A Self-Inflicted Wound

Last week, a Federal bankruptcy judge approved a $87.5 million settlement for victims of  sexual abuse committed by clergy of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey.  Regrettably, the Diocese of Camden is not the first U.S. diocese to seek Federal bankruptcy protections as a result of clergy sexual abuse claims filed against them.  Other such dioceses include the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Buffalo, New York; and the Archdiocese of Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota.  

 
This particular settlement is particularly troubling and painful to me because the Diocese of Camden is my diocese. See https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/cpsj-in/2024/03/15/camden-diocese-clergy-sex-abuse-bankruptcy-reorganization-confirmed/72994666007/  

 
It pains me to write this essay because I love the Catholic Church.  It pains me to write this essay because I hold the priesthood and the Church hierarchy in such high regard.  It pains me to write this essay because of the numerous lives so severely harmed by clergy abuse.

 
For decades, the senior leadership of our Church both nationally and in the Vatican failed to address clergy abuse against minors and young people.  In some cases, it was due to indifference.  In some cases, it was the result of misguided compassion for the accused clergy.  In many cases, it was an attempt to protect the reputation of the Church.  In too many cases, it was a deliberate effort to protect the perpetrators  who are / were overwhelmingly homosexuals.  Notorious priests such as John Geoghan and Paul Shanley were able to abuse numerous young people before being brought to justice.   Theodore McCarrick even rose to the highest levels of the American Catholic Church before the current Pope finally defrocked him as Cardinal and removed him from the priesthood.  

 
As a college student back in 1994, I wrote a defense of the Camden Diocese for my college newspaper when a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Diocese for clergy abuse.  Back in 1994, I had no idea how harmful and prevalent the problem was.

 
The ongoing scandal of clergy abuse has deeply wounded the Church, threatening its moral credibility, and imposing severe financial penalties on many dioceses.  It caused many Catholics to question the Church leadership and even worse, caused some to leave the Church altogether.

 
I have not forgotten about the victims.  They are the ones most harmed by clergy sexual abuse.  Thousands of young people going back decades were victimized by clergy whom they thought they could trust.  Thousands were victimized by homosexual predators who operated with a façade of holiness.  Some others were victimized by heterosexual clergy.  Though most abuse cases involve minors, some victims are adults such as Rachel Mastrogiacomo who was raped by a priest when she was in her twenties.  (See https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/what-the-mcelroy-appointment-says-about-the-churchs-commitment-to-sex-abuse-victims  and https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-priest-sentenced-20180509-story.html  )

 
Other minors have been sexually abused by members of male and female religious orders.  A recent ABC News report detailed sexual abuse of minors committed by Catholic nuns and sisters https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/victims-catholic-nuns-rely-after-overlooked-clergy-sex-108004011  

 
Over the two millennia of its history, the Catholic Church has endured numerous threats to its mission and its very existence.  The threats have come from the Roman Empire, the Protestant Reformation, the French Revolution, Nazism, Soviet Communism and currently, Chinese Communism.  The Church has prevailed against those historic assailants as Jesus promised St. Peter it would (Matthew 16:18) and the Church will prevail against Chinese Communism. 

 
Unlike these aforementioned assailants, clerical sexual abuse is a threat from within.  Not every priest is an abuser.  In fact, the vast majority of priests are selfless, holy and committed to the service of God and the Church.  Not every homosexual priest is an abuser, but the vast majority of sexual abuse cases are committed by homosexual practitioners.   Clergy sexual abuse and the associated failures to address that abuse by the Church leadership is a self-inflicted wound. 

 
May God have mercy on the Church for allowing this abuse to have occurred and failing to protect its young people from this abuse. May God purge our Church from the lifestyle and practices which gave rise to such harmful evil sins.   May God heal all those harmed by clergy sexual abuse.