Reflections by nine catholic members of the campus community

JUDITH WILT professor of English
Persons in positions of responsibility develop a ferocious instinct for putting out fires, quieting noise; they need to surround themselves with thoughtful counselors who will always probe and often check that instinct.

What should Church authorities do? Stand up and take in the despair and anger of those abused; work more broadly with the legal community to reform the over-reliance on confidentiality and secrecy in dealing with both crime and sin; learn more about how actions of theirs, like apologizing, might work in the healing process. And surely a full scale review of the training of priests is appropriate; training needs to fit them with the language to understand themselves and the rest of the people of God as sexual, social, intellectual, and spiritual beings.

Boston College should find ways to keep this painful awakening alive with forums, discussions, courses; with pastoral intensity and intellectual honesty.

Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert

WILLIAM B. NEENAN, SJ vice president and special assistant to the president
Sorrow, anger, embarrassment--also prayerful reappraisal of my life as a believing Catholic and Jesuit priest--these are my reactions to the unfolding story of the sexual misconduct of priests and the malfeasance of bishops. If the Church were the Rotary Club I would long since have cancelled my membership. But the Catholic Church for me mediates my faith relationship with God. I view death and life, forgiveness, and hope in the future through the lens of Good Friday and Easter. What gives meaning to my life comes to me through this Catholic Church, which I love and which has been ill served.

What to do? In the short term, replace autocratic defensiveness with transparency. If mothers and fathers had known of the offending priests, can we believe the depredations would have continued? If laypeople with financial expertise had been involved, would thousands of dollars in hush money have been paid out? Larger issues of Church reform may be needed. But now, right now, what the Church needs is to turn on some lights.

GARY GABOR '02 editor of Crossroads, an "independent Catholic student newspaper"
The abuse itself was horribly sinful and scandalous. But unresponsiveness by members of the clergy aggravated the scandal to the extent that virtually every member of the Church has been affected. This may strike some as odd, but I think we need to reaffirm our faith in the Church. I know what I and my friends are thinking. And I've been surprised to find that the scandal has caused some to want to love the Church more strongly. Some are considering the priesthood and religious life, others what it means to be a lay Catholic, with a new depth and intensity. Our hearts are burning right now--with pain, but also love. And love is the fire that can change things for the better.

ALBERTO GODENZI dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and a member of the Boston Archdiocese's new Commission for the Protection of Children
Three tentative ideas come to mind. First, the final measure for any system is how well it protects its most vulnerable members. Second, power and accountability are inseparable. Third, in any crisis, be it on a local or international level, one should embrace advice beyond the circle of like-minded colleagues or friends. All three lessons invite the Church to consider open, diverse, and participative environments and practices. These observations seem to hold true for any organization, not just the Catholic Church, and they, of course, do not address Catholicism as a community of faith.

Photo by Lee Pellegrini

CLARE DUNSFORD associate dean, College of Arts and Sciences
One of the victims of a priest's sexual abuse has said of the Catholic hierarchy: "It's like they're speaking a different language and living in a different reality." Men separated from women, from children, from daily tasks, from the body will in the end lose the wholeness of being human. The "few bad apples" argument just doesn't wash, when those who themselves did not abuse colluded in the protection of those who did. This crisis is about unchecked power and entitlement as well as sexual pathology. Does anyone think a group of women would have abused these children, or covered for their sisters? The hothouse that produced both the molester John Geoghan and the cardinal Bernard Law is the same dark place that closes the door on women. May a Vatican III open the doors to a Church where women have true power, the laity have a voice equal to that of the clergy, and priests are educated in the wisdom of the body as well as of the soul.

LARRY GRIFFIN '03 editor of the Heights, the independent student weekly newspaper
Most BC students I know didn't inherit the respect for the Church's authority that our parents did, and furthermore many are just beginning to come to grips with their faith. As the scandals continue to horrifically expand in magnitude, the one ingredient the Church absolutely needs to draw young adults into the flock is eroding: trust. The solution? To re-earn trust, the Church must confront its problems with honesty and caring, holding the guilty accountable for their crimes, and enacting legitimate changes--both in action and attitude.

FR. ROBERT P. IMBELLI priest of the New York Archdiocese and associate professor of theology
During Lent, the parish where I reside held a number of sessions to allow lay people and priests alike to express their grief, their dismay, their sense of betrayal. This spiritual exercise, both respectful and painfully honest, represents a first step toward healing and reknitting bonds of trust and affection that must continue.

In the wider Church, there must be serious re-examination of diocesan and national ecclesial structures to enable real participation of the entire people of God: laity, priests, and bishops. And there must be meaningful vehicles of accountability. Hierarchical authority is intrinsic to Catholicism; but this does not signify authoritarian disregard for the voices of the faithful.

Indispensable as such structural reform may be, authentic renewal will only come through transformation in Christ. When Francis of Assisi heard the voice from the Crucifix exhorting him to "rebuild the Church," the means were not bricks, nor even organization, but, primarily, radical conversion to Jesus Christ and genuine holiness of life.

LISA CAHILL professor of theology
The pedophilia crisis teaches that, while big institutions change with predictable reluctance, there is huge hidden power in grassroots Catholicism. Principles for dealing with pedophiles were instituted by the national bishops' conference in 1993, but dioceses, including Boston, applied them erratically. Neither the National Conference of Catholic Bishops nor the Vatican has confronted problems fully and openly. Yet leaders of a new Boston Priests Forum, pastoral councils, lay church members, and lay organizations are demanding a say in policy and finances, with or without higher approval. The challenge ahead is to keep the momentum growing. The test of good faith for bishops will be to grant laity and parish clergy a voice in governance immediately; this could be done within existing canon law. The test of the depth of the reformist agenda will be persistence--even if future episcopal leadership resorts to silencing, co-optation, or halfway reforms.

Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert.

MARY ANN HINSDALE, IHM associate professor of theology and director of BC's Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry
I think Catholics have come to an agreement that there must be no toleration of sexual abuse by any member of the Church and especially not by its ministers. However, there is still a deep, unhealed wound (to use the writer Eugene Kennedy's phrase) surrounding everything that has to do with sexuality in the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, such issues as optional celibacy for the diocesan clergy, homosexuality, and the inclusion of women in all ministries of the Church must continue to be discussed. While these issues are not directly related to pedophilia, they do contribute to the "closed clerical culture" that has allowed situations of abuse to go unchallenged.

Another important issue is the Vatican's acceptance of American democratic values as a legitimate "inculturation" of Catholicism. Participation in decision-making and open disclosure in a free press distinguish the U.S. Catholic experience. Legitimate diversity has always been a hallmark of true catholicity.

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