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Posted: July 20th, 2007 at 1:51am By: Kevin Considine
I've occasionally written about a "preferential option for the poor" in this space. It simply means that even though God loves everyone, God's first-loved are the poor and the marginalized. It's the idea of how the last are first in God's Kingdom.
To that, it may be time to add a "preferential option for victims." This means that victims of violent crimes and abuse also should be understood as the first-loved of God. This is because of the divine ministry of healing revealed in Jesus Christ. For the diocese of Los Angeles, among other dioceses, this should be food for thought.
If you haven't been paying attention, earlier this week the L.A. diocese settled with victims of clergy child sexual abuse. The $660 million payout to 508 claimants comes out to about $1.3 million per victim. That's quite a payout. And in my view it's only a Band-Aid.
Forgive me if I'm a little harsh with my words. I don't know what to do with this settlement. After all, it occurred on the eve of commencing the actual trial. This is the trial in which Cardinal Roger Mahoney would have had to take the witness stand. It's the trial when the victims' stories and the reality of how the Church seemed to place the institution before the victims would have become public knowledge. But now that won't happen.
So it's difficult for me to be at peace with this. Especially because it hits close to home. I have acquaintances who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Not by priests, but by family members. And as a cradle Catholic who is imbued with Catholic ritual, it's not that far of a leap for me to empathize with the struggles of the claimants. And to feel their frustration.
To some, it must be like salt in their wounds. Because $1.3 million won't bring back their shattered childhoods. And it won't necessarily bring healing. It'll be merely another chapter in the Church's shameful handling of this evil in its midst.
To others, though, it may help bring closure. For the diocese has admitted its guilt, publicly acknowledged the pain of the victims and offered restitution. As one of the claimants pointed out, he no longer could be called merely an "alleged" victim.
The settlement is a relative good. Like a Band-Aid, it might stop the bleeding, but it's not a cure. The wound is going to fester.
That's why the Church needs to continue to repent. We need to accept that the victims must be allowed to tell their stories. Church leaders have to stop focusing upon protecting the Church and instead focus upon protecting God's children and healing the victims of abuse.
Because the victims are all still part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Even if they no longer attend mass. As victims of the Church's sin, their needs and their healing should take precedence in ministerial and institutional life. If we all believe in the resurrection and are disciples of Jesus Christ, then we must be healers as Christ was a healer.
And this means that more than litigation needs to happen. There is a four-part process of reconciliation that needs to occur. This comes from a lecture of Dr. Robert Schreiter, a Catholic priest and Vatican II professor of theology at Catholic Theological Union. First, the truth must be told. Victims must be supported and nurtured to come forth and tell their stories. Second, justice must be implemented. The predatory priests must be held accountable for their crimes, and those responsible for covering up the crimes must also be held accountable for being complicit.
Third, there has to be a time of mercy and forgiveness. After seeing justice and accountability, victims must be given the space to freely forgive their perpetrators, if they so choose. Then, and only then, is some kind of peace possible. This means that new time is created in which the perpetrators and victims don't forget the evil of what happened but no longer are dominated by them. They find new life. This is the peace of reconciliation.
Now these four steps of truth, justice, mercy and peace are guidelines. Reconciliation is a risky process, and nothing is guaranteed. And it's never completely over. But it can create space for healing to come about.
And healing is desperately needed. As many abuse victims can attest, the experience makes you feel dirty. It can make you feel like you were the one who did something wrong. You become angry, confused and full of self-hatred. You rarely feel safe and are subject to long years of emotional and physical torment. The aftermath of childhood sexual abuse can break up relationships and marriages. It can strain the ties of family and friendship. It leads to mental illness, physical disease and even suicide.
If that weren't enough, oftentimes a victim can become a later perpetrator. Now that should be taken with a grain of salt. Because most victims of abuse will never harm a child. Yet the proclivity is part of the residue of childhood sexual abuse. The sinful cycle continues.
Reconciliation can break this cycle of this sin. It can heal not just the victims but also the perpetrators, who also carry a wound from their crimes. Such a process won't be easy, and it won't be painless, but it's necessary.
For the record, the majority of priests are not abusers. And they never will be. They are overworked, underpaid men who have dedicated their lives to God, their parishioners and the Church itself. We should remember that the vast majority are good men.
But a minority of priests are being outed as those who prey upon children. And our Church will continue to be sick until we bring about reconciliation. So this is a call to remind we the Church that the victims must come first.
Otherwise, we're just playing at being disciples of Christ.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.
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I've occasionally written about a "preferential option for the poor" in this space. It simply means that even though God loves everyone, God's first-loved are the poor and the marginalized. It's the idea of how the last are first in God's Kingdom.
To that, it may be time to add a "preferential option for victims." This means that victims of violent crimes and abuse also should be understood as the first-loved of God. This is because of the divine ministry of healing revealed in Jesus Christ. For the diocese of Los Angeles, among other dioceses, this should be food for thought.
If you haven't been paying attention, earlier this week the L.A. diocese settled with victims of clergy child sexual abuse. The $660 million payout to 508 claimants comes out to about $1.3 million per victim. That's quite a payout. And in my view it's only a Band-Aid.
Forgive me if I'm a little harsh with my words. I don't know what to do with this settlement. After all, it occurred on the eve of commencing the actual trial. This is the trial in which Cardinal Roger Mahoney would have had to take the witness stand. It's the trial when the victims' stories and the reality of how the Church seemed to place the institution before the victims would have become public knowledge. But now that won't happen.
So it's difficult for me to be at peace with this. Especially because it hits close to home. I have acquaintances who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Not by priests, but by family members. And as a cradle Catholic who is imbued with Catholic ritual, it's not that far of a leap for me to empathize with the struggles of the claimants. And to feel their frustration.
To some, it must be like salt in their wounds. Because $1.3 million won't bring back their shattered childhoods. And it won't necessarily bring healing. It'll be merely another chapter in the Church's shameful handling of this evil in its midst.
To others, though, it may help bring closure. For the diocese has admitted its guilt, publicly acknowledged the pain of the victims and offered restitution. As one of the claimants pointed out, he no longer could be called merely an "alleged" victim.
The settlement is a relative good. Like a Band-Aid, it might stop the bleeding, but it's not a cure. The wound is going to fester.
That's why the Church needs to continue to repent. We need to accept that the victims must be allowed to tell their stories. Church leaders have to stop focusing upon protecting the Church and instead focus upon protecting God's children and healing the victims of abuse.
Because the victims are all still part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Even if they no longer attend mass. As victims of the Church's sin, their needs and their healing should take precedence in ministerial and institutional life. If we all believe in the resurrection and are disciples of Jesus Christ, then we must be healers as Christ was a healer.
And this means that more than litigation needs to happen. There is a four-part process of reconciliation that needs to occur. This comes from a lecture of Dr. Robert Schreiter, a Catholic priest and Vatican II professor of theology at Catholic Theological Union. First, the truth must be told. Victims must be supported and nurtured to come forth and tell their stories. Second, justice must be implemented. The predatory priests must be held accountable for their crimes, and those responsible for covering up the crimes must also be held accountable for being complicit.
Third, there has to be a time of mercy and forgiveness. After seeing justice and accountability, victims must be given the space to freely forgive their perpetrators, if they so choose. Then, and only then, is some kind of peace possible. This means that new time is created in which the perpetrators and victims don't forget the evil of what happened but no longer are dominated by them. They find new life. This is the peace of reconciliation.
Now these four steps of truth, justice, mercy and peace are guidelines. Reconciliation is a risky process, and nothing is guaranteed. And it's never completely over. But it can create space for healing to come about.
And healing is desperately needed. As many abuse victims can attest, the experience makes you feel dirty. It can make you feel like you were the one who did something wrong. You become angry, confused and full of self-hatred. You rarely feel safe and are subject to long years of emotional and physical torment. The aftermath of childhood sexual abuse can break up relationships and marriages. It can strain the ties of family and friendship. It leads to mental illness, physical disease and even suicide.
If that weren't enough, oftentimes a victim can become a later perpetrator. Now that should be taken with a grain of salt. Because most victims of abuse will never harm a child. Yet the proclivity is part of the residue of childhood sexual abuse. The sinful cycle continues.
Reconciliation can break this cycle of this sin. It can heal not just the victims but also the perpetrators, who also carry a wound from their crimes. Such a process won't be easy, and it won't be painless, but it's necessary.
For the record, the majority of priests are not abusers. And they never will be. They are overworked, underpaid men who have dedicated their lives to God, their parishioners and the Church itself. We should remember that the vast majority are good men.
But a minority of priests are being outed as those who prey upon children. And our Church will continue to be sick until we bring about reconciliation. So this is a call to remind we the Church that the victims must come first.
Otherwise, we're just playing at being disciples of Christ.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.
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