October 21, 2009
Archbishop
Silvano Tomasi,
Permanent
Observer to the United Nations
20 East 72nd St.,
New York, NY 10021
Dear Archbishop
Tomasi,
I recently read the statement attributed to you and addressed to
the United Nations. This of course, was
the Holy See’s response to the statement of the International Humanist
and Ethical Union of September 8, 2009.
I am aware that statements of this nature, when presented by
officials of the Holy See, are usually prepared by staff members. In this instance it would benefit the Holy See
and you as well to dismiss the staff member who prepared this report in
your name. I say this because the report
contains blatantly inaccurate information and reflects a level of
research that is amateurish at best. There
is a great deal of up-to-date data on sexual abuse by Catholic clergy
available yet your writer chose secondary sources based on out of date
information which of course seriously damages the credibility of the
statement.
Every paragraph contains erroneous information.
For example, shifting the focus from pedophilia to ephebophilia
is meaningless. The root of the problem is
not the nature of the sexual dysfunction of the perpetrator but the
well-documented reality that the Catholic hierarchy has responded in a
consistently irresponsible, non-pastoral and dishonest manner. The most reliable research data presents two
facets of the problem: sexually dysfunctional clerics who have sexually
abused minors consisting of at least 6% of the clergy population in the
U.S., and, more important, the documented evidence
that at least 66.6% of the bishops in the U.S. have, at one time or
another, covered up at least one and in most cases, several instances of known sexual abuse by
clerics which is criminal behavior in both Canon Law and civil law.
The statement claims that most allegations of sex abuse by
clergy are from non-Catholic denominations. The
source is a 2002 survey mentioned in the Christian Science Monitor. At this point this information is inaccurate
in light of events between 2002 and 2009. There
are no reliable statistics to support this claim. In fact, the Southern
Baptist Convention specifically rejected calls to create a data base. The secular media
has covered claims of child sexual abuse by clergy in several
denominations including the Southern Baptists, Episcopalians, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Assemblies of God, Church of God
in Christ, Orthodox Jews, Mormons and Methodists. I
would refer your writer to articles that appeared in secular news media
in the summer of 2007 which were based on statistics released by three
major insurance companies. Your writer
repeats the conclusion that “most American churches being
hit with child abuse allegations are Protestant.”
This conclusion is meaningless. Of
course most Churches are Protestant. There
is only one Roman Catholic denomination in the U.S.
and hundreds of Protestant denominations. Combined
numbers may come close to known cases in the Catholic Church but no
single denomination has revealed as many as the Catholic Church has
encountered. There are indeed
problems in other denominations but there are no contemporary
scientific survey results that support the claim that they are either
collectively or individually more than the credible reports involving
Catholic clergy. But again, we return to
the relevance of this information. The
problem is the contemporary history of negligent response by Catholic
bishops. Attempts at blame-shifting in no
way lessen the scope and gravity of the Catholic Church’s problem.
The fact that there is sexual abuse of minors in other
professions is important but irrelevant to the issue.
The Catholic Church has a role in society that is radically
different from that of the Boy Scouts, the public schools or any other
private or public institution. The Church
holds itself out as the source of authentic moral teaching. It asks
that all of its bishops and priests be accorded complete trust and
respect. It has betrayed this trust
countless times through sexual abuse of the most vulnerable of its
members and when called to account, has responded in a defensive and
dishonest manner which has only brought further discredit to the clergy
and to the entire Church. I’m sure you can
see that the comparison of the Church to secular institutions is a
meaningless distraction. Calling attention
to sexual abuse of minors in other organizations or other religious
denominations does not alter the reality of sexual abuse by Catholic
clergy nor does it mitigate the responsibility of the hierarchy.
As to the Church cleaning its own house, I am quite certain you
would want to know that the efforts of the U.S.
bishops are looked upon with skepticism by many. They
focus only on that part of the problem that distracts from their own
role in this tragedy. The “Essential
Norms,” the “Dallas Charter,” the various review boards and the many
statements of regret have all been forced upon the bishops by an angry
public, by the honest reporting of the media and by the threat of
additional law suits. The victims have
approached the civil courts for many years only because they have
consistently received no pastoral support and no justice from the
Church’s leadership. Had there been no
media coverage and no civil court involvement it is almost certain that
in spite of knowing of widespread sexual abuse, the bishops would have
continued to cover it up.
More important, the bishops’ organizational responses and their
profuse public statements of apology, regret and promise of future
change are rendered not only meaningless but insulting in light of the
fact that many continue to place known sexually abusing clerics back
into ministry. Others refuse to inform the
public of the identity of credibly accused clerics and many others
continue to punish the victims through abusive court proceedings. These proceedings by the way are financed by
money donated by the faithful which would be better spent on help for
the clergy’s victims.
Getting rid of every priest and deacon who ever abused a minor
in any way is the general response of the Catholic bishops of the U.S.
and Holy See. Nothing has been done to
bishops who sexually abused minors or to bishops who have enabled and covered for
priests who were known pedophiles or ephebophiles. Most important
and most damning for the official Church has been the almost total lack
of an adequate and compassionate pastoral response, especially from
bishops. It is true that many have met
with victims but that is such an obvious public relations ploy that it
does not deserve mention. None of the
hierarchy seems to comprehend the severe spiritual damage that has been
done to countless victims and to those around them.
It is as if the bishops were concerned only about themselves.
The statement issued in your name contains information that is
inaccurate. The more important problem for
the Holy See and for the official Church however, is the tone of the
statement. It reflects an adolescent level
of emotional response. As such, it defeats
its own purpose. Rather than lend any
credibility to the response of the Holy See and the hierarchy to the
vast problem of clergy sexual abuse, it further erodes what little
credibility might have been left.
Fire your writers. They make you
look uninformed and callous.
Sincerely in Christ,
Thomas Doyle, J.C.D., C.A.D.C.
Vienna VA 22182
