks the use of reason is to be considered equivalent to a minor.
2° the acquisition, possession, or distribution by a cleric of pornographic images of minors under the age of fourteen, for purposes of sexual gratification, by whatever means or using whatever technology;

§ 2. A cleric who commits the delicts mentioned above in § 1 is to be punished according to the gravity of his crime, not excluding dismissal or deposition.

Appears to Sharky&Sharky that Benny D saw this minor sexual abuse coming while he was still a cardinal. However the child abuse matter continues to get worse with apology after apology. Here is the intro to apology to the Irish in March of 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Church in Ireland, it is with great concern that I write to you as Pastor of the universal Church. Like yourselves, I have been deeply disturbed by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children and vulnerable young people by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious.

Just to keep things on the straight and narrow in Ireland, Benny D is sending an Apostolic Visitation to Ireland.

In that same year the Church generated an update to Motu. However it does not address anything substantial that is healing:

14. Among the delicta contra mores: a person over 18 years of age who is developmentally disabled is equated to a minor exclusively in regards to art. 6 § 1 n. 1;
15. Also added as delicts are the acquisition, possession or distribution of pornographic images of minors under the age of 14, a clerico turpe patrata, in any way and by any means (art. 6 § 1 n. 2);

Tthe last direction is to develop Guidelines. On May 16, of this year, the Vatican released Circular Letter to Assist Episcopal Conferences in Developing Guidelines for Dealing with Cases of Sexual Abuses of Minors Perpetrated by Clerics. By order of the Pope Benedict XVI, Benny D, each Episcopal Conference  is being directed  to develop guidelines. Such Guidelines would take into account the concrete situation of their jurisdiction within the Episcopal Conference; in the US it is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

In order to facilitate the correct application of these norms and other issues related to the abuse of minors, it seems opportune that each Episcopal Conference prepare Guidelines whose purpose will be to assist the Bishops of the Conference to follow clear and coordinated procedures in dealing with these instances of abuse. Such Guidelines would take into account the concrete situation of the jurisdictions within the Episcopal Conference.

The purpose of the Guidelines are to provide a "common orientation" within the Episcopal Conference. The Guidelines are to address approaches and remedies for victims of sexual abuse, the protection of minors, the formation ( meaning the development) of  future priest and religious, support of priests, and cooperation with civil authorities. 

While The Vatican is issuing changes to Canon law, John Jay College of Criminal Justice was commissioned by the USCCB to  study: The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States. The executive summary states: 

The study of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons {in the US} resulting in this
report was authorized and paid for by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB) pursuant to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People
(Charter) unanimously adopted by the USCCB at its June 2002 meeting.

 Now any person can become or is a sexual abuser whether a priest or not. However it takes a complicit organization to transfer a priest or keep a priest that is a mutiple abuser. As Sharky&Sharky pointed out in a post last year a major problem is that the Catholic Church is transferring the abusing priests. The John Jay study affirms this point.and and affirms that multiple abusers are being kept in ministry.

• The group of 149 priests, the “10+ group,” {alleged to have committed 10 or more abuses}   account for 26% of all incidents reported in the study.  The 143 priests who were accused in more than one diocese, the “Transfers,” had a lower rate of accusation, but account for 8.7% of all incidents reported in the study.
• The group of 143 priests who received accusations in at least two dioceses or religious
communities were more likely to be identified with substance abuse and behavioral
problems and more likely to be reported to the police.  Overall, 64% of the “Transfer”
group saw their ministry restricted.  

Priests in the Church's administrative organization  must collude to transfer or to keep a known abuser in place. Further like any other formal organization, there is an informal organization that knows the abuser and those that are essential for the the maintenance of the abuser in the Church.  This delict subverts the administrative roles in the Church ; this failure to remove or report an abusing priest from ministry is malfeasance of the aware clerics, a failure to not investigate the abuser is misfeasance and to neglect the delict is nonfeasance. All three situations destroy the integrity of the Church per se as well as in the eyes of the faithful. It is the maintenance of the abuser that is making this period of sexual abuse of minors more prevalent than other periods.

In addition, Sharky&Sharky still insist that the church has a responsibility to abused people far beyond counseling/talking  or sending them an apology as stipulated in the guidelines; there is a need for reconciliation. The abused persons have the right to face their abuser and demand an apology in order to reconstitute themselves as healthy Catholics and/or human beings. This is apart from the abusive priest's civil crimes. The priest must be required to seek the forgiveness of the abused person as part of the priest's penance. How can the priest know the seriousness of his immoral crime unless he bears witness to the pain and suffering of the person he has abused? Reconciliation forces a change in behavior on the abuser; more importantly it provides a path in the Church to learn the organizational depth of the problem and to an  provide an organizational procedure ( both formally and informally) to report the problem.

Neither the Guidelines nor the John Jay study call for this reconciliation. Sharky&Sharky however call for this reconciliation from Benny D.

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