tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/sexual-abuse-in-church-40670/articlesSexual abuse in church – The Conversation2023-01-11T01:50:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976132023-01-11T01:50:18Z2023-01-11T01:50:18ZGeorge Pell: a ‘political bruiser’ whose church legacy will be overshadowed by child abuse allegations<p>Former senior Vatican figure George Pell has died in Rome from <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-11/cardinal-george-pell-dies-vatican-aged-81/101843096">complications</a> following hip surgery. He was 81.</p>
<p>Pell, often described as a conservative Catholic, was jailed for <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/what-cardinal-george-pell-hated-most-about-his-time-in-prison/news-story/1ec0d4d2112e1d7af745189b397e1be5">13 months</a> for child sexual abuse in Australia in 2019 but maintained his innocence and was acquitted the following year.</p>
<p>Once a top official in charge of reforming the Vatican finances, and also Australia’s highest-ranked Catholic figure, Pell leaves behind a complex legacy.</p>
<p>His death will be sad for the Catholics who held him in high regard but less so for the many critics he attracted in Australia and elsewhere over the course of his career. </p>
<p>It’s hard to believe he will not be remembered most vividly for the trial in 2019 and 2020, when he was accused and then convicted of several counts of sexual abuse of children within the St Patrick’s Cathedral complex itself. His conviction was later overturned.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-george-pell-won-in-the-high-court-on-a-legal-technicality-133156">How George Pell won in the High Court on a legal technicality</a>
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<h2>Heavily criticised</h2>
<p>Though his conviction was overturned by the High Court, there are many in Australian society who still felt Pell didn’t do enough when he was Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney to act against abuse by priests in the dioceses he controlled.</p>
<p>He was heavily <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/pell-knew-in-1982-that-ridsdale-was-moved-to-save-church-from-scandal-20200507-p54qr9.html">criticised</a> by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. When its report was released after Pell’s conviction was quashed in 2020, it condemned him for his failures to take action against abusive priests – particularly against serial paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale.</p>
<p>One thing I think Pell’s own court case highlighted is a particular absurdity about legal reporting in Australia, in that everyone outside Australia knew he had been convicted but no one in Australia could report it. </p>
<p>That’s part of his legacy; this case exposed the difficulty in legal reporting. It’s actually quite important.</p>
<h2>A political bruiser</h2>
<p>Pell was, without a doubt, the most powerful Australian ever to rise through the ranks of the Catholic church. He put Australia on the map in the Vatican in a way it had not been at any other time in history.</p>
<p>It’s testament to how well he was regarded as an administrator in the church that even though he was one of the most staunch conservatives of his generation, the comparatively liberal Pope Francis still turned to him to ask him to regain control of Vatican finances. In other words, his talents were recognised even by liberals within the church.</p>
<p>He was an outsider to the nexus of Italian cardinals who usually controlled that aspect of Vatican activity. </p>
<p>When you talk to people who knew him, they say that in private Pell could be quite charming. But his public personality was as a political bruiser who was simply able to sweep aside opposition, which is what allowed him to ascend the hierarchy so quickly.</p>
<p>He was an ideological fellow traveller with Pope Benedict in many ways, but their style and personality couldn’t have been more different. Benedict was the softly spoken professor type, whereas Pell learned how to do politics in the boxing ring and on the footy field. That shaped his response to any given problem. </p>
<h2>Before and after the court cases</h2>
<p>Pell came from Ballarat, and had, in many ways, a difficult childhood where he wasn’t always physically well. </p>
<p>But he came through it and channelled a lot of his energy into physical pursuits. He <a href="https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/richmond-removes-cardinal-george-pell-as-club-vice-patron-following-child-sex-crime-conviction/news-story/b7fa3681fb5d80c11d44a3346a78a2a7">signed</a> for Richmond Football Club in 1959 and was on the verge of becoming a professional player. Yet he decided instead to give it all up to go into the seminary. I don’t think anyone but he could explain exactly why he made that choice.</p>
<p>His talent to cut to the heart of the problem and impose his solution is what got him noticed by his superiors in Australia and the Vatican and helped his rise though the ranks.</p>
<p>After the court case, Pell quietly returned to Rome, where he has been living in semi-retirement since. He’s only made a handful of public statements and he also published some writing he did during his time in prison.</p>
<p>In Easter last year he urged the Vatican to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/cardinal-george-pell-and-the-status-of-gay-catholics/13809320">intervene</a> to stop German priests who were advocating that homosexuality might be OK. </p>
<p>All in all, Pell had an important impact on making Australia central to the church but that will be overshadowed by the accusation he didn’t do enough to stop abuse by priests and by his own court cases. </p>
<p>This period will no doubt be triggering for survivors and it’s important to remember that. Many adults in the Catholic church and other institutions failed children in a lot of ways and it’s important we remember survivors of abuse and the profound effect public discussion of this case will have on them. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-have-media-outlets-been-fined-more-than-1-million-for-their-pell-reporting-162173">Why have media outlets been fined more than $1 million for their Pell reporting?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miles Pattenden has previously received research funding from the British Academy, the European Commission, and the Government of Spain.
</span></em></p>Pell, often described as a conservative Catholic, was jailed for child sexual abuse in Australia in 2019 but maintained his innocence and was acquitted the following year.Miles Pattenden, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1127542019-03-12T19:06:43Z2019-03-12T19:06:43ZHow recognising Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse might help shift Catholic culture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263268/original/file-20190311-86710-1g7kthg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=88%2C169%2C5295%2C2800&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crucifixion was a form of state terror and victims were likely to be stripped. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The crisis of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and the institutional denial and cover up, has left many people of faith shocked by the lack of appropriate response toward survivors. </p>
<p>Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, the president of the Australian bishops’ conference, has called for a <a href="https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/02/20/aussie-prelate-says-church-needs-copernican-revolution-on-abuse-crisis/">Copernican revolution on sexual abuse in the church</a> and a shift in Catholic culture so that abuse survivors, not clergy, shape the church response. </p>
<p>In an <a href="https://cruxnow.com/february-abuse-summit/2019/02/21/top-australian-prelate-says-abuse-survivors-reflect-christ-crucified/">interview with Crux</a>, published during the recent <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/25/vatican-concludes-historic-summit-on-sexual-abuse">Vatican summit on sexual abuse</a>, he also compared victims of clergy abuse to Christ crucified.</p>
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<p>Unless you see that what’s happened to the abused has happened to Christ and that therefore, they’re Christ crucified in their needs, all the external commands in the world won’t do it.</p>
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<p>In our work, <a href="https://voicesoffaith.org/rocioalvear">Rocio Figueroa Alvear</a> and I have interviewed sexual abuse survivors and show that recognising Jesus as an abuse victim can help them, <a href="http://www.tuimotu.org/a/EE683nZ">and help the church to change</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-cardinal-pells-conviction-can-a-tradition-bound-church-become-more-accountable-112593">After Cardinal Pell’s conviction, can a tradition-bound church become more accountable?</a>
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<h2>Jesus as victim of sexual abuse</h2>
<p>There are good theological grounds for recognising a connection between Christ and those who have been subjected to abuse. The words of Jesus in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A31-46&version=NRSV">Matthew 25:31-46</a> say that what is done to others is also done to Christ, and this has been explored in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1558/tse.v15i1.65">work of Beth Crisp</a>. </p>
<p>In Matthew 25, and presumably in the words of Archbishop Coleridge, this connection is at a theological or metaphorical level. But recent work has offered a strong argument to go beyond the theological connection and to see a more literal historical connection. In my <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10523/6067">own work</a>, and writings by <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Were-Least-These-Survivors/dp/1587432714">Elaine Heath</a>, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-wil-gafney-phd/crucifixion-and-sexual-violence_b_2965369.html">Rev Wil Gafney</a> and Australian theologian <a href="https://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/2018/06/22/jesus-identifies-with-abuse-victims-says-theologian/">Rev Michael Trainor</a>, it is argued that Jesus does not just share theologically in the abuse, but that he himself experienced sexual abuse during the crucifixion.</p>
<p>This may seem outlandish at first. When Katie Edwards and I <a href="https://theconversation.com/himtoo-why-jesus-should-be-recognised-as-a-victim-of-sexual-violence-93677">wrote on stripping as sexual abuse</a>, many comments showed readers were perplexed that we could be seriously suggesting this. For many people, the initial reaction is to be startled and shocked. Some ask whether it is meant to be a serious suggestion, or say it is just jumping on a #MeToo bandwagon. However, as <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/27/jesus-latest-first-victim-metoo/">Linda Woodhead points out</a>, if you look at it more closely you may start to think differently. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/himtoo-why-jesus-should-be-recognised-as-a-victim-of-sexual-violence-93677">#HimToo – why Jesus should be recognised as a victim of sexual violence</a>
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<h2>Crucifixion, state terror and sexual abuse</h2>
<p>The torture practices of military regimes in Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s offer two key lessons for understanding crucifixion. First, the torture was a way for the military authorities to send a message to a much wider audience. Anyone who opposed the military would know what to expect. </p>
<p>Second, sexual violence was extremely common in torture practices. Sexual violence was a very powerful way to physically and psychologically attack a victim and his or her dignity. Sexual humiliation and shaming victims could destroy their sense of self and stigmatise them in the eyes of others.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10523/8558">use of crucifixion by the Romans</a> fits with both of these. Crucifixion was a form of state terror which threatened and intimidated many more people than the victims themselves. The way that prisoners were stripped and crucified naked was an obvious way to humiliate and degrade them, and should be <a href="https://issuu.com/anglican_taonga/docs/taonga_winter_2018_web_1/22">recognised as a form of sexual abuse</a>. </p>
<h2>Interviews with survivors</h2>
<p>In <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10523/8976">research published this month</a>, we interviewed a small group of Peruvian middle-aged male survivors of clergy abuse on how they respond to the historical argument that Jesus was a victim of sexual abuse. We had interviewed this group before on how the sexual abuse they had experienced when they were teenagers and young men had <a href="https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/7052/Figueroa%20and%20Tombs%202016%20-%20English.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">impacted on their lives</a>. </p>
<p>In these new interviews, we asked if they had considered Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse and how they viewed the historical and biblical evidence for it. We also asked if any such recognition could be helpful for them and other abuse survivors, or the wider church. </p>
<p>Most interviewees were initially surprised by the idea, but saw no problem in accepting the historical evidence and argument. Only one participant initially said that not enough evidence was presented to show it was sexual abuse but he later explained that he saw Jesus’ nakedness as a form of complete powerlessness. </p>
<p>Participants were evenly split on the question whether it would help them. About half felt it would not but the other half spoke positively of the connection it created between Jesus and survivors. </p>
<p>On the significance for the wider church, all of the participants agreed, without hesitation, that it would have a positive impact. All of them suggested that church ministries, clergy and lay, should embrace this topic. </p>
<p>They felt it would help the church to achieve more solidarity with survivors, and also, a more realistic and historic vision of Jesus. If the wider Church embraced this history and deepened it <a href="http://shiloh-project.group.shef.ac.uk/tag/david-tombs/">theologically</a>, it might help towards changes in the church which prioritise survivors, and ensure they are treated with more compassion and solidarity. If the church is seeking a Copernican revolution on sexual abuse, recognising the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsfimkO-OAE&fbclid=IwAR0Ywm06W2mipl8HICPiZHcPyQeIhWqcysjmOI1DBo8waO4AnAyieRiY3iM&app=desktop">experience of Jesus for what it was</a> is surely an appropriate starting place.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/triggering-past-trauma-how-to-take-care-of-yourself-if-youre-affected-by-the-pell-news-112608">Triggering past trauma: how to take care of yourself if you're affected by the Pell news</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Tombs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Interviews with survivors of sexual abuse by clergy show that recognising Jesus as an abuse victim might help the Catholic church to change its culture and response to the abuse crisis.David Tombs, Chair professor, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/894772017-12-21T11:20:05Z2017-12-21T11:20:05ZHow the Catholic Church’s hierarchy makes it difficult to punish sexual abusers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200236/original/file-20171220-4948-zr4993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cardinal Bernard Law in Rome in 2011</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cardinal Bernard Law <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/world/former-boston-cardinal-bernard-law-dead/index.html">died on Wednesday, Dec. 20, in Rome</a>. Law was <a href="http://www.bostoncatholic.org/Default.aspx">Archbishop of Boston</a>, a position of prestige in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He had <a href="http://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/archives/042290_magazine.htm">wide political connections</a>, including with the Bush family. He publicly denounced Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights.</p>
<p>But this power and influence came to an end when <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/special-reports/2002/01/06/church-allowed-abuse-priest-for-years/cSHfGkTIrAT25qKGvBuDNM/story.html">The Boston Globe</a> revealed how Cardinal Law had concealed <a href="http://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/geoghan/">sexual abuse committed by priests.</a> </p>
<p>When Law was <a href="https://www.npr.org/news/specials/law/">forced to resign</a> in 2002, it did not mark the end of Catholicism’s struggle with sexual abuse in its ranks. Although <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/10-years-after-catholic-sex-abuse-reforms-whats-changed/2012/06/06/gJQAQMjOJV_story.html">reforms in the United States</a> have made it mandatory for priests to report instances of sexual abuse, much work remains to be done in the Catholic Church worldwide.</p>
<p>From my perspective as a Catholic scholar of religion, one of the challenges in tackling this issue is the hierarchy of the church itself. </p>
<h2>Church structure</h2>
<p>At the top of the Catholic Church’s <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm">hierarchy</a> is the <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. He is said to be the successor of the <a href="https://www.catholic.com/tract/origins-of-peter-as-pope">Apostle Peter</a>, about whom <a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/16-18.htm">Christ said</a>: </p>
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<p>“You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.” </p>
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<p>For Catholics, the pope is that “rock” that gives the church a firm foundation. The pope is considered to <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm">speak infallibly</a>, “without error,” under specific conditions concerning doctrine and morals. But he is not infallible when it comes to personal judgment such as whom he chooses to get advice from.</p>
<p>Under the pope are <a href="http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/bishops.asp">bishops</a>, who serve the pope as successors to the original 12 apostles who followed Jesus. </p>
<p>There are also <a href="http://www.dummies.com/religion/christianity/catholicism/the-role-of-cardinals-in-the-catholic-church/">cardinals</a>, who are appointed by the pope, and only they can elect his successor. Cardinals also govern the church between papal elections. Cardinals rank higher than bishops, so not all bishops are cardinals. But now all cardinals are bishops, although in <a href="http://popes-and-papacy.com/wordpress/teodolfo-mertel-the-last-lay-cardinal-1858-to-1899/">the past</a> there have been exceptions. Bernard Law was both a bishop and a cardinal. </p>
<p>The hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church resembles the military with its high level of administrative control. But the “church” in Catholic understanding is not just a bureaucratic body. It also is a sacred institution that is willed by God. </p>
<h2>Priests and obedience</h2>
<p>Male priests have the lowest rank in the formal hierarchy. When they are ordained, they take <a href="http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/priesthood/priestly-formation/faqs-priesthood-ordination-seminary.cfm">vows</a> of chastity, poverty and obedience to superiors. Usually priests are under the immediate authority of their local bishop, whose administrative area is called a “<a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05001a.htm">diocese</a>.”</p>
<p>While priests in many countries are <a href="http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/">mandated both by the church and civil law</a> to report sexual abuse to church commissions and legal authorities, there has been a culture of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/17/religion.childprotection">denial and secrecy</a> that has prevented allegations from being fully investigated. A 1962 Vatican document instructed bishops to observe the <a href="http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Observer/documents/2003/08/16/Criminales.pdf">strictest secrecy in sexual abuse cases</a> and to address sexual abuse, or “solicitation,” as an internal church matter, not as an offense that should be reported to local authorities. </p>
<p>Despite establishing a commission to look into the problem and address a <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/vatican-panel-will-address-backlog-of-clergy-abuse-cases">backlog</a> of cases, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/opinion/pope-francis-catholic-church-sexual-abuse.html">Pope Francis</a> has still not established any protocol for handling sex abuse allegations for the Catholic Church as a whole. The pope has set <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/05/world/europe/05popeabuseupdate1pix.html?_r=0">guidelines</a> for removing bishops who have been “negligent” in addressing cases of abuse. Still, some <a href="https://theconversation.com/popes-child-abuse-tribunal-wont-get-the-catholic-church-out-of-trouble-43128">commentators</a> believe this is not enough. </p>
<h2>Sexual abuse ignored</h2>
<p>The fact is that there has been a long history of protecting highly placed Catholic leaders from charges of sexual abuse.</p>
<p>When reports surfaced <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/europe/27vienna.html">in 1995</a> that Austrian Cardinal <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100324001445/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/cardinal-hans-hermann-groer-592499.html">Hans Hermann Groer</a> had molested monks and schoolboys, the sexual abuse was dismissed by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/17/world/seminary-sex-scandal-divides-austrian-church.html">Bishop Kurt Krenn</a> as <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JsR0u8f8MMMC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=groer+affair&source=bl&ots=g7qkdn-Akc&sig=KqwWVGrJPvnq1nEK0n-adxfepfQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi47ND_xPXUAhUNET4KHaqkAY0Q6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q=boyish&f=false">“boyish pranks.”</a> There were also claims that victims were paid “<a href="http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2010/03_04/2010_04_04_Pancevski_JohnPaul.htm">hush money</a>” to buy their silence. The allegations of sexual abuse against Cardinal Groer proved to be true. </p>
<p>In another case from the late 1940s, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/father-marcial-maciel-and-popes-he-stained-62811">Marcial Maciel</a>, the Mexican founder of a religious order, <a href="http://legionariesofchrist.org/">The Legionaries of Christ</a>, was a sexual abuser multiple times over. When allegations against Maciel were initially raised, John Paul II ignored them. Joseph Ratzinger, John Paul II’s confident and later successor, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection1">remarked</a>: “One can’t put on trial such a close friend of the pope.” Though Maciel was eventually <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/world/legionaries-of-christ-denounce-founder-marcial-maciel-degollado.html">disciplined</a> by Ratzinger when he took over as Pope Benedict XVI, Maciel avoided prosecution until his death in 2008.</p>
<h2>Challenges to reporting</h2>
<p>In all these cases, the hierarchical structure of the church made it difficult to bring high-ranking figures to justice. Superiors are given nearly absolute <a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_23111998_pb_en.html">obedience</a>, which makes the threshold for acting against them high. By the same token, superiors can often protect offending priests.</p>
<p>The other issue is that a presumption of integrity goes with a high position in the Catholic Church. It is often difficult to believe that a bishop could commit or cover up a terrible crime such as rape or sexual abuse. Also, if the Catholic Church is a divine institution necessary for salvation, then there are those who will protect its reputation at all costs. </p>
<p>There is a tipping point, however. The key moment leading to the resignation of Cardinal Law was a <a href="http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/title/58-priests-send-a-letter-urging-cardinal-to-resign">letter, signed by 58 priests</a>, asking him to resign. </p>
<h2>Cardinal Law’s legacy</h2>
<p>While the priest that Cardinal Law protected, John Geoghan, was convicted of his crimes – and later <a href="http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/11/30/in_death_geoghan_triggers_another_crisis/">killed</a> in prison – Bernard Law himself never faced a court of justice. In fact, he was effectively <a href="http://www.wbur.org/news/2015/09/22/cardinal-bernard-law">promoted</a> to a venerable position as head of one of Catholicism’s most famous churches, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/sm_maggiore/index_en.html">Santa Maria Maggiore</a> in Rome. </p>
<p>For victims of sexual abuse that occurred under his tenure, Cardinal Law only offered only a general apology and a vague reference to his own “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/13/usa1">shortcomings</a>.”</p>
<p>The compendium of Catholic beliefs, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM">“The Catechism of the Catholic Church,”</a> observes that the “<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM">sanctity</a>” of the church is “real” but also “imperfect.” </p>
<p>Catholicism has long recognized that the church is composed of human beings who have their limitations. Perhaps Cardinal Law’s death is another opportunity to ask whether the sexual abuse scandal is actually about the limitations of hierarchy.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-catholic-churchs-hierarchy-makes-it-difficult-to-punish-sexual-abusers-80661">article</a> originally published on July 19, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The passing of Cardinal Bernard Law is another moment to revisit the issue of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and why it remains a challenge.Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/806612017-07-13T01:53:38Z2017-07-13T01:53:38ZHow the Catholic Church’s hierarchy makes it difficult to punish sexual abusers<p>A report released on Tuesday, July 18, found <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/07/18/world/europe/ap-eu-germany-church-abuse.html">“a high degree of plausibility”</a> that hundreds of boys at a prestigious Catholic boys’ choir in Germany were <a href="http://religionnews.com/2017/07/18/report-hundreds-of-boys-abused-at-german-choir-school/">physically or sexually abused</a> between 1945 and 1992. The choir was led at the time by Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI’s elder brother, Georg Ratzinger.</p>
<p>Just over a week ago – on July 10 – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/world/australia/cardinal-george-pell-australia-scandal-catholic-church.html">Cardinal George Pell</a>, a top adviser to Pope Francis, returned to his native Australia to face <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/28/asia/cardinal-pell-australia/index.html">criminal charges</a> related to sexual assault. While the specific allegations and names of the accusers have not been made public, Cardinal Pell maintains that he has been a victim of “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/06/29/george-pell-cardinal-sexual-assault-charges-statement-sot.cnn">character assassination</a>.” His case will be decided by an Australian court.</p>
<p>These are not the first times the Catholic Church has been rocked by charges of sexual abuse. While <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/10-years-after-catholic-sex-abuse-reforms-whats-changed/2012/06/06/gJQAQMjOJV_story.html">reforms in the Catholic Church in the United States</a> have made it mandatory for priests to report instances of sexual abuse, there still remains much work to be done in the Catholic Church worldwide.</p>
<p>From my perspective as a Catholic scholar of religion, one of the challenges in tackling this issue is the hierarchy of the church itself. It is still difficult to hold high-ranking clerics responsible, either for the misdeeds of their subordinates or for the crimes that they may have committed themselves.</p>
<h2>Church structure</h2>
<p>At the top of the Catholic Church’s <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm">hierarchy</a> is the <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. He is said to be the successor of the <a href="https://www.catholic.com/tract/origins-of-peter-as-pope">Apostle Peter</a>, about whom Christ said, “<a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/16-18.htm">You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church</a>.” For Catholics, the pope is that “rock” that gives the church a firm foundation. The pope is considered to <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm">speak infallibly</a>, “without error,” under specific conditions concerning doctrine and morals. But he is not infallible when it comes to personal judgment such as whom he chooses to get advice from.</p>
<p>Under the pope are <a href="http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/bishops.asp">bishops</a>, who serve the pope as successors to the original 12 apostles who followed Jesus. </p>
<p>There are also <a href="http://www.dummies.com/religion/christianity/catholicism/the-role-of-cardinals-in-the-catholic-church/">cardinals</a>, who are appointed by the pope, and only they can elect his successor. Cardinals also govern the church between papal elections. Cardinals rank higher than bishops, so not all bishops are cardinals. But now all cardinals are bishops, although in <a href="http://popes-and-papacy.com/wordpress/teodolfo-mertel-the-last-lay-cardinal-1858-to-1899/">the past</a> there have been exceptions. George Pell is both a bishop and a cardinal, as well as the third-ranking official at the Vatican. </p>
<p>The hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church resembles the military with its high level of administrative control. But the “church” in Catholic understanding is not just a bureaucratic body. It also is a sacred institution that is willed by God. </p>
<h2>Priests and obedience</h2>
<p>Male priests have the lowest rank in the formal hierarchy. When they are ordained, they take <a href="http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/priesthood/priestly-formation/faqs-priesthood-ordination-seminary.cfm">vows</a> of chastity, poverty and obedience to superiors. Usually priests are under the immediate authority of their local bishop, whose administrative area is called a “<a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05001a.htm">diocese</a>.”</p>
<p>While priests in many countries are <a href="http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/">mandated both by the church and civil law</a> to report sexual abuse to church commissions and legal authorities, there has been a culture of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/17/religion.childprotection">denial and secrecy</a> that prevented allegations from being fully investigated. A 1962 Vatican document instructed bishops to observe the <a href="http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Observer/documents/2003/08/16/Criminales.pdf">strictest secrecy in sexual abuse cases</a> and to address sexual abuse, or “solicitation,” as an internal church matter, not as an offense that should be reported to local authorities. </p>
<p>Despite establishing a commission to look into the problem and address a <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/vatican-panel-will-address-backlog-of-clergy-abuse-cases">backlog</a> of cases, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/opinion/pope-francis-catholic-church-sexual-abuse.html">Pope Francis</a> has still not established any protocol for handling sex abuse allegations for the Catholic Church as a whole. But the pope has set <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/05/world/europe/05popeabuseupdate1pix.html?_r=0">guidelines</a> for removing bishops who have been “negligent” in addressing cases of abuse. Still, some <a href="https://theconversation.com/popes-child-abuse-tribunal-wont-get-the-catholic-church-out-of-trouble-43128">commentators</a> believe this is not enough. </p>
<h2>Sexual abuse ignored</h2>
<p>The fact is that there has been a long history of protecting highly placed Catholic leaders from charges of sexual abuse.</p>
<p>When reports surfaced <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/europe/27vienna.html">in 1995</a> that Austrian Cardinal <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100324001445/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/cardinal-hans-hermann-groer-592499.html">Hans Hermann Groer</a> had molested monks and schoolboys, the sexual abuse was dismissed by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/17/world/seminary-sex-scandal-divides-austrian-church.html">Bishop Kurt Krenn</a> as <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JsR0u8f8MMMC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=groer+affair&source=bl&ots=g7qkdn-Akc&sig=KqwWVGrJPvnq1nEK0n-adxfepfQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi47ND_xPXUAhUNET4KHaqkAY0Q6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q=boyish&f=false">“boyish pranks.”</a> There were also claims that victims were paid “<a href="http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2010/03_04/2010_04_04_Pancevski_JohnPaul.htm">hush money</a>” to buy their silence. The allegations of sexual abuse against Cardinal Groer proved to be true. </p>
<p>In another case from the late 1940s, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/father-marcial-maciel-and-popes-he-stained-62811">Marcial Maciel</a>, the Mexican founder of a religious order, <a href="http://legionariesofchrist.org/">The Legionaries of Christ</a>, was a sexual abuser multiple times over. When allegations against Maciel were initially raised, John Paul II ignored them. Joseph Ratzinger, John Paul II’s confident and later successor, remarked: “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection1">one can’t put on trial such a close friend of the pope</a>.” Though Maciel was eventually <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/world/legionaries-of-christ-denounce-founder-marcial-maciel-degollado.html">disciplined</a> by Ratzinger when he took over as Pope Benedict XVI, Maciel avoided prosecution until his death in 2008.</p>
<p>In the United States, Cardinal Bernard Law, who <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/21/us/cardinal-law-fast-facts/index.html">protected abuser priests</a> in the Boston archdiocese during his 1984-2004 tenure, has also escaped prosecution. In fact, Law was effectively <a href="http://www.wbur.org/news/2015/09/22/cardinal-bernard-law">promoted</a> to a prestigious position as head of one of Catholicism’s most famous churches, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/sm_maggiore/index_en.html">Santa Maria Maggiore</a> in Rome. </p>
<h2>Challenges to reporting</h2>
<p>In all these cases, the hierarchical structure of the church made it difficult to bring high-ranking figures to justice. When you give superiors nearly absolute <a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_23111998_pb_en.html">obedience</a>, the threshold for acting against them is high. By the same token, superiors can often protect offending priests.</p>
<p>A presumption of integrity goes with a high position in the Catholic Church. It is often difficult to believe that a bishop could commit or cover up a terrible crime such as rape or sexual abuse. Also, if the Catholic Church is a divine institution necessary for salvation, then there are those who will protect its reputation at all costs. </p>
<p>There is a tipping point, however. The key moment leading to the resignation of Cardinal Law was a <a href="http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/title/58-priests-send-a-letter-urging-cardinal-to-resign">letter, signed by 58 priests</a>, asking him to resign. </p>
<h2>Pell’s prosecution, a decisive moment</h2>
<p>The compendium of Catholic beliefs, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM">“The Catechism of the Catholic Church,”</a> observes that the “<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM">sanctity</a>” of the church is “real” but also “imperfect.” In other words, the church is composed of human beings who have their limitations. From this perspective, the problem is not hierarchy itself, but how people in high positions misuse their power.</p>
<p>While all Catholics are aware of the “humanness” of their church, the charges against Cardinal Pell are still traumatic for many Catholics who expect integrity in their leaders. </p>
<p>Cardinal Pell’s case marked yet another chapter in the Catholic Church’s struggle to address sexual abuse in its ranks. And now with this latest report concerning the choir school once led by the brother of the former Pope, the Catholic church clearly has much work to do in responding to allegations of sexual abuse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80661/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The hierarchy of the Catholic Church requires nearly absolute obedience. This makes it difficult to speak up against superiors. And by the same token, superiors too can protect offending priests.Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.