Quote of the Day: Penn State scandal and celibacy
November 7, 2011, 9:45 am
Posted by David Gibson
“When they start letting Penn State football coaches and athletic staff get married, that’ll take care of this stuff, I’m sure.”
– Rod Dreher, on alleged serial child abuser Jerry Sandusky, who is married.
Also crossposted at S&P, FWIW…
This is a clever and helpful remark to whatever extent those who reflexively attack priestly celibacy at every mention of the abuse crisis are taken seriously. I’d put put that somewhere in the “slightly to not at all” range.
Notice, however, that the people who are accused of “failing to report” are gone. The one is retired and the other is “on leave” to deal with the charges. Notice also that both were charged criminally.
This is one individual, accused (so far as the Penn State officials knew) of abusing one child, and those officials are gone from the organization for taking a “see no evil” approach, within a matter of days.
If that were the standard that applied to Catholic Bishops how many current Bishops would be gone or retired or in jail? That’s the comparison Rod Dreher should be trying to formulate.
Barbara, I think Rod has been pretty blistering in his criticism of bishops, and would agree with you. The difference now of course is that these alleged crimes fall under the statute of limitations. That how Bp Finn could be charged. PSU president is actually defending the officials, and PSU is paying their legal expenses, from what I read. There are many similarities to the RCC situation in that regard, I think.
PS: David N, my sense is that almost everyone I talk to, outside the Catholic precincts certainly, chalks child abuse up to celibacy (when they’re not marking it down to gays). You have a different experience?
Indeed, Rod’s further take here, on “Cardinal Joe” Paterno:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/2011/11/06/cardina-joe-paterno-escapes-culpability/
Apparently, there is grand jury evidence going back to 1998 in which Sandusky admitted to inappropriate behavior, but nothing was done by Penn State officials (including Coach Paterno). The parallels with any number of Catholic Church scandals are so infuriatingly, depressingly familiar that the lesson to be learned seems to be that bureaucracies protect their own.
The point for we Catholics (borrowing from Fr. Neuhaus here) is that the Catholic Church should be better than this. I would add that we Catholics – that is, the Church – need to hold our officials to a higher standard than the citizens of Pennsylvania and alumni of Penn State apparently have held Coach Paterno and the Penn State administration.
Thanks, David, for bringing this horrific Penn State case to us to reflect and opine on. It is helpful as a case study because it enables us to focus more sharply on the specific and widespread crime of child abuse, without obfuscating the analysis with collateral, but nonessential, issues that Catholic priest abuse stories inevitably raise. Understandably, bloggers here are already opining on the obvious parallels.
This case highlights the current deficient sex abuse reporting and SOL issues of just one state, PA, where a remarkable group from a broad and diverse background are currently advocating for PA law reform against a well-funded opposition lobbying group, that includes teachers unions and Catholic bishops. The reform group often gathers at the site, http://www.Catholic4Change.com , which is worth visiting to see, among other things, the grassroots energy.
Ironically, one of the leaders of the PA reform group is a former Philadelphia Eagles football player who disclosed his childhood abuse experience recently. He concealed it for decades due reportedly to his unwarranted feeling of shame and his unwillingness to tell his parents what happened.
While there appears to be many parallels between Penn State and, for example, the cross-state Philly priest abuse scandals involving cardinals Bevilaqua and Rigali, the Catholic Church’s priest child abuse problems are much deeper, more complicated and very entrenched. Fundamental changes are necessary to solve this problem. This is demonstrated thoroughly in the excellent brief article just written by the leading worldwide Catholic expert on abusive clerics, accessible by clicking on at
http://www.richardsipe.com/Miscl/2011-10-15-mother_church.htm
There is no better guide, in my opinion, to understanding the history and complexity of, as well as the Vatican reaction to, the child abuse crisis than this short article. None!!
I agree that the parallel is significant.
By last evening CNN had removed the story from its home page. It is back now. I wonder why the lacuna?
One of the horrible aspects of this story is its in-the-moment character. It’s not just that people learned about the abuse and did nothing, but that a 28 year old man could know that, right now, a child is being raped, do nothing to stop it, and instead call his dad. And instead of telling him to intervene, the dad told him to make a phone call. What was going on there?
David, Yes, I agree Rod has been pretty unsparing of bishops. I just don’t think the “celibacy” angle is relevant. There may be parallels, the statute of limitations is probably an issue in some cases, and it’s likely the university has an obligation to at least forward legal expenses. These guys are high enough up that they probably have individual contracts that set out the terms and conditions, etc. In a typical large organization, the president doesn’t just decide to spend the organization’s money however he wants, especially if it’s a state institution.
This isn’t by way of defense, and such provisions were probably intended to relate to much more mundane lawsuits.
Spanier said pretty stupid things, that’s for sure — there is no doubt that the instinct to circle the wagons runs deep in many organizational settings.
They covered it up. That is the parallel that matters, of course, but now that it has come to the attention of the president and the board, they are gone, irrespective of the supportive words. That’s what hasn’t happened in the Church. People who covered up abuse have not only been protected, they have actually been promoted.
“What was going on there?”
One of the useful little organizational-behavior tidbits I’ve picked up along the way is that people write scripts for their lives, and then try to live out their lives according to the scripts they’ve written. When one of the characters in our self-constructed stories acts out of character (as when the person we married turns out not to be the loving and supportive spouse for which we’ve cast him/her, but instead is violent and abusive), it’s extremely disruptive – the entire narrative arc of the script starts to unravel. Sending the script back for rewrite, so to speak, requires a tremendous investment in energy, introspection, courage and honesty. So most of us resist rewriting our scripts, even when that involves living in the midst of dysfunctional or even dangerous conditions. It explains why women don’t leave their abusive husbands, why people stay in their homes while the forest fire or hurricane approaches, why people stay in unsatisfying jobs.
I trust the applicability of this theory to high church officials and larger-than-life football legends is apparent. I find the notion of scripting to have good explanatory power for why people don’t make changes in their lives that, to those of us on the outside looking in, seem blindingly obvious.
David N, my sense is that almost everyone I talk to, outside the Catholic precincts certainly, chalks child abuse up to celibacy (when they’re not marking it down to gays). You have a different experience?
David G,
I only know what I read on the various blogs, but it seems to me that far more people blame the abuse crisis on gays than on celibacy. Also, while I think it is extremely simplistic to finger celibacy per se as the culprit, I am not sure that the whole clerical culture, which includes celibacy as no insignificant factor, is not a problem. It seems to me if celibacy were made mandatory, the culture would change, and I don’t think it would be outside the realm of possibility that the change in culture would have a positive impact.
“They covered it up. That is the parallel that matters, of course, but now that it has come to the attention of the president and the board, they are gone, irrespective of the supportive words. That’s what hasn’t happened in the Church. People who covered up abuse have not only been protected, they have actually been promoted.”
Barbara – are they gone? I know very, very little about the specifics of this case, but from what I have gleaned, the university officials and local law enforcement knew about horrible things this guy had done, but did nothing about it for years. According to an article I am looking at in our local newspaper, “Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and university administrator Gary Schultz face counts of perjury and failure to report child abuse.”
The article adds, “Paterno’s head-in-the-sand approach permitted Sandusky to take a long a teenager identified as Victim 4 on bowl trips the two football seasons following the ’98 investigation, including to San Antonio for the 1999 Alamo Bowl in plain view of university personnel.”
“It seems to me if celibacy were made mandatory, the culture would change, ”
The last time I looked, celibacy IS mandatory – at least in theory.
Nicholas Cafardi [law school dean emeritus at Duquesne University School of Law and former chair of the NCCB National Review Board] is quoted in today’s NY Times on the developing Penn State-Sandusky abuse scandal:
“In MANY [my emphasis] past cases with the Catholic Church, priests who reported incidents to bishops and then saw nothing happened took it upon themselves to contact the civil authorities”.
This is yet another very good example of Cafardi’s serial record of obfuscation and dissembling on behalf of US Catholic bishops on issues of their complicity in the sexual exploitation of children by Catholic priests.
To borrow Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s phrase, Cafardi uses “the gimlet eye of a canon lawyer” [which Cafardi also is] to parse the truth about the hierarchs record.
The most that Cafardi could have said is “SOME past cases…priests contact[-ed] the civil authorities.”
The sad fact of the matter is that it is actually VERY FEW Catholic priests reported sexual assaults to civil authorities.
From my experience as chair of SF review board I know of ONLY ONE priest who did report abuse to authorities. An illustrative story:
In 1997 in SF, Rev. Jon Conly, former assistant US attorney in Michigan, returned to his rectory to find his pastor, Rev. Gregory Aylward, cavorting (described by the archdiocese as a “wrestling incident”) in his underwear [Aylward was reported to be “sexually aroused” during the assault] with a 14 year-old boy who was the rectory phone receptionist.
Conly made a report the pastor’s assault to authorities in concert with his prior training as a law enforcement official.
For his actions to protect a child, Conly was accused by Cardinal Levada of
“calumny,” was suspended from his pastoral duties, and was told by Levada to “Think about obedience,” and was instructed to undergo psychological evaluation.
Conly eventually sued Levada for “defamation and infliction of emotional distress.” On appeal, Conly’s defamation allegations were upheld, and in a settlement agreement, the archdiocese “prefunded” Conley’s retirement.
In other words, Levada preferred a huge cash payout to one of his priest than having to testify under oath about his actions to obstruct justice.
Conly bought a condo in SF where he now lives in retirement only doing substitute pastoral work for priests on vacation.
Cafardi should know better. When he had a chance to really make a difference for thousands, maybe millions, of survivors of abuse at the hand of priests, Cafardi clearly compromised himself by his obsequious support for the hierarchs.
Let’s not take our eye off the ball: the events at Penn State are a frightening mirror image to the abuse that has propagated throughout the Catholic Church.
In both circumstances, men used their positions of esteem and privilege in their respective communities to rape and sodomize children with impunity.
The wanton sexual exploitation of children has to stop wherever it occurs: PROSECUTE the perpetrators and their enablers.
I meant optional.
David – usually take most comments/articles by Dreher with a grain of salt given his own unique denominational flip-flops given his own very slow learning curve around church authority figures and sexual abuse.
Found his “joke” about celibacy and Penn State to be offensive. It completely misses the point and obscures a very complex and nuanced situation. Most experts in abuse and those who have studied the catholic church and its bishops in this crisis would posit that mandatory celibacy and clericalism had much to do with the lack of accountability and irresponsible cover-up. Most experts suggest that a different type of ministerial make up (for example, married priests with wives; female priests) would have had a positive impact on the clericalism and thus negative behaviors of bishops and priests in terms of sexual abuse. That statement in no way says that abuse will not happen; it does not guarantee that abuse and cover up will not happen – it does suggest that the overwhelming negative and unaccountable behaviors of bishops, chancellors, etc. might have changed for the good.
Dreher has a tendency to over-exaggerate and to make things black and white.
Jim, are they “gone gone”? Honestly, one is retired and the other is most likely not coming back, no matter what they are saying in public. As entrenched as the football hierarchy is at PSU, at the end of the day, it’s a state institution and accountable to external agencies and organizations.
I wonder about Paterno. It would not surprise me if his head was in the sand, so to speak, and that the first time he made any report is when it became clear to him that someone else knew something was going on — so reporting became a matter of protecting himself as well as anyone else.
I am not trying to defend Penn State or Paterno, and I certainly would never claim that others have behaved only with the welfare of children in mind, but it still amazes me that even WITH toxic publicity and hard to refute allegations about the actions of specific bishops, there seems to be no will to demote individuals from positions of responsibility within the Church.
Jim Jenkins, I am going to disagree with you a bit: you cannot always “prosecute” the perpetrators because lots of times the victims (or their parents) effectively bar that step. This makes for extreme difficulty for organizations that can’t simply let people go based on mere allegations. That is one of the many reasons why having protections in place is so important — for some people there will always be a first time, for others, it will be the first time abuse is reported, and for others, they have simply been able to escape conviction and it will seem like the first time to the world at large.
Jim Jenkins, you are particularly high bile today. Apart from being tendentious, you are also attacking a person uncharitably and, to my mind, unfairly. Make an argument or move on.
Bill DeHaas, not sure why Dreher’s remark was offensive. I don’t think he meant to summarize or dismiss the entire clergy abuse scandal in one remark. Rather, I think he meant to indicate that simplistic readings of the scandal — such as celibacy caused it — are just that, simplistic.
I know we’ve gone around on the celibacy issue before, but I don’t know who “most experts” are but almost every study and expert I have read disagrees with your conclusion.
But again, I don’t think that will change minds that are made up.
Bill DeHaas, BTW, the Penn State coaches are in fact NOT vowed celibates. And yet abuse and cover up still happened. That was the point of the original remark. Just wanted to clarify.
I wonder about the apparent chain of reporting in the Penn State case. A grad student saw a crime. He reported it to an administrator of sorts (Patorno). Patorno reported it to another administrator, etc. Who bears legal responsibility in that process? Should any one of them gone immediately to the police?
Or should the student have gone directly to the police? (Morally, I’d say that he had an obligation to interrupt the crime in progress. Surely he must have been a match for Sandusky. He was a quarterback one year.)
ISTM that there were indefinite chains of responsibility in some of the RCC cases, at least early in the scandal. I wonder if the Dallas agreement clarifies this sort of thing.
Thanks, David. Agree with your summation – my point was obviously not clear. Experts clearly had shown that celibacy does not cause sexual abuse – agreed. I may have misread Dreher – my read was that his statement was simplistic and dismissive.
OTOH, stand by my comments that clericalism does weigh into this issue and that involvement of women or wives might have altered both the legacy and current status. And if clerics had children – would suggest that this crisis would have been handled very differently.
Would also add that collegiate sports and coaching staffs (and all too often their links to college administrators) behave and act very similarly to the clerical catholic institution. So, from your earlier comment, don’t think that celibacy has anything to do with this – do think that “institutions” have much to do with this – cover up; protect the higher ups; children’s safety can be compromised in the name of the institution, etc.
And this will effect the up-coming trial of the three clerics and a teacher of the Philly A/D.
@David Gibson:
You’re certainly entitled to your opinion. But, I will try to take a reading on my acidity levels.
I’m just pointing out to bloggers Nicholas Cafardi’s actual record of obfuscation and dissembling in the service of Catholic hierarchs continues, as in this NY Times story.
Interesting that you criticize me for being tendentious when it is Cafardi who consistently promotes a very controversial point of view that Catholic hierarchs and priests have generally acted with integrity, while imperfect, when dealing with the sexual exploitation of children by priests.
Now, whose really being uncharitable and unfair?
@ Barbara:
I agree that many times “prosecution” of perpetrators in child sex abuse cases is difficult and at times fruitless.
Thankfully Pennsylvania authorities have moved to indict Sandusky. It is a welcome development that the Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and university administrator, Gary Schultz, have resigned today, albeit too late to protect multiple children from sexual assault.
David, whatever Jim’s acidity level is, he appears justified is questioning Nicholas Cafardi’s objectivity. This was recently made very evident in NC’s trial balloon on NCR suggesting that the US bishops should dump KC’s Finn.
For more on this. please note the response to NC’s recent NCR article under the comment heading, “Why Only Finn?” , accessible by clicking on at:
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/law-expert-us-bishops-should-persuade-finn-resign .
Following up on my earlier comment, and not expecting any responses, I note that NCR has today added another article on Elizabeth Johnson’s predicament.
Please note the NCR comment and related cross links under the comment heading, “Rome Under Siege”, accessible by clicking on at
http://ncronline.org/news/theology/theologian-disputes-claim-she-ignored-dialogue-invite .
I realize this is off-topic, but I know Elizabeth’s fate is important to many of you, so I thought some of you might want to know about this. I anticipate future events may lead to another thread here on Elizabeth that should provide ample opportunities to opine on her predicament.
It is interesting to note that the PA AG who is the only one to act decisively is a woman, unlike every other participant in the scandal.
Also, the judges who were the first to open church secret archives were women: Constance Sweeney (Geoghan and numerous others in Boston) Leila Kern (Shanley), and Nettie Vogel in RI come to immediate attention. They broke the dam that had kept the secrets forever.
I like to think that a lot of priests’ and bishops’ wives would have had a salutary influence on the scandal if they had existed. At least I hope so.
Jim Jenkins: There is no record of obfuscation on Cafardi’s part. There is a record of his saying things that you don’t like. But that doesn’t amount to dissembling. Look in the mirror. You are making up things about Cafardi. I have warned you before, Jim. I’m not going to again. If you keep this up here, your account will be blocked.
And Jerry: When will your complaining cease? We get it. You are apparently troubled that people didn’t respond to your final comment on one of my recent posts about l’affaire Johnson. You are not the conscience of dotCommonweal. I’m sure you believe you’re doing the Lord’s work, and I’m sure at times you are, but what you may not realize is how self-righteous you seem to those of us who sometimes share your point of view. I have no idea what to make of your obsessive linking to NCR stories about the most recent chapter of the Johnson story, when the whole thing was reported here first. The latest story adds nothing more than confirmation that the letters I obtained and published are authentic. Obviously I would not have posted them if I hadn’t verified that they were genuine. We have been reporting on the story from the start. We’re not going to miss any further developments. Please don’t worry about that. So, what gives? I really don’t get it.
Thanks, Grant.
Mea culpa, Grant.
Here’s another parallel which has nothing to do with religion or the priesthood. If someone nailed Berlusconi for sexual harassment, could we get him to resign? (or how about economic harassment — of the bond markets, of course).
Below is a statement from Jeffrey R. Anderson, attorney for hundreds of survivors of sexual exploitation by Catholic priests. His sober perspective cuts to the heart of the matter:
“The parallels between the cover-up of an authority figure sexually abusing children at Penn State University and the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church are clear and disturbing.
“This weekend, Jerry Sandusky, former defensive coordinator of Penn State’s storied and successful football team, was arrested following a grand jury investigation into Sandusky’s sexual abuse of young boys. The grand jury indictment includes over 40 criminal counts involving the sexual abuse of eight boys between 1994 and 2009.
“According to the grand jury report, the University’s athletic director, Tim Curley, and business administrator, Gary Schultz, knew Sandusky engaged in sexually explicit behavior but did nothing to protect kids.
“This is the “bigger problem,” says our co-counsel, Marci Hamilton, noting that a “number of people knew about it and covered it up.” Both Curley and Schultz resigned after the grand jury report was made public.
“Indeed, Curley and Schultz’s behavior is as appalling as bishops who receive reports of sexual abuse by priests, but in an effort to avoid “scandal,” protect priests instead of children. Clearly, Curley and Schultz were more concerned about upholding Penn State’s and its football program’s reputation than about protecting the well-being of children. They chose to ignore those children who were already being abused by Sandusky and other children who were under his influence and at incredible risk of being victimized.
“We applaud the brave prosecutor and courageous citizen grand jury that showed no fear or favor in holding up the law against a revered institution such as Penn State. This case – unlike incidents involving bishops in the Catholic Church-will have its chance for justice and accountability in the criminal courts. It is critically important that those who conceal and cover up child sex abuse be held accountable both criminally and in the Court of public opinion.”
Nicholas Clifford, it seems both Paterno and Berlusconi are going down — bad day for the Italians!
Or maybe a good day…
A bad day for two Italians (or one of Italian descent) isn’t a bad day for all Italians, especially if you are actually living in Italy. The NYT reports that Paterno will almost certainly be “force retired” over the next few weeks — what, the season is 3-4 more weeks, net bowl games?
When I was in Calabria recently, a former national soccer player told me that “Il Buffone” would eventually go down because the other Euro leaders would someday refuse to deal with him. I guess that day has come. [There are reports on the radio that Berlusconi will resign today.]
Too bad for Joe Paterno. Paterno is just a very good coach. He deserves better than to go out of football at his age in shame for his moral vacuity. [Notice how Penn State is trying to circle the wagons around him - shows you who really calls the shots at PS, a la the Catholic Church.]
The situation at Penn State shows why the abuse in the church was so hard to correct. In practically every problem in management the first move has always been the cover-up. It is always easier to sacrifice the powerless and the defenseless than those at the realm. It is cleaner, easier, faster and leaves no traces when done swiftly. No question that the bishops, clergy and involved others were/are responsible for the continued abuse. But they are part of a systemic abuse in human nature. We still have no real grasp at what went on at the holocaust. The German people shouldered most of the blame but there was/is plenty to go around. Berlusconi survived so long because Rome did not have the moral courage to take on so powerful a figure. Even now people are defending Paterno vociferously. We wax eloquent on fallen human nature but avoid its practical applications.
“Too bad for Joe Paterno”
No!!! Too bad for the kids who were further abused because Paterno did not act.
“No!!! Too bad for the kids who were further abused because Paterno did not act.”
Amen, Bill Mazzella (also Italian, I presume!)
“I like to think that a lot of priests’ and bishops’ wives would have had a salutary influence on the scandal if they had existed.”
Oh, but they do! Concubinage is reputed to be rather widespread in Africa and doesn’t stop only with priests. Possibly so in Latin America as well.
And then there is the much ballyhooed arrival of married clergy in the Orneryariate.
I was aware of Watergate as a kid, but it wasn’t a rallying cry for me. So maybe that’s why I don’t see the emphasis on the cover-ups as the heart of the problem. Yes, it’s a huge problem. But it’s not the heart of the problem.
The problem is that grownups molest little kids. Rape of children is the problem. Isn’t it?
Bill M, the PS and RCC issues may not be so complex, at least regarding how much of the abuse could have been deterred. I know this from my experience with advising corporate clients for three decades .
If I told a corporate officer that if he/she did some possibly illegal act or failed to do what even appeared to be legally required, he/she could get fired and possibly imprisoned, he/she paid attention. Invariably, these clients did the right thing.
A simple national law that says if you are aware of any sexual abuse of children, you must report it promptly to the police, would make a huge difference. The police handle this reports professionally and confidentially at the outset. They only go public if a DA, after a confidential investigation, finds reasonable cause to file criminal charges.
In the RCC, a very significant proportion of priest sex abuse crimes have occurred after the bishop knew of an earlier abuse allegation. Bishops are not professionally competent or sufficiently independent to investigate these allegations. All , including thousands of innocent priests now often under unwarranted suspicion, would likely have been much better off if the bishops just called the police promptly.
As of today, bishops are obligated under canon law to report abuse allegations only if local secular law requires reporting, which is often not the case. While mandatory reporting can entail in some cases fine judgments, it has worked well in states where it is required. The pope should require mandatory reporting by all bishops, with a possibly different approach in a few lawless countries like Zimbabwe. So should the US Congess.
The PS supervisory officials in my opinion would likely have operated differently if the PA reporting requirements were clearer, broader and more widely known, and especially if PA authorites had earlier just vigorously and consistently enforced existing reporting laws.
Clear and known criminal laws that are diligently enforced generally are effective deterrents. Few are willing to bury things to avoid scandal or please their boss if they know it could land them in jail. That has been my experience, anyways.
Wow, Mazzella and Gibson! Did you read my entire post? I wish that both of you displayed the same acuity in your defense of children when it comes from your buddies in the hierarchy.
Joe Paterno has failed to do the moral thing by not acting to protect children he knew were at risk from Sandusky, his close associate – he may even have abetted the assaults. Paterno has betrayed so much of what his fans thought he stood for. Paterno can only retrieve his reputation now by resigning.
That doesn’t mean that Paterno’s fate is not SAD or regrettable. He is a man of great accomplishments. Now his memory will be forever tarred. If you can’t feel compassion for someone who has fallen so far, you’re no Christian.
Boston College has an excellent webcast on “Women, Virtue and Sex” with dotC’s impressive Lisa Fullam and Jim Keenan SJ, taped about a year ago.
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html?10.27.10_Fullam_Md.mp4#feature-area
Keenan’s portion starts at 42:04, following an outstanding talk by Lisa. This talk makes clear the seismic shift in culture and attitude needed from clergy and laity.
Keenan traces 1600 years of a stunted approach to sexuality in moral theology based on defining what is sin, and what is permitted because it is not sin. Manuals for priests focused on the regulation of sex, in Latin no less, so as not to tempt the reader. This was until 1965, he says.
The seeds are being planted, but oh the task ahead.
Jerry Slevin – I just want to note that I agree with you in your comment of 11/8 4 pm. I don’t have a strong opinion on whether we need a federal mandatory-reporting law in the US, but would simply note that, if existing state laws had been followed by clergy who surely are bound by such civil laws, a lot of suffering and abuse would have been prevented, and the church would have spared herself some of the problems in which she is now mired.
Canon law should be a canard. Bishops and other clergy don’t need the permission of the pope or the Vatican to obey just civil laws regarding mandatory reporting, any more than we need his permission to obey speed limit laws. We are citizens just like everyone else, and we have the same legal obligations as everyone else. Period.
Thanks, Mr. Jenkins….had the same reaction. Guess when frustrated; one needs his “pound of flesh”.
One important difference is that when bishops learned of abuse their usual reaction was to provide psychological counseling for the offender. Those secular professionals who earned their living by providing such counseling then claimed that it had been successful and the priest would be returned to a different parish.
Those bishops were guilty of naivete and of putting too much faith in the ability of those secular professionals to ensure that their patient would not offend again. They were trying to save the sinner as well as prevent harm to future victims. Although that often turned out to be a tragic mistake, maybe the Christian approach was to try.
The administrators at Penn State did not even go that far.
Eva – you only have a partial picture. In reality, many bishops specifically chose certain professionals because they knew what response they would get in terms of “father” and his disposition. If you study the diocesan reports that have been made public, over and over again you will see that bishops failed to use respected expert treatment centers to do assessments – instead, they used their own resources that may or may not have expertise in sexual abuse and predators. (The current Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Finn case is a good example of this)
Also, those case records from LA archdiocese, Chicago, Boston, etc. indicate that bishops often ignored what the expert PhD or psychiatrist recommended – especially in terms of oversight, continued treatment, and restrictions.
“In reality, many bishops specifically chose certain professionals because they knew what response they would get in terms of “father” and his disposition.”
Bill, how can you possibly know what is going on in someone else’s head? Do you really mean to claim that you have access to that kind of information?
Ah, Jim Jenkins. It must be nice to be infallible, eh? Makes your inconsistencies easier to bear, I’m sure. I may not be a Christian in your view, but in my view of the Gospels, charity extends everywhere, even to the hierarchy, not just to those I like. Similarly, justice is for all, but most of all on behalf of children — even those who may not be Penn State fans and thus not under your circle of protection.
Kathy,
Depositions yield much information about the mindset of bishops. It is also worth noting that the actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts/intentions, thank you John Locke.
I’m sorry one deposition of a Jesuit psychiatrist is not online, by way of startling example. What Bill left out is the times bishops did not pass on full medical histories where evidence shows they were well aware of it.
From an old op-ed of mine: Some of the material not forwarded to the psychiatrist relative to just six priests included, multiple letters and articles by a priest about sex with minors, performing sexual acts on two minors, molestation of boys 13, 14, and 17, diagnoses of schizoid and dependent traits, and sexual disorder not otherwise specified. Allegations of sexual abuse “were obviously concealed by Fr. McCormack,” he said. The psychiatrist was furious and called McCormack an outright liar.
Sample from deposition:
Q. Now, if you had known in 1991, Doctor, that Paul
7 Shanley, that there were records within the
8 files of the Archdiocese of Boston in which Paul
9 Shanley was alleged to have been involved with
10 the North American Man-Boy Love Association;
11 that Paul Shanley had made comments about when
12 adults have sex with children, it is the fault
13 of the child; that within the files also of the
14 Archdiocese there was a record, report, a
15 complaint about Paul Shanley where it was
16 alleged that he had stated that there was no
17 sexual act, including bestiality, that can cause
18 sexual damage, cause psychic damage; and that
19 there was a 1966 report in the files of the
20 Archdiocese from a LaSalette priest in which
21 Paul Shanley was accused of taking a boy to the
22 Blue Hills and masturbating the boy, would that
23 have in any way altered your recommendations to
24 Bishop McCormack in 1991?
(multiple objections from attorneys to the question)
10 THE WITNESS: Yes.
Doctors at the Institute of Living in Hartford described how bishops used them, kept abuse secret, and did not abide by restrictions they set.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news9/2002_03_24_Rich_DoctorsChurch.htm
Therapists were also too optimistic in the early years, but by 1993 at the latest, the top experts were telling bishops about the nature of recidivism and the need for mandatory reporting to law enforcement.
http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories2/060702_law.htm
Then, there’s bishops’ use of code words to hide sex abuse that Richard Sipe writes about: http://richardsipe.com/Click_and_Learn/2010-03-05-code_words_rev.html
I’ve used up all my links in one post. Anyway, it’s a sordid record. I’ve seen letters to treatment centers where only after describing Father’s drinking problem for two pages, the last paragraph contains an incidental mention of some boundary violations with boys.
Clerical communications, from Vatican to chancery, have a special obfuscating, indirect vocabulary where the truth is as elastic as play dough.
Joe Paterno had a mythical career and in this age of celebrity his iconic status affects us more than the rape of children. That is why I object to the sympathy for Paterno over the children. The emphasis is important. The downtrodden have no voice while we betray constant awards to the privileged. This is why Jesus warned: “They have had their reward.” I do feel bad for Paterno as I do for anyone in pain. That cannot be compared to the children, however. Jesus went out in a torrent of ignominy. Yet we fawn on the famous while the children are neglected.
Thanks, Carolyn. Wasn’t going to waste time responding to Kathy who in previous posts has shared that she hasn’t really read the court transcripts of these clerical abuse cases; has really not studied the case histories, testimony, etc.
Again, given her earlier comment about Watergate and cover-up – well, just threw my hands up in exasperation. Reminds me of students today who ask – what is the Vietnam War?
It really is time for a generation that came of age with certain collective indignations to realize their hermeneutic is not universal.
I understand very well why lawyers and others go after the biggest fish possible. The issue that I think goes unaddressed is the fact that a pedophile who does his evil deeds privately (instead of in a locker room) can do this for years without discovery. It’s all very good to want to change an enabling system, but isn’t the much greater problem the fact that these very acts are done? Is anyone fixing this?
But, Kathy, aren’t you requesting that we shift the object of our indignation to the perpetrators instead of the enablers? How is that a different hermeneutic?
You may be the only sentient being who believes worrying about the evils we can prevent is less important that “fixing” the ones we can’t. There will always be a subset of the population that cannot control its evil desires, and its up to those of us who don’t suffer such impulses to try to keep our neighbors safe. That’s why people become angry at those in authority who knew of compulsive criminals but did little or nothing to stop them. It’s a bit late in the day to be baffled by that, isn’t it?
Grant,
Anyone can find out just how many convicted sexual predators live and work in their own zip code. For each of them, there has been at least one victim, and that victim is very often a child. And these are only the convicted sexual predators. Most are unknown by any except, often enough, enablers-in-the-family.
And it’s well-established that these actions foster the next generation of sexual predators.
Any reasonable person can understand that when the blame shifts to the cover-up, less light is shown on the crime itself. It’s the actions themselves that should be the focus of our investigations. How can children be taught awareness and self-respect? How can Catholic moral wisdom help to address compulsion and the perversion of the sexual desire? These are the things we should be focusing on, as adults.
“Any reasonable person can understand that when the blame shifts to the cover-up, less light is shown on the crime itself.”
Kathy, I consider myself reasonable (perhaps unduly) and don’t see that less light is shown on the crime of abuse. That crime has been studied extensively, and while much is known, much more research is needed.
Also, “the crime itself” is actually the cover up as much as the abuse, both in legal and moral terms. The act of an abuser violates one child; the act of an enabling authorities abuses many many children. You can’t disentangle one from the other, the secondary abuse, if you will, has greater consequences in absolute terms.
“How can Catholic moral wisdom help to address compulsion and the perversion of the sexual desire?”
Some say it can’t. John Paul chalked it up the the mysterium iniquitatis. That’s unsatisying, I think, but there are pathologies in sexual perversion that seem more in the realm of psychiatry and neurology and brain science than the realm of Catholic moral theology.
Indeed, if Catholic moral wisdom has a role it would be most effective in addressing the more rational, if repulsive, actions of the overseers.
David,
Ok, we can agree to disagree, on every single point.
I’ll just add that the almost exclusive focus on these issues as Catholic problems in the past decade or two has not helped one bit the children who are abused in the home, which is by far the most likely place for abuse to occur.
On the contrary. Now in every Catholic school and in every ccd class, it is required that the children be made aware of abuse and how to respond. This is unprecedented. This is certainly true in New York and I suspect the rest of the country.
Kathy,
Sex-offender registries don’t include offenders who, as you put it, do their “evil deeds privately (instead of in a locker room) can do this for years without discovery.” So the fact that one can visit a website and see how many sex offenders live in a given area–something I find deeply troubling–is irrelevant. How abusers come to light is the point. That doesn’t shift focus away from the crimes–indeed it encourages their prosecution.
It’s as though the reality of the church’s sexual-abuse crisis went completely over your head. “How can children be taught awareness and self-respect?” That is precisely what diocesan Safe Environment programs are trying to do. “How can Catholic moral wisdom help to address compulsion and the perversion of the sexual desire?” In that question I hear the echo of bishops who believed sexual abuse was only a sin that could be addressed spiritually, rather than an act caused by a major psychological disorder. One of the lessons of the sexual-abuse crisis is that such an approach ended up putting more minors in harm’s way.
Disgusting that McQueary walked in on a rape and did not rescue the child.
Maureen Dowd calls him a “serf”. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/opinion/dowd-personal-foul-at-penn.html?_r=1&hp
What is it about rape that makes observers take the part of the rapist over the victim?
@ David Gibson:
Let me get this strait: In Gibson-speak, expressing compassion and regret for the moral failure of Joe Paterno, a famous man of great accomplishments, is evidence of “inconsistencies” born of “infallible” delusions? That’s kind of a stretch.
David, you do need to reread Ralph Waldo Emerson: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
Granted, I do hold the Catholic hierarchy, and their sycophants, to higher standards consonant with the critique attributed by NT writers to Jesus for the Pharisees of his day (you remember, David: “whitened sepulchres…” and “millstones around their necks…”). I plead guilty.
Given your expressed passion for protecting children, I sure that you could publicly endorse the strengthening of mandatory reporting laws for hierarchs and priests and the aggressive criminal prosecution of child abuse enablers like Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City. How about it, Gibson???
Gibson, would you publicly call for Finn to resign as it is being reported this morning that Joe Paterno has done? All in an effort to be consistent…
I just think this thread is so sad.
The issue is not legal responsibility or how great a football coach Joe Paterno is/was.
It’s about morality.
My exprience is that institutions are clearly goung to want to protect themselves and usually are very slow to change.
I see constant cases of child abuse, domestic violence. sex abuse repored in our daily papers. They are often brought to light because someone reported it.
But institutions (if no one reports) will tend to smooth things over.
Given the church’s position of trust and preaching of morality, the problem of morality (as noted here) runs deep.
Listen to Caroline.
Listen to the victim advocates who stand with the “litle guys” whom the instituion is more powerful than.
See the need for a change in culture = not more defnsiveness, not more minimization, not just focusing on one or two like the Penn St. administration or Finn, Rigali and his predecessor, the awful McCormack and the Boston heritage yes, back to Law, but sytemically!
Hear ye, hear ye, let me put in a good word for the prevention programs that train children to recognize abuse and tell someone.
Bill: “Now in every Catholic school and in every ccd class, it is required that the children be made aware of abuse and how to respond. This is unprecedented. This is certainly true in New York and I suspect the rest of the country.”
I’ve looked at the curriculum guides for various age levels, along with the materials handed out to volunteers. Good stuff. I wish other denominations had similar programs.
Unsurprisingly though, much still remains to be done. For example, the school principal in KC does not let things rest, but takes herself to the police/child protection authorities as well. That she probably would have lost her job is another aspect of the clerical culture at the root of so much. Chancery attitudes abide; otherwise Chicago, Philly, KC would not be happening.
The research questions in neuropsychiatry, along with an informed theology of sexuality, are critical as well. Complexity, complexity, as Ann O is want to say.
What Bob Nunz wrote. Accolades and sympathy go out to Paterno while few relate to the children victims. Howard Bryant places the focus where it should be. http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/id/7208029/penn-state-joe-paterno-failure-power
“Should Paterno finally do the right thing and resign, thousands of eyes will be wet with sadness and nostalgia, pain and hurt for the old man. Magnitudes fewer people will talk about Victim 1 or Victim 2 or Victims 3 through 8, or the lives they now face because football and the big coach from the big football school with the big name were considered more important. Few people in the stands will talk about the horrific Justice Department statistics: Children who suffer abuse, sexual abuse included, are 59 percent more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28 percent more likely to be arrested as an adult and 30 percent more likely to commit violent crime. These numbers tell us there is a good chance that lives have been ruined before even being given a chance. This is the price of Penn State’s failure, the failure of power. Whatever tears exist for Paterno and his football legacy should be saved for the children.”
I wish other denominations had similar programs, and I wish public school curricula had similar programs. Everyone has reporting requirements, but not everyone has education requirements. Does everyone have preventative requirements? No, because it’s considered a Catholic problem. And that is a big problem.
Groan.
They do, Kathy, as do hundreds of school districts; college campuses, etc. You really do need to get out of your bubble.
Here is an excellent commentary by Martens:
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=1&entry_id=4734
Highlight:
- “This is a story about men and boys. This is not a story about the evil of men and the saintliness of women, but try a thought experiment. You can make any excuse you want for these men, but picture your mother (or grandmother, sister, wife or daughter) walking in on a scene of a child being raped, and ask yourself, what would my mother do? Would she walk away from the child? Would she go consult with someone as to the best course of action? Would she report to her higher up and consider that her legal and moral obligations were met? Or would your mother, as frail and aged, or as tough and young as she is, be saving a child from the clutches of a destroyer of children by any means necessary? Why did these men not meet their moral obligations?”
Like Kathy, I am struck by the opprobrium visited upon Mr. Paterno, in comparison to that visited upon the very credibly alleged abuser of children, Mr. Sandusky. (see Bill Mazella’s link to an ESPN column for just one of many examples of this). There’s a lot we don’t yet know about Mr. Paterno’s actions, but we do know:
• he’s not been accused of molesting any one,
• he’s not been accused of covering up the molestation of others,
• he’s not been indicted (and is indeed not even a target). In fact, the prosecutors volunteered that Mr. Paterno has been cooperative in their investigation.
This does not mean he will turn out to be entirely blameless when the dust settles, but why is he the overwhelming target of media ire, and not Mr. Sandusky? It’s bizarre. I think an answer may be buried in the following statement:
“There will always be a subset of the population that cannot control its evil desires, and it’s up to those of us who don’t suffer such impulses to try to keep our neighbors safe.”
I’m troubled by this. It implies there is one subset of the population that has less accountability (because it does not have control), and another subset that is not even tempted to do terrible things. But the line separating good from evil runs through every human heart. For some, the desire includes abusing children. For other, the desire includes turning a blind eye to the evil of others, so that our lives are not unduly complicated. For some evil actions, we blame psychological maladies, for others, we blame the person. Why is that?
Mark,
1. Sandusky’s guilt is a no brainer.
2. Paterno has people defending his actions. Children have very few defending them
3. Jesus placed a special stigma on those who harm children.
But Bill, if Sandusky’s guilt is a no brainer, and Jesus placed a special stigma on those who harm children, wouldn’t it make sense for the anger to be directed at Sandusky? What am I missing?
Jesus not only placed a special stigma on those who harm children. He also put his arms around children and embraced them. Nowadays, the one person who is least likely to embrace a child is the parish priest.
(I almost wrote “who is least liable to embrace a child…” But he is least likely, because he is most, most liable.)
I see Joe Patorno as an instance of what Aristotle called “a tragic hero”, that is, a genuinely superior man of high status who falls because of tragic flaw in his character.
As I see it, Patorno’s tragic flaw was to value the school’s reputation above all other values. Really sad.
Ann, I thought the same thing yesterday. He went to a Jesuit high school and an Ivy League college. He should have known better. Then again, Aristotle realized that hubris could ruin any person, especially self-important ones. Yes, how really sad.
Interesting post at http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-pennstate-abuse
“Since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts.”
Charging Paterno protected and played many with criminal charges of beating up people, some requiring hospitalization. Local courts were a sham when it came to accountability, according to the cases listed.
Hmm…or is that kind of record par for the course?
I’m assuming we’ve all heard the news that Paterno is gone.
And that those who object to his firing rioted last night?
Mark, what you are missing is that Sandusky has been charged and will be prosecuted. He is being dealt with whereas Paterno is in denial and people have more sympathy for him than for the victims. Think about it.
My experience is not only that institutions try to smooth things over, but that their is deep resistenace in those invested in cultures to criticisms of factors that can be influential in permissiveness to abusive behavior.
Much criticism of late about some deeply held ideas in some evangelical settings about phsyical abuse of children or about bullying issues.
The problem of clericalism in Catholicism and the resort to its own laws insidde the institution are problems in major need of correction.
Saying the Church has been “exclusively” singled out (as per Kathy, who undoubtedly clings to the resistance the Church she loves uses) is just a canard.
Unfortunately, I heard the defenses from supporters of religious groups over 20 years ago when we tried to confront cultural issues in abuse.
It’s not surprising, given institutional power and the hold it has on many, that that view wil not only continue to surface, but be used by the institutions to continue to minimize their problems!
Sister Mary Adelaide, my sainted sixth-grade teacher, frequently reminded us: “Those sins of omission will really get you all the time!”
The mirror-image quality of what has occurred at Penn State and what has been unfolding in the Catholic Church for the past decade is almost spooky. Perhaps now people will begin to understand the twin pervasive corrupting influence of power and money.
The whole Penn State community will have some hard lessons to learn in the weeks and months ahead. The first of many teachable moments begins this morning: How will the university react to the public eruption of guilt, shame and anger by rioting students? How will Penn State help students and fans face their betrayal at the hands of trusted icons in revered institutions?
Whether it is the Catholic Church or religion-like, ritual-filled, football-crazed public universities, some first lessons to take away:
1. Child SAFETY is paramount.
2. REPORT sex crimes to the police, not to your boss or bishops who have motivations to cover-up.
3. PROSECUTE perpetrators and enablers to the fullest extent of the law.
Sr. Adelaide would probably offer the rioting, betrayed students at Penn State her special twist on the famous quote from John’s gospel:
“”I have come to bring you the Truth. And the Truth will set you free.” But first, it will make you miserable.”"
[This comment has been edited. Keep in mind that Sandusky has not yet been convicted of any crime.]
The answer to what a mother would do if she walked in on someone abusing a child is a poignant one. As much as we all want to believe a mother’s love for her child is always paramount, it isn’t always true. I know of two cases in which the mother walked out and did nothing. One was a mother who caught a priest abusing her child: she went into shock because her worldview simply didn’t allow that possibility, pushed the memory away, and did nothing until the child grew up and sued. The other was a mother whose husband was abusing her children. She was totally dependent on her husband and also chose denial. Years later, when the grown child spoke to her, she said, “If I believe you, my whole life will have been a lie.” She died denying what she knew.
Abuse is passed along and tolerated in institutions–and by that I mean any institution from families to companies to schools to churches–because something is perceived as more important than the life of the person being abused. If the institution or the person’s position in the institution is threatened, frightened people will sacrifice the vulnerable. They will see a scholarship or a job or a husband’s support as irreplaceable and a child as fungible. When an institution is more important than its members, and when people feel abusers have absolute power over them, abuse flourishes. Children stay in abusive situations because they believe there is no escape. Mothers and employees and players and coaches and church members ignore the abuse perpetrated by those in power because they are afraid of losing what they have. Those in charge, from principals to bishops to CEOs, cover up the traces until public and legal pressure becomes too strong to bear.
Celibacy is not the problem. The love of power and the fear of those who wield it are the problems. The stigmatization of survivors who speak out doesn’t help, either.
Just read a radio report that Penn State is going ahead with this weekend’s game with a new interim coach?!?
PS has missed their first opportunity to bring real healing to their community by forfeiting this game in solidarity with all the survivors of Sandusky’s assaults.
PS could have sent a clear and unambiguous message to the whole world that some things are more important than playing a football game.
I guess “Bread and Circuses” is a beast that must be fed continually.
Sorry, I “heard” not “read” a radio report as I wrote in my last posting.
Catrina’s Daughter, thank you for your wise and true observations. It is as good a short explanation of the continuing sex abuse scandal as I have yet seen.
Mr. Jenkins, with all due respect to your zeal on behalf of victims and survivors, this survivor doesn’t care whether they play a game this weekend. The university administration has done far more than most institutions do and, sadly for Catholicism, far more than the Catholic Church has done.
I read a quip in one combox today that if Paterno, the president, vice president or other PS officials worked for the pope they would still have a job. Sharp but true.
Catarina’s daughter has again written powerfully of the core truth that abuse will be tolerated if it challenges a world view that threatens someone’s security – “something is perceived as more important than the life of the person being abused.”
Amen.