Saint Mary’s Voices Speak Out About Clergy Sex Abuse

In late September, more than 60 SMC community members gathered in Hagerty Lounge in the afternoon for a pilot community conversation to discuss the impact on our community of the recent reports of sex abuse by priests in the Catholic Church and systematic clerical cover-ups of the crimes.

“We acknowledge that the current sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church affects all of us as a community of faith and as a Catholic institution of higher education,” said Karin McClelland, director of SMC’s Mission and Ministry Center, which organized the gathering. “Therefore, we appreciate your presence today to engage in empathetic listening and compassionate dialogue.”

After leading the room in a prayer and moment of silence for victims and survivors, the discussion facilitators, which included McClelland; Campus Chaplain Father Hai Ho ’03, OFMCap; Director of the Campus Assault Response and Education Center Erin Osanna-Barba; and KSOE Leadership Adjunct Professor Maura Wolf, engaged the participants around the difficult subject.

Father Hai provided context with an unsettling litany of reports of criminal wrongdoing by Catholic priests. In July, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after allegations that he sexually abused minors and adult seminarians over decades. In mid-August, a grand jury reported that leaders in the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania had covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years. In September, Pope Francis defrocked Chilean priest Fernando Karadima Farina, who was convicted of sexual abuse. The troubles continue to mount. Currently, 13 states, and the District of Columbia are investigating sexual abuse in the Church. And abuse survivors in California are calling on the state attorney general to mount an investigation here.

“It is important for us to name the reality of what has been revealed to us,” said Father Hai. “That reality is the horrific abuse of minors by certain priests and bishops, and their manipulation of the victims to believe that their sin was willed by God; the systemic cover up among certain Church leaders through silence, obstruction of justice, exploitation of clericalism, and ignorance in believing that perpetrators were rehabilitated and fit for ministry.”

Osanna-Barba spoke of the survivors, their suffering, and the myriad reasons why victims choose not to report. “It may be due to the trauma they suffered, feeling embarrassed, blaming themselves, and the fear that they will not be believed,” she said. “This is further complicated for children when the person who has sexually violated them is someone that is highly respected in the community or is in a position of power: a priest, a coach, a teacher, or someone your family loves and trusts.”

“We are in new territory together,” added Wolf. “There is no roadmap, no right way for us to do this conversation,” she said, suggesting guidelines for the one-hour gathering. “We have designed this conversation around three core questions and set it up as a combination of small conversations that will feed into an overall group sharing. What has the recent news of this scandal and cover-up evoked in you? What in the Catholic culture do you think has enabled this? And finally, what does this moment make possible?”

The participants, which included students, staff, faculty, several Christian Brothers, and campus priests, as well as President James Donahue, divided into smaller groups to consider the questions before them. “It is so fundamental that we support critical community conversations about this important issue,” said Donahue, as he looked for a small discussion group to join. “This development has had a huge impact on our lives, and the significance of what this means for Catholic higher education cannot be ignored. I am extremely proud of our Mission and Ministry Center for leading this initial conversation, and there will be more conversations on this topic presented by the Cummins Institute for Catholic Thought, Culture, and Action. Institutions like ours have to lead with courage, honesty, and the integrity to address this topic.”

Director of the Cummins Institute and History Professor Brother Charles Hilken, FSC, said the September conversation was a welcomed dialogue and builds on the concerns noted by Theology and Religious Studies Professor Anne M. Carpenter in her Cummins blog post, “A Response to the Clerical Abuse of Children,” which invited all members of the College community to be active in asking the right questions to help bring about change.

“The Institute is working closely with Mission and Ministry and others on campus to provide both educational and liturgical events aimed at serving the needs of students and educators alike as we respond to Pope Francis’ call to all the faithful, especially the laity, to heal the Church of the wounds of ministerial abuse and cover-up,” said Brother Hilken. “There are plans for panel presentations in the spring and fall of 2019. Everyone is invited to contact the Cummins Institute with your ideas and interest in helping to make our campus response to the crisis robust, healthy, and holy.”

In compact clusters, the room’s participants wrestled with words to address the issue, some with their faith, others with tears and anger, trying to make sense of the evil and disappointment. All participated fully, sharing in one form or another. As this discussion came to an end, they were asked to take a moment of silence to gather their thoughts and feelings, and share a word that described a “hoped-for outcome” for the Church scandal. Incarceration, justice, redemption, mercy, and healing were some of the resolutions people offered.

The goal of the gathering, according to McClelland, wasn’t to generate external solutions or “do something” specifically. “More so, it was to encourage the community to come together, without an authority or designated expert in the room, but as equals to process the profound disappointment and pain of the Church’s failure to protect the most vulnerable,” she said.

On Thursday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. in the Orinda Room, there will be another opportunity for members of the community to come together, this time for a student-focused conversation about the disturbing reports of sex abuse in the Catholic Church. For more information about community conversations on this issue, please visit the Bishop Cummins Institute and MMC websites.