Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI issued the latest apology from the Roman Catholic Church for multiple cases of pædophilia (yes, I prefer the British spelling) in yet another country. This time it was Ireland. So far, the Roman Church has had to apologize for major scandals in the USA, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Austria. The apology went farther than previous apologies. Nevertheless, victim groups were not satisfied. But, I found myself thinking theologically as I read the report and some of the responses of the victim groups.
In many Churches (not just the Roman Church) when a scandal is discovered, there is the tendency to minimize the scandal, to accuse pressure groups of overplaying the depth of the scandal, and, when all else fails, to say that the scandal was in the past, and why are we raking up stories from more than a decade ago. In some cases, such as one Orthodox financial scandal, there have even been transfers of priests and discipline of laity. There is a tendency to stress a quick forgiveness with few consequences. And, sadly, just like in the secular world, the people at the top rarely pay a serious price, be they Roman or Orthodox bishops, or secular Chief Executive Officers.
The victim groups tend to go off to the opposite extremes. Regardless of the cause, they insist on lifetime punishment, and many would go for capital punishment if they thought that they could convince the authorities to execute it. Many victim groups demand statements of responsibility that are so detailed that they go beyond the actual evidence of what happened into the realm of pure conjecture. Conspiracy-thinking is part of many victim groups. In fact, many of the statements that they demand before they would “forgive” would place the alleged perpetrators in such legal and financial jeopardy that there is little reality that they will ever be issued. This failure to issue a statement in wording approved by the victim groups justifies the continuing failure of the victim groups to forgive and their continuing active conflict against whomever they have deemed to have made them a victim.
But, what are we called to do as Christians? Well, the answer might be a little more complex than you realize. On the hand of the sinner, the person is called to repent. But, in Biblical terms, repent means to not simply be sorry for your sin, but also to change your direction and go in a different direction to change your style of functioning. Moreover, there is also the concept of restitution. In all cases, Biblical restitution meant not simply to restore what was lost, but also to pay above and beyond what was lost as a “penalty” for your sin. In cases in which restitution was not possible, other discipline was possible. But, more than that, there might be consequences that would be with you for life. In the Early Church, a priest who killed was barred from the rest of his life from celebrating the Eucharist, even if that killing was in self-defense. Other cases might bar a person from certain Church privileges for a period of time. Thus, robbery did not simply carry a burden of restitution but also barred one from Communion for a period of time. However, in many cases, that bar was not forever, but for a limited period of time. I have no problem with pædophilia being a lifetime ban from the active priesthood. I would have a problem with only one case being used to justify a lifetime ban, as there have been many cases of false accusations against both priests and lay people.
But, the victim also had responsibilities. Among the heaviest of responsibilities is that found in the Our Father, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Forgiveness, regardless of the repentance of the perpetrator, is one of the heaviest of the responsibilities imposed upon us in all of Scripture. This does not mean that we cannot bear testimony in a court of law. Rather, the opposite is true, the Ten Commandments call us to bear true, and only true, testimony. That is, the victim is not to exaggerate testimony, but to say only what is true. Sadly, many of today’s victim groups specialize in the “I will never heal” school of accusation, in which they seek, always and only, the maximum penalty for any perpetrator regardless of the degree of their offense. In fact, I suspect that they often inadvertently encourage a type of false testimony by encouraging their members to not only state that they will “never” be healed, but also encouraging their members to be at each and every parole hearing to make sure that full vengeance is executed against the perpetrator. Notice that I said vengeance and not justice. Justice is a measured response, vengeance is a “how long can I manage to keep him in” type of response. There is a reason why the Old Testament set up the “Cities of Refuge.” That reason is that if justice were left up to victims, the response would almost always be injustice and exaggerated punishment.
But, I will also argue that the whole issue of perpetrators and victims also raises up some questions about our theory of the atonement.
===MORE TO COME===
Fr., what you said about forgiveness really is heavy burden to do. I think that’s one thing we often overlook when we have wronged someone, is that burden that is now on the other person to forgive in addition to the other harm our wrong has caused them. I’m not thinking of the need to forgive simply as a religious obligation, but more strictly as for the personal well-being of the wronged person.
I look forward to more on this subject, it surely is a particularly heinous occurrence and sadly seems to be so widespread.
Really good post, my brother. You probably noticed I commented on this subject too in front of the reprint your post. I’ll try to phone this week and catch up.
Having been in a situation where I had to forgive a close relative of a very heinous crime against me and my children, I have been in the situation. A dear friend suggested that as an act of will, I pray for the person each day asking for that person what I would wish for myself. As you can imagine, my first prayers were between clinched teeth. As time went on and I truly sought the willingness to forgive, I found the Holy Spirit working on my own heart–healing and bringing that sought for willingness to forgive. I have to say that over a year of daily prayers for this person passed before my own heart matched the words my will had been saying. This healing continued and I was able to truly forgive. When a time came that this person was dying and truly repented and wanted to make amends to me and the children, I was able to accept those amends and comfort the dying. I continue to pray for this person and today the memories are of the good things this person was and the loving times we shared and not the pain. Because of that also, my children can remember the good things and not the horror. This I could not have done without the Lord’s grace. In my own self, I would have been the first to pick up a stone–Mama Lion you know–but God is good and his mercy endures.
Alix
Forgiveness and rehabilitation into the community laudable however we must never forget that the recidivism rate for paedophiles is frighteningly high. These men, and yes is is overwhelmingly a male perpetrated crime, pose an ever present risk of re-offending and therefore whilst as catholic communities we strive to forgive these men’s sins we owe it to to both our children and the men themselves not to forget and to ensure that they are not put in positions where they can influence, groom or be seen by children as an authority figure. We have a duty to ensure that in bringing these men back into our communities that we are vigilant and committed to supporting them in a positive and safe way.
It is naive to consider that these men are safe with children even if their offending was in the distant past. That does not mean we cannot support them and treat them with compassion but common sense and the safety of our children are our paramount concerns
When the concern for our children is used to decree a set of laws so draconian than an 18 year old senior in high school can be forced to register as a sexual offender for life for having had sex with a 15 year old freshwoman in high school, we have gone too far. My article was focusing on that discrepancy. Notice that I said that I had no problem with pedophiles being banned from the priesthood for life, or from other professions for that matter. But, when we cast too wide a net, when we destroy the life of a non-pedophile for our fears, then we undermine justice as surely as when pedophiles were not prosecuted as they should have been.