Sancho E. Jones

Just Because the Vatican Doesn't Hold the Clergy Responsible, Doesn't Mean the Membership Won't

After centuries of torture, genocide and even siding with Nazi Germany, why would the abuse scandal result in the Catholic Church forcing Pope Benedict XVI to step down? Why weren't other more heinous acts punished?

This time, there is going to be hell to pay.

It isn't that the Vatican finds priests raping children to be particularly troublesome, or violating the sanctity of the confessional to be worthy of punishment, even breaking the law isn't of much concern. It will be something more fundamental that will bring down the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

God.

You will notice that the Pope will be talking more and more about how “the Church” should do penance, or how “we” need to apologize. What Benedict is trying to do is to foist the blame from himself, and/or the Vatican on to the membership at large. Most members find the comparison of the Pope to holocaust victims and Jesus on the cross to be particularly offensive.

THE ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL

It is important to draw some distinctions here. There is Catholicism which is a religion; the Catholic Church which is a group of members of that faith which includes the laity, priests, nuns and all the leadership; and then there is the Vatican. Members often despise the Vatican, think the Pope is a buffoon and still love the Church, and consider themselves a good Catholic.

Catholics in a general geographic location make up a parish with usually one church, and groups of parishes are organized into a diocese, under the leadership of the Bishop or Archbishop. Above that are Cardinals who elect the Pope. It's a bit more complicated than that, but this gives non-Catholics a general feel for the organization.

Located in Rome, the Vatican is considered to be a separate country, a ruling body of about 200 men, headed by the Pope, believed to be God's representative on Earth. Literally.

The US Catholic Church often wields it's own power over the American membership, a group of Catholics who do not necessarily follow the edicts of the Pope to the letter, but consider themselves to be part of the same Church. For instance, in the US, divorced Catholics may attend mass and accept communion as their conscience dictates, even though this is prohibited. The states are usually more liberal the Europe, Americans do not find themselves the subject of Church discipline. Excommunication is rare.

The child abuse scandals are nothing new, beginning back in the 1970s with the trial of Rev. Gilbert Gauthe, a chaplain under the direction of Bishop Gerard Louis Frey of the Diocese of Savannah. Gauthe, who had been molesting altar boys, was later jailed and cost the diocese more than $20 million to settle the cases.

Several other scandals erupted during the 1980s and 1990s, and it was discovered that some bishops were shipping priests off to new parishes, after a stint with the Church-operated Servants of the Paraclete, a religious order which serves the clergy in treatment of various difficulties such as alcoholism, drug addiction or sexual abuse.

The Rev. Gerald M. C. Fitzgerald, founder of the order, warned American bishops as early as the 1950s that sexual offender priests could not be rehabilitated. He also warned Vatican officials in 1962 and then later to Pope Paul VI. American bishops would later contend that they were unaware that priests would re-offend and that no one counseled them on removing these men from contact with parishioners. It was not until a court made these documents public that it was discovered that Fitzgerald had indeed warned the leadership.

Failure to follow this advice allowed some priests to rack up more victims and the subsequent lawsuits in the 1990s resulted in seven diocese seeking bankruptcy protection. Settlements grew to $1.5 billion and many American Catholics criticized the Vatican for not paying for the abusive priests, instead leaving the US organization in financial ruin. The response from Rome was one of silence, and then to blame American culture for it's sexual licentiousness and hysterical response to abuse allegations.

It was later discovered that Boston's Archbishop Bernard Francis Law had covered up sexual abuse by priests under his control, which further fueled the American abuse scandal. His actions were so notorious, that more than 50 priests demanded his resignation, despite Law's claims that his policies had been effective. He stepped down from his position as the Archbishop, but remained a Cardinal, and was moved to Rome by John Paul II where he participated in the enclave of 2005 which saw Ratzinger ascend to the papal throne.

Many Catholics have privately – as well as some publicly, called for the Vatican to return Law to the US and force him to stand trial for his involvement in the abuse of thousands of children. Law continues to enjoy the protection of Rome and the membership has been ignored, once again.

Since that time, many more scandals have come to light in Ireland, Germany and South America. More recently, it was discovered that priests were raping nuns in Africa and India and some who became pregnant were forced to have abortions.

WHY THE ABUSE SCANDAL WILL BE DIFFERENT

The Vatican has held itself above man's laws, and the membership has reluctantly supported the Church in the claim that they are above scrutiny, answering only to God.

God, however, is not without His own rules.

When priests take their vows, they consecrate themselves to the Church, they become a servant of the membership and enjoy Divine protection. They take a vow of chastity. To violate this vow is to commit a sacrilege, which is to desecrate or defile a sacred object. Anyone who knowingly assists in this violation, or is party to it, is also guilty of a sacrilege.

Therefore, priests having sex with anyone – whether it be children, other priests or adult females is committing a sacrilege.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II declared that priests having sex with a minor was delictum gravius, also known as a grave or mortal sin. A mortal sin is one so serious, that it is believed to spiritually separate the sinner from God. Some mortal sins are grounds for automatic excommunication and to die after committing one without repenting would result in the sinner spending eternity in Hell with forgiveness being left up to the mercy of God Almighty.

In order to repent, the sinner must confess full details, names, times, etc. A sexual abuser would be required to confess to every victim, deed, and thought in this regard.

What should have been done, what was within the power of the Vatican to do, is to send these offenders to a monastery to engage in meditation and spiritual pursuit away from the membership. Additionally, this would have removed the temptation for these priests to re-offend, and the number of victims would be lessened. Had the Church handled abusers in this manner, likely, the crimes would have been excused, like so many atrocities in the past.

The smoking gun which will bring down the Vatican is that these priests who were separated from God, who were mortal sinners, were allowed to celebrate the Mass, hear confessions, marry couples and give last rites. The leadership moved these unqualified priests to new parishes, knowing full well they had not repented and, as a result, they became party to a sacrilege.

NO JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS

The Vatican thought these sins were so serious, that in 1962, they issued the Crimen sollicitationis (The Crime of Solicitation) letter to all bishops and high ranking officials which was kept secret until 2001. While the letter did discuss the discipline of sexual abusers, it swore anyone involved in the investigation to absolute secrecy, including the victims. The letter forbade the accuser or anyone involved from reporting the crime to civil authorities.

The bigger problem was that the penalty for disclosure was automatic excommunication. Priests found guilty of sexual abuse were only defrocked as an “extreme penalty,” and was only be used as punishment if the defendant had “attained such a degree of temerity and habitude [sic], that there seems to be no hope, humanly speaking, or almost no hope, of his amendment.” Victims who speak out would be cut off from the Church, and from God – there would be no offers of rehabilitation for them, their sins would not be overlooked, there would be no chance to repent.

In other words, priests who rape children and members who turn them in are being held to two different standards. It doesn't take much effort to reach the conclusion that God's laws have been ignored by the clergy.

The Vatican, and even the Pope, can claim to be above man's laws but they are not above God's laws, they are ultimately accountable to the Church as a whole as they too have been consecrated to the membership. The leadership has been very vocal about warning members against engaging in “petty gossip” about the sexual abuse, and therefore, most Catholics are unaware of the nature of the crimes or the extent of the cover up. As they are called to defend the Pope and the Vatican, they will be exposed to more documentation about the leadership's involvement in perpetuating mortal sins.

Once it becomes widespread and well known, the bishops will point to the Cardinals and claim they were only following orders. Someone will have to be sacrificed. The rallying cry will most likely come from US Catholics who have spent the last decade digging out from over a billion dollars in settlements to victims with no financial assistance from Rome.

No one in a position of authority is going to take the fall for this, nor will the membership accept a scapegoat. The membership will call for the resignation of someone in authority, and that may very well be the Pope.

SOURCES:

http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_crimen-sollicitationis-1962_en.html

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/churchdocs/CrimenEnglish.pdf

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13321a.htm

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/1985_05_23_Berry_TheTragedy.htm

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/docs/manchester/NHAG_05926_05927.pdf

http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories/013102_priests.htm

http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories3/120602_cleric.htm

http://shtf411.com/shtf411-exclusive-why-pope-benedict-will-be-forced-to-resign-t6352.html