I will be honest and say that I attend Mass and visit the Catholic Church to pray to Jesus and to ask for the intercession of the Blessed Mother and the Saints. I need his help and will never give up my Catholic faith. My father used to say that as long as they was one good priest in the Church (and of course he knew there were many) he would attend Mass. I will go even one step farther. No matter what happens within the Catholic Church I will be there on Sundays. My faith means too much to me and is too important to ever give it up.
I will be attending a novena to St. Anne starting tomorrow and ending on her feast day on July 26. It is held at an upper east side of Manhattan Catholic Church and is attended by hundreds of people every year. People still feel the Church is relevant and very important in their lives. This is a constant for many of us.
I will pray for the victims of sexual abuse and that they may be healed of this terrible scourge. As a Christian, I will also pray for the priests who have abused these individuals and that it ends. There is a lot of healing that needs to occur and prayer is a good place to ask for peace within the Church. We need it so desperately for our world today.
87
The "cloth," is power, I guess. I was not a Catholic. They warned us about them, the Presbyterians of Jackson, Michigan. So I married a Jew. We're fine.
62
I'll accept nothing less than laicization.
Remove the collar, remove the ring.
If he's not laicized, then the USCCB is complicit.
78
If I'm not mistaken McCarrick was ordained by Cardinal Spellman, himself a flaming closeted homosexual in the days when nearly all gays were closeted. The Church covers for its most flagrant predators while preaching celibacy. This has to end. Pope Francis, while seeming sympathetic to social issues and even to homosexuals, has not rooted out the hypocrisy and anti-sexuality in the church. As another commenter has said, it's not just the sexual abuse but the ABUSE OF SEXUALITY that must be addressed. Francis must start this dialogue, if he's to remain a credible voice.
178
Why is this child molester not in prison?
Why is the church not held accountable for it's ONGOING enabling of child molesters among the clergy?
Shameful. just shameful.
208
Cardinal OMalley, the wonderboy of the church should be held to task for looking the other way. How pathetic this institution is!
107
The true hero here is Fr. Bonifáce Ramsey . He fought by speaking out and reaching his superiors .
Richard Sipe , you say you knew since the 1980s that the abuse was going on but only wrote a letter to Rome in 2008 ? Please explain that .
I call on any 1 million to 1 dollar donors to the Papal Foundation to stop giving to it .
I call Cardinal O'Malley to rebuild his church ! It will not survive this because the next Cardinal to fall will be Cardinal Wuerl of Washington DC ; everybody knows his nickname at the Seminary : "Dona Wuerl ".
Instead of catholic Whistleblowers , it should become #metoojesus
every seminarian , priest and lay person should come forward and name their abusers. C'amon people ! Stand up and clean up the church and the Catholic Curia !
Pay attention to the 6 Archdioceses in Pennsylvania that are indicted , but their names withheld by the Pa Supreme Court judges . This needs to stop ! It's cover up everywhere !
94
There's only two explanations here.
These perverts - they take someone who believes in Catholicism, and as an authority figure, they molest the child or adult - often causing partial or total elimination in belief in the church, as those teaching belief turn out to be corrupt and evil, and thus everything taught should be questioned. If you are a believer, I cannot see how a child raped in a church by a priest is not the absolute worst thing you can think of. But - the church, again and again, decades after they knew about it - they protect the offenders, not the victims.
So - option 1 - those who run the church have no morals nor belief in god, and just wants the money from pretending and suckering other people.
Or - option 2 - they're satanists, and the goal is to push people away from belief.
57
It’s becoming obvious that the rot in the Catholic Church is even deeper than thought. Canonizing a pope who actively ignored the abuse by priests and bishops is just the latest folly.
147
As a graduate in Theology from Notre Dame, I saw and experienced this first hand. I had a Bishop take an interest in me while I was a volunteer. I was confused by the presence of a seminarian and the actions of the bishop when he said goodnight. I was told by friends afterward that he was known for having seminarian lovers. I should not have been surprised. My experience at Notre Dame was that abuse and inappropriate sexual activities by the clergy were buried or ignored. I feel that the clergy of the Catholic Church violated my faith. Fortunately, I escaped actual physical abuse. The Catholic priesthood is unreformable until the married and women are able to answer their call to be part of the priesthood of all believers.
189
Another story just like many others. The hierarchy of the church looks the other way. In extreme cases, the predators are moved to another location. I am sickened by this and can't return to the church. Ever.
90
The Vatican was advised of McCarrick’s issues before he was named a Cardinal. There were the records of the cash settlements, and informal complaints had been made. To even allow such a person to celebrate the Mass is a gravely sinful matter. To name him a Bishop and then an Archbishop and finally a Cardinal when advised that he was entirely unsuitable for these offices is not only gravely sinful but serious dereliction of the duties the Vatican owes to the Catholic Church, it’s priests and plain ordinary faithful Catholics.
89
I lived in San Antonio in 1995 and witnessed some of the earlier discoveries of child abuse in the church . My friend's 15 year old son confided to his Mom and I that he had been raped over the last 5 years, just before he committed suicide. The family refused to prosecute several priests who raped him. The family and the Catholic Church swept it under the rug, much to the chagrin of the mother who went to the local news. I was sure that this would be exposed and finished within five years, plenty of time to diagnose/ repair...but it just seems to proliferate
96
The scourge of Roman Catholic clergy pedophilia was horrific enough. But what followed, the coverup and manipulation of clergy assignments to keep the criminal priests safe from the law but away from victims and their families, was worse. Clergy pedophiliacs are criminals, plain and simple. They are the ones who are "intrinsically disordered" - the awful phrase they actually use to describe same sex relationships. Pastors, bishops and cardinals who protected the church rather than the children are reprehensible and guilty before God and the law.
What are we to make, though, of an actual cardinal whose abuse was reported early on multiple times yet still rose through the ranks to the highest title under Pope? Count me among the legions who will not darken the door of the church of my birth, after half a century, until the patriarchal power structure is dismantled, women are ordained and have at least half the power and the mind-numbing hypocrisy regarding sex, who can marry, and divorce is quashed.
89
The Church's continuing failure to confront sexual abuse head-on will, over time, result in decline and eventual extinction of this major religion.
It's taking a long, long time, but it's happening. . . And good riddance.
73
Because of Cardinal McCarrick and others of his ilk, the Roman Catholic Church has no moral authority to preach against same-sex marriage or abortion. Indeed, anything that the RC Church has to say on those subjects should be ignored.
132
My dad was forced into catholic boarding school as all children on an indian reservation were back in the day. He never ever talked about it but the alcoholism and sexual deviation and early death all point to sexual abuse by this institution. Forgiveness will never be in my heart for this hierarchy of power by decree.
98
One can easily substitute “Republican” for “Catholic” in many of these comments & still have the context basically remain the same.
56
My wife and I are sick from this well-written, sensitive story by two women who may or may not be Catholic but who have directed their focus on abuse of power to those most vulnerable. The story also sickens us because my late mother knew Father, then Monsignor, then Bishop McCarrick for the many years she worked at The Chancery in New York City. She not only respected men like him, she admired them, she thought the world of them and yes, they could do no wrong in her eyes.
Her eyes are forever closed now - it is for the awakened amongst us, like the journalists who wrote of this sad, pathetic man, to set the record straight and shed light on the truth.
143
Yet more abuse and coverup from this corrupt sect. Funny how this issue is less rampant in Presbyterians and Episcopalians....could it be the ridiculous misogynistic celibacy rule?
73
Whoops! If my earlier message was posted ....
Obviously, it is the church and priests who have committed the most grievous sins and betrayals of the most innocent and vulnerable among us.
14
The scandals never end. Rotten to its core. The reason I'm an atheist.
49
Really? The scandals are the reason you are an atheist? Given this behaviour is far more rife in the secular world, shouldn’t you therefore go live in a cave?
28
Is there a single credible reason anyone should be supporting the Roman Catholic Church or any Pope at all, including the current pope who sounds OK on social issues but has protected some bishops and even canonized that enable-in-chief, Pope 'Saint' John Paul II !!? ( and I use the term 'saint' advisedly)
70
This should be considered criminal conduct and those who committed or covered up these crimes should be prosecuted along with the assailants. But the Catholic Church continues to use its get out of jail card free and still teaches and provides health services to children. How it qualfies to provide taxpayer funded health care to children is beyond me considering its long history of pedifialia.
53
Evil is always lurking this is a very sad tragic story. Evil was on the stage today when Trump threw the American people our institutions way of life under the bus.
We live in times when we must be vigilant otherwise these horrificwe stories become normalized.
A high profile member of the tea party who was a wrestling coach needs to be held to account what happened to these young men decades ago. Evil wins when good people turn a blind eye.
47
Wait for the other shoes to drop. There are other American cardinals and bishops trembling right now in fear that they are about to be outed. What a tangled web.
31
The most painful experience for me as a victim of clerical sexual abuse was not the actual abuse but rather the denial and shaming from the parishioners around me. Their silence and unwillingness to even acknowledge the abuse was mobbing. From my experience, Catholics today still are living in denial. They do not read these articles. They do not want to see the problems. They really do not want to see or acknowledge the victims. They fail to objectively question their theology and align it with healthy psychology. They idolize their priests to the point that they will not believe victims. The actual abuse is terrible enough in and of itself. But the abuse from other Catholics who still feel a need to defend sexually abusive clergy and make excuses for them is horrific.
82
This same thing took place in private schools,in youth camps, in Boy Scout troops, on various Olympic teams, and continues to go on in juvenile facilities, in prisons, and in the workplace. Sexual abuse happens wherever there are people. So does blaming the victims, shifting the abusers to other locations, lying about the damage done, and finding ways to avoid owning up to it.
Yes there are false accusations. Yes, in some cases the damage isn't too bad (if you call being molested and having to deal with it alone not too bad). But in all cases the institutions involved failed the victims. The betrayal is particularly egregious when it's done by someone who is automatically trusted by the community. After reading about how often schools, universities, athletic teams, and religious institutions have lied, covered up the abuse, or moved the abuser one is forced to conclude that these institutions prefer to abrogate their responsibility for the problem. That's sad because part of their mission is to teach responsibility and integrity.
22
"But while the church responded quickly to the allegation that Cardinal McCarrick had abused a child ..."
50 years counts as "quickly"?
Are we talking about a glacier?
39
Priest #2 has so much integrity. A big issue with clergy sexual abuse is its serial nature: those who are abused, in turn, abuse — resulting in an endless cycle of abuse. Perhaps the reason more has not been done about this issue within this relatively closed community is that the accused abusers were actually originally abused by their very superiors. “Doing well in Rome” is an awful euphemism.
16
The insistence on a celibate priesthood by the RCC is intrinsically disordered.
But then the new One True Faith -- Feminism -- also effectively demands celibacy from heterosexual men.
So much hatred and horror of male sexuality.
3
Not celibacy, just consent.
45
This might have been a bigger problem one or two hundred years ago, but we will never know because no one talked about it.
5
Those priests and altar boys are damaged forever. My grand-mother told me, "never be alone with a priest." I thought her reasoning was that priests were the closest figures to God on Earth. In retrospect maybe she knew s9meth8ng about abuses long, long ago.
To prey on others through the Church is unconscionable. The hierarchy has known about abusive priests for years. The solution was to transfer the accused priest. Now major dioceses are selling diocesan real estate to pay settlements.
There are fewer and fewer young Americans pursuing vocations. There was an influx of Irish missionary priests. More recently the missionary priests are African.
I always thought celebicy was used to save the Church money by not having to pay priests enough to support a family and marriage would reduce their time to attend to parishioners. I always questioned going to a priest for counseling when the priest had never been married.
30
And yet another person of the cloth doing unspeakable things.
Why am I not surprised? The Catholic Church needs to get with the program and punish those that do awful things like this, and also inform the police.
29
More abuse from the Roman Catholic Church. This has become so commonplace, people can hardly recruit the revulsion to react again.
What hath been wrought in the evolution of the priesthood over many centuries in the Roman Catholic Church? What hath been wrought?
12
Guess preaching the good didn't work for this Cardinal. Instead he chose to be a hypocrite. Religion guarantees nothing, some prayers answered and some not. I was raised to go to church but as I grew older I had many questions and the answers felt hypocritical. It is a blind faith. The Bible has too many contradictions. News stories like this resulted in my reviewing other religions, beliefs. My final decision was to become agnostic.
For a religious person to have an ill effect on young boys repulses me. Every person has their belief but how one can overlook this behavior for this Cardinal is indeed sad. Christianity is a support system I can do without.
18
Thank you for my exact view.
4
This seems to be a tragic situation all around. It would be a great mistake from this, however, to condemn the “Church,” which includes importantly but is not defined by the Roman Church, as being the same as it’s clergy. The “Church” is all of the people of it, including clergy, who claim to “follow” Jesus, even though regularly compromised in living the life they’ve been “called” to and promised to live. Betrayal by clergy though, say through abuse of power, is nevertheless uniquely horrible. If anything is seen from this general matter apparently now also involving McCarrick, it has to be that clergy ought to regarded as error-prone like everyone else. “Reverend” is an adjective that may not be especially helpful these days along this line. For Christians there is only one Savior.
13
Good Bye, Good Men. It was the horrid 1970s priest acceptance process that failed millions. Pat Buchanan had it right a long time ago. The church will never be the same.
7
all the more tragic given the church's stand on homosexuality. in reality, certainly in the past, if one realized they were gay; becoming a priest was the honorable thing to do. in that environment of many similar men, all kinds of discreet and often abusive sexual behavior thrived. the patriarchal, homophobic culture didn't want to know the truth - unfortunately unwilling to listen or believe victims of predatory priests and brothers. indeed, at my all boys holy cross brothers high school: notre dame, the most senior lay teacher was arrested for making underage gay porn (with some of our fellow students) and his absence was never explained in 1974 ....
30
@t power I think the same thing applied to young men who had pedophile fantasies.
For some young men priesthood was their "salvation" but for others it was a heaven sent opportunity !
The wash basin of confessional unfortunately made it inconsistent for the Church to act when God himself had forgiven the sin.
8
I am not Catholic, but if I were and had a son who was an Altar boy or who spent any time alone with a Catholic Priest, I would have a serious talk.
23
What was it again that Saint John Paul II did when he received reports of priests molesting and assaulting minors? Ah yes, nothing. No, worse, cover it up by shuffling the offenders across various parishes. No, even worse, promote some of them to positions of high authority. Some saint.
101
True, the bishop of a diocese has supreme authority in the diocese. He doesn't automatically inherit extraordinary powers outside his diocese, unless appointed. It should not surprise anyone, especially Catholics who were alterboys, students of Boys Catholic schools, who were aware of the pedophiles masquerading as priests, brothers and sisters (nuns) with a dark secret of sexual abuse committed or received. In this respect, the Church is no dfferent than other large organizations - police, military, 'Hollywood'.
The common attributes in these cases includes abuse of authority to take advantage of minors and young adults. There is no excuse. These preditors' engaged in sexual abuse need to brought to justice and, if found guilty, defrocked.
But blaming th Church for the actions of an estimated ~7% of all priests offers no resolution to these serious matters. If a student was being abused by a suprior, the protocol should be clear, concise and raise the highest alarm and expediency to investigate and find the facts. If the facts are sufficient to hint at sexual abuse, the perpetrator would need to be immediately suspended and referred to civil authorities to continue the investigation and press charges, if charges are warranted.
And that is what many dioceses have been doing since Pope Benedict was startled by the gravity of sexual abuses and number of incidents hidden from the appropriate channel within. Underlying issues can be assessed in - https://goo.gl/4FHPgu
4
They are different. Not to excuse abusers in other arenas, abuse of children via religious institutions who claim to love them in the name of God is way beyond the level of guilt and criminality and immorality of priests and those who cover up their horrendous sins.
59
@Bob Aceti No what was happening is that the Catholic Church was sending these priests to "conversion" therapy then releasing them back into general population. The Catholic Church is to blame - so is the Christian religion generally.
12
The church became a choice destination for sexually disturbed people (the jury is already in on that one), but it did not become that because of bad people — bad people were attracted to the cover already being given to abusive authority within its ranks of many kinds.
Many people in the church do good for others and live by the golden rule, the clergy, not so much. Power and money remains the focus of the establishment in Rome. Whatver the Pope's good intentions, he is not competent to lead the reform necessary.
As long as the church focuses on supporting political movements obsessed with persecuting religious minorities, sexuality in general, and women's rights, it will never attract the youth and leadership it needs to reform. It will remain morally corrupt but oddly pure in it's own eyes.
46
Allowing Catholic priests to marry may contribute to the elimination of the sexual abuse described in this article. I read somewhere that priestly celibacy is rooted in tradition and not Catholic dogma and that the Pope could change it at anytime. If that is true, perhaps it is time for a change.
29
It certainly is way past time to end the priestly celibacy rule, whose origin lies in making sure that church property could not be inherited by priests' children and spouses. There exist modern legal frameworks to protect church property, just as executives' children do not inherit company property. However, the practice is so deeply rooted in tradition that it would take an extraordinarily powerful Pope or Council to overturn it. My feeling is that Pope Francis won't do it, but his successor (possibly today's youngest Cardinal) may. The Catholic Church needs to overhaul its attitude toward sex, rooted in two thousand year old Christian concepts formed in the social circumstances of the Roman Empire. The Byzantine and Protestant wings of Christianity have partially overcome the harmful conseqences of extreme body and soul separation as far as clergy are concerned.
22
I wait for the moment the Catholic community begins a public discourse and reflection upon this widespread behavior. How is it that so many of their chosen guardians are responsible for the most heinous crimes? That the ‘holiest’ are found, with continuing frequency, to be the most devoid of compassion, morality and love in its purest sense, is disturbing on the deepest levels. That this crisis of culture continues to go mostly ignored by the faith’s parishioners baffles me.
24
The second and third paragraphs just don't make sense to me. I'm not saying they don't make sense--just that I do not understand how someone who has already been abused would not have his personal alarm go off when a bishop said to him "come over here and rub my shoulders a little" and that extended into unwanted touching in bed. If the touching was actually and truly "unwanted," why , then, was it allowed? That's the part I don't understand. I read that Robert "said he felt unable to say no, in part because he had been sexually abused by a teacher in his Catholic high school, a trauma he had shared with the bishop" who was now sexually engaging him.
Of course we all react differently, which is why I am having trouble here. Can anyone help me understand why someone who had already undergone the trauma of sexual abuse would find it impossible to say no the next time because he "couldn't imagine that" this new abuser "would have anything other than my best interests in mind." Wouldn't it have become apparent pretty quickly that this was not so? The abuse, he said, "lasted several years." Wasn't it clear it was sexual abuse after the first time?
6
As a nurse practitioner, I have done quite a bit of reading about sexual victimization. Apparently the experience of sexual abuse is not like a vaccine; it doesn’t make the victim less susceptible to future abuse. The vulnerable conditions that drew the abuser to the victim still remain—loneliness, low self-esteem—after a victim has experienced abuse, and are compounded by sexual shame.
Many of us wonder how a woman who experienced domestic violence seems to find another abusive relationship even if she leaves the first abuser. It must be maddening and frustrating for family and friends of the abused person. Due to psychological trauma, abuse becomes the new normal in a victim’s life. And don’t ever forget that abusers are very, very good at finding vulnerable people and drawing them into abusive relationships by use of charm, power, lies, explicit and implicit threats, and other tools of manipulation.
31
Children are taught to trust adults and especially authority figures. Incest is not uncommon with parents being the offenders. So for a child not to talk about what has happened and not knowing or feeling empowered to make it stop what do you expect.
Just like the children who were ripped from their parents arms as a result of our own government.
What do you think they were able to do? Or say?
13
Obviously you’ve never been abused. An abused person desperately wants to normalize their trauma and somehow make it “ok.” They are trying to process what happened to them so they can overcome their shame and grief and self-blaming. So they are vulnerable to continued abuse. Hope this helps you.
8
It seems that anywhere there is an absolute power, there can be abuse. There are an infinite number of institutions where this is true and hopefully some day it will be addressed. How? I don't know but we should have our antennas up for the possibility of this abuse of power occurring and the environment that makes it possible and not be fooled by perpetrators who have worked very hard to disguise themselves and groom their victims.
10
People love to criticize the lawyers, but who else would have the reach, persistence and insulation from political influence to hold church leaders accountable for ignoring such clear warnings about one of their leaders. Like the lawyers who first took on Johns Manville in the asbestos cases and the persistent ones who took on big tobacco, I cheer for the lawyers who will reach into this international organization known as the Catholic Church and hold its leadership accountable. It looks pretty clear that McCarrick skated because his fundraising numbers were so darn good. Jesus turned water into wine I'm told. It was very human men who turned his church into an international conspiracy that has injured thousands of lives. Keep up the pressure you attorneys. Whatever you win will be worth it. No politician or attorney general seems motivated enough to unravel these crimes.
20
You have a man who lived as far as I can tell a good life.
He's accused of something horrible 50 years ago. No collaboration of another victim.
He must be crucified. God help us if he didn't do it.
What's happened to us America!
4
Did you even bother to read the article, sir?
33
@Dan. Did you read the whole article?
24
@Dan . First hand accounts are not enough for you? If you had ever been sexually abused you would understand
how hard it is to come forward and how damaging it can be. Why would anyone make this stuff up?
24
For any one who thinks this is a problem/ disgrace of the late 20th century and early 21st century, time to remove your First Communion outfit or like naive garb. It’s been going on in the organized Catholic Church since it was invented. Remember that one about power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely? Way to go, guys, and indeed it was the male alphas who controlled/ran the church.
31
Well done! Well done on the "lean in" @Nancy Rowles. Blame males, BRAVO!
McCarrick is no alpha. It is just abuse of power and responsibility. Alpha, omega...female or male. And how many don't abuse yet you'd paint a broad picture of an entire gender? So don't paint all males whether you label them with the cliched and hackneyed adjective "alpha". There is no female victim in this case. So don't hijack it.
4
Is this not evidence to reason why a corrupt or at least compromised hierarchy of the American Roman Catholic Church willingly remains silent in the face of cruelty against children of asylum seekers and other callous treatment of minorities in the US, in the face of growing financial equality and in the face of racism and white nationalism against members of their congregations?
Has the clerical hierarchy become a head of a rotting fish that Christ would no longer recognize?
14
@William Keller
There is no question that McCarrick's actions are criminal and he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, as should all criminals, priests or otherwise.
However, your words about American RC Church remaining silent about current issues is untrue. The US Bishops have forcefully condemned the separation of migrant children from parents, racism, financial inequalities, treatment of poor people, etc. The US Conf of Catholic Bishops' statements are at: usccb.org.
4
WHY ARE THESE PRIESTS REMOVED and not CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED? America was founded on division between Church and State. Pedophiles need to be tried criminally and the Church is legally, morally and ethically obligated to turn the priests into the authorities, with evidence; protecting criminals, moving pedophiles to other parishes, to abuse their constituents is a CRIME and a SIN.
59
Allowing priests to marry will not necessarily resolve this issue. In New Jersey, a married Episcopalian priest with children of his own who became a Catholic priest was found guilty of abusing a child in his parish.
11
@Molly Bloom okay but your episode is anecdotal as compared with multiple examples of confirmed years of Catholic abuse, a record you cannot compare with any other religious denomination.
You are rationalizing.
6
A familiar pattern. Only difference is this example occurred within the even more hidden confines of Catholic seminaries.
I encountered the same attention from a priest who presented himself as a "counselor" in my third-rate Catholic high school (all male back then). I shared with him my experience of betrayal in sexual abuse by a teacher at another Catholic school I'd left because of that abuse;a secret then to my parents and school officials because it would have been 'your fault' of course. I trusted him. I needed to trust someone, a respected "authority." That didn't turn out well. Years later, I finally addressed the PTSD and depression aftereffects with, fortunately, a wise professional counselor.
The lesson? For the RC Church's distorted, fearful teachings on human sexuality are as medieval as the institution's patriarchal structure. Whatever good the humane faithful have done and are doing over the centuries, is undermined by the inbred stunted patriarchal structure of the institution. Its fearful,self-serving view of human sexuality is only one its human failings.
30
Small minority? The issue has been the church’s long standing position of ignoring the abuse. It has made little progress in owning it as an issue and taking action to end abuses unless forced to do so.
17
Decades and decades of sexual predation with no accountability continuing audaciously without any fear of reprisal hiding behind a cloak of secrecy and silence - how disgusting, how traumatic for the victims! What is a Church if it cannot protect it's own young? When there is a crime, the law authorities have to step in. The Church should not have the power to address the crime according to it's own dictats. They should be stripped off that privilege and rights to deal with crimes by threats, sworn to silence and blackmail. And the guilty should stand trial and penalized according to the law of the land. McCarrick is now a Cardinal, a powerful Cardinal. a Cardinal who chooses the Pope! All the sexual predatory complaints were not only overlooked but he was rewarded. It is about time crimes within the Church be treated as crimes committed by a citizen. The Church should not be allowed to police themselves as they have shown their utter lack of capability and even enabling criminal activity. The State first, Church second. Period.
25
I have a specific reason for disliking McCarrick. A number of years ago, I attended a special luncheon in Newark for leaders of the Hispanic community. Since McCarrick was running late, the attendees were urged to begin eating.
When McCarrick eventually arrived, he scolded the conferees for eating before his arrival. He sounded like a disapproving father berating his naughty children for their poor manners.
That man's arrogance was enough for me. It is even more upsetting, of course, to hear about his shameful treatment of young seminarians.
45
Probably the main reason celibacy was started in the Catholic Church was to prevent priests and nuns ftom leaving money to their heirs when they died instead of to the church. In doing so they also provided a safe haven and life path in the faith for gay Catholics, who had no other option in their repressive world to be who they were and stay in the church. It also inadvertently became a safe place with social standing for sexual deviants to hide like pedophiles. While there are people (gay or straight) who are priests and nuns who honor their celibacy vow and become priests and nuns because they are called to a spiriiual life of service, this effort to to keep the wealth had unintended consequences. Letting priests and nuns marry (women OR men, whoever they want!) would have to be allowed moving forward and I don’t see that ever happening.
21
Wouldn’t that be fun if we lived long enough to see the pope marry a cardinal?
11
The hardest part of this on-going scandal that continues to disgrace the Catholic Church is the code of silence that existed and no doubt still exists. Fear of harming the Church or being disloyal to the fraternity of the priesthood kept these scandals private for decades and longer. I seriously wonder if the Catholic Chuch will ever recover from these self inflicted wounds.
23
@Bob
Sounds a lot like many police departments, right?
6
Perhaps the best preventative medicine to priests who has taken a vow of chastity is voluntary castration.
20
@Bruce
Perhaps not. If you care to look at the sort of acts that qualify as child molestation, you will find that castration is no solution.
1
I wonder if this priest was only served up since he is retired and no longer pulls in the money or recruits people and while others currently ascending in the system while being abusive are being shielded like before. It is appalling to learn how even the Pope can ignore such complaints.
36
This exposure is beyond tragic. As one who is now a priest but grew up in the Archdiocese of New York, this story is more than a passing
storm cloud on the horizon. The exposure of this long known sinfulness stains the cloth of ministry. God forgive us.
35
@Father John Rosson
sorry, father. god does not forgive the sexual molestation of children. no place in heaven for them.
6
I remember reading (years ago) an article in the Boston Globe Sunday magazine, asking leading Catholic Church officials as to what attracted them to a career in the Church.
A cardinal stated that he was attracted by the ceremonies and the ecclesiastical robes: the grandeur of it all.
That says it all. The showmanship of the whole shebang drew him in.
31
@Mary. Not to serve, to be admired, adored.
10
The charges against Cardinal McCarrick are stunning and yet believable. But the response from all quarters seems to be either inadequate or insufficient. The large numbers of clergy accused of being sexual predators is not limited to the United States. Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, Mexico, Argentina are but a few of the countries where the clergy are accused, in large numbers, of committing these crimes. Yet, it seems that no one has made a connection to the Church’s long history of suppressing sexuality. From demanding celibacy from their priests to requiring the faithful to “clear their minds of impure thoughts” the Church leadership has required a type of “dehumanization” as central to the practice of Catholicism. It is clearly time that the question “why is this happening?” be answered.
20
As painful as this article is to read about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, it will not shake the faith of devout Catholics. I am a life long Catholic and have met many excellent priests who would never commit these sexual abuse crimes against any human being. These men of God are very devoted to the Church and take their faith seriously. It is unfortunate to read this happening within the Catholic Church but let's not forget it has also occurred within the Jewish and Protestant faiths as well. It does not excuse these horrible acts but the Catholic Church does not have a monopoly on abuse. We are now discovering it has happened in all venues of our society also.
These religious institutions must clean their houses of these molesters once it is reported and not let it go on for others to become victims. They must be instantly removed from all duties and never be allowed to return to any assignments that subject them to potential abuse of unsuspecting victims. We must end this tragedy once and for all and stop this scourge on our children and young adults. They are our future and must be protected from these abusers. We must take this problem seriously if it is to end and it must end for our world's sake.
8
@WPLMMT
"As painful as this article is to read about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, it will not shake the faith of devout Catholics. I am a life long Catholic and have met many excellent priests who would never commit these sexual abuse crimes against any human being.... "
Substitute these words: Trump for McCarrick
and devout Republicans for Catholics
and Politicians for Priests
And Various crimes for Sexual Abuse (but to INCLUDE sexual abuse!) and the Times could...
Recycle that news story: when will Catholics, Republicians, Scientologists, etc, etc. stop being so "faithful" to obviously corrupted institutions???
7
According to the article Mr. Ciolek stated that Cardinal McCormick never touched him "below the waist". Mr. Ciolek describes totally inappropriate and creepy touching behavior by the Cardinal but I am not sure how this qualifies as sexual abuse.
3
If the cardinal was taking sexual pleasure from someone without their consent, then it would absolutely be sexual abuse even if all touching was above the waist, ie even if he was not attempting to give sexual pleasure.
5
@Andrew J. Cook
I assume you are sincere in your questioning the possibilty of sexual abuse without touching genitals directly. If youare an adult with any sexual experience, it's almost difficult to comprehend that you have difficulties understanding the endless possibilities of totally inappropriate touching of another adult - while sleeping in the same bed!!! In addition his was the boss. So if your boss asked your young self to touch him or her in the same bed, you wouldn't consider that abusive? This was not a regular boss, it was priest, also known for people who are supposed of know right from wrong and who can really mess with a young person's mind.
18
Someone needs some serious training about what constitutes sexual abuse and harassment. If you’re an employee of any decent-sized organization, you’re a serious liability right about now.
13
It's all foolishness - they are selling a product that they can never prove they deliver. A Mafia like approach - "We'd hate to see anything bad happen to you in the afterlife." A criminal enterprises run by criminals.
43
The Catholics should stop getting yearly tax breaks for their careless sex abuse behavior. I am embarrassed as to how many countries this was happening in. That money should go to victims for life as it will be a life long struggle to end .
23
@D.j.j.k. All religions should pay for the privilege of being in this country.
8
Why are you of the faith complaining? You have sat piously in your pew and turned the other cheek in self-denial...!
Shame on you for being passive enablers. You’re just as guilty - by omission...!
No wonder I’m rabidly against any organized religion.....
27
@William B. and I went a step further. Left the Catholic Church because of the cover ups. I too, now have no use for religion.
13
“You shall know the truth; the truth shall set you free.” --John 8:32
As someone who grew up a Roman Catholic, and one who can still recite the "Our Father" in Latin, one bit of advice: the quote above is basically inoperable in the Roman Catholic Church. The religion’s administrators are more interested in their ideology and damage control when that ideology is threatened, rather than in any truth. 500 years of the Inquisition is one example.
As a corollary, another bit of advice: never trust a Catholic priest.
Never.
Because their "calling from God" may just be a smoke screen to cover up personality disorder, sexual dysfunction, and fear of intimacy. You never know.
Celibacy works as a good cover story for the above traits. Telling people to "pray and obey" works even better.
36
The Catholic church is a lot like the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When will the Bishops and others go to prison for child abuse like Jeffs?
"Warren Steed Jeffs is a convicted felon / child molester and the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints".
15
A 16-year old altar boy?!? This is maddening. Under any other set of circumstances, an entity that knowingly agrees to cover-up a crime (for the sake of conversation, let's call this particular crime rape), and then takes the overt step promoting the perpetrator so that the rape(s) can continue, is guilty of criminal conspiracy. And that entity is as guilty of committing the crime as the rapist himself! When does the DOJ get involved here and start indicting the catholic heirarchy responsible for allowing this to continue?
43
In the beginning,
there was faith, which is childish;
trust, which is vain;
and illusion, which is dangerous.
Elie Wiesel "Night"
#NeverAgain2018
#StopFascism2018
#VoteBlue2018
November 6, 2018
24
Yes, there are married priests, open and known married priests. They are members of other faiths who were priests in that faith, which allows married priests, who then convert to Roman Catholicism and are not just confirmed in their faith, but in their on-going priesthood as well.
They live in the rectory with their wife and their children, fully ordained Roman Catholic priests.
When you ask your own priest how this could be, they mention canon law and then find a way to change the subject. Or give a meaningful shrug.
I'm sure it's in canon law, and something that would make a corkscrew look like a skewer, but I think it really two things One is the triumph of turning, not some mere lay Episcopalian, but an genuine copper-bottomed priest--to which is tied the cult of the priesthood, who seem to self-evolve from "servants of the servants of God" to "Princes of the Church."
6
@Steve Paradis
The Church of England is the Church of England because a British King fancied he needed a bit more control. We report you decide.
1
I miss going to church. There was something truly comforting about the rhythm and routine there, a comfort and delight in the rituals we all went though. Little did I know at the timeBut then another one of these articles shows up and I realize that going back is simply an endorsement of this sickness and I cannot be a part of that. So I remain away.
37
@PMattson I do became sickened by what has taken place. I physically left the Church but then returned.
You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.
Many have come forward to fashion a solution. We need to see that it is implemented.
7
What kind of people does the church attract in the 1st place?
The way organizations are set up determines type of characters it gets. It's power and money. This goes for religious and political organizations.
10
@Meredith And that would include a decentralized Evangelical Church, which reports to no one, and no one reports on.
2
For nearly 1,100 years of Catholic Church history, men who were priests were allowed to marry if they chose. Celibacy was an option. That's a fact. Anyone who says we somehow "can't return" theologically as a Church to those days is in utter denial. One need only look at the relative age of those left attending Mass on Sunday to see the horrific damage already done to the interest of a younger generation by this betrayal of trust.
24
@JTS I am with you on this. Catholic need to push back on the bureaucracy, for our sake and that of our children's.
7
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's immoral behavior towards priests and seminarians is very disturbing and it breaks my heart to hear stories like this. This should never have occurred and be allowed to continue after it was first reported.
I am a practicing Catholic and although I am angry that these incidents took place, it will never diminish my faith or stop me from being a Catholic. I know many fine priests who are just as saddened and annoyed about this as I am.
I attended a wedding event this past weekend where a family friend who has been a priest for many years participated in the Mass of my nephew. He is one of the finest priests who is beloved by religious and non religious folks alike. I even know some atheists who admire him greatly. He would never in a million years condone this sort of behavior and is as repulsed at this as I am.
This behavior is committed by a small minority of priests; but, of course, one priest is far too many. This must be reported once it is discovered if it is to stopped. It must also be noted that the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal paved the way for abuses in other venues to be revealed and discovered. Abuse has been found to occur in all areas of society (public and private schools, Hollywood, corporate America, etc.) and must be nipped in the bud.
Shedding light on this widespread abuse has been a good start and no one appears to have been immune from committing these crimes. We must become serious and end it now.
12
@WPLMMT
Totally agree with you, and also know that fellow Catholics are horrified about the abuse and trying to work on solutions from within. Not sure why commenters say things like all Catholics are complicit and should leave the RC Church. I can practice the religion and at the same time, believe that priest abusers, and all criminals, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Other commenters suggest becoming Protestant. With all respect to Protestants, it's not like changing a pair of clothes; there are major differences in beliefs. Wishing peace to all, but especially to the victims, and may their suffering end.
4
Surely, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
20
I am completely disgusted at reading about the sexual abuse that has occurred in the Catholic Church, and more so, how it has been covered up for so many years. Obviously, there is a huge problem that continues to come to light. So many years of abuse continue to manifest themselves. For myself, I officially left the Catholic Church this past February for numerous reasons. One of the main reasons is that the expectation is for priests to remain celibate--which is not normal and cannot be maintained. I also left because of issues that have been brought up in this article and the response of the RCC to keep things quiet by settling. It's no wonder so many people have left the RCC and have embraced Protestantism. Aside from these abuse scandals, this church is dead spirituality, based on works, overseen by a man (the pope) who is "infallible," and overrun with perversion. No thanks, I am now a proud Evangelical (a normal one!)
3
Your view that people have left the Catholic faith and turned to Protestantism because of abuse like this is flawed. Abuse like this is also within protestantism and is rife in secular society. Thankfully there are some sensible comments here from people who have held their faith in the knowledge that these rotten apples do not account for the church itself.
4
"Publicizing the church's new zero-tolerance policy against abusing children." Do you really need to have a policy against abusing children? And is there anything other than a zero-tolerance policy?
26
@Joe Do we need any clarification to " WE THE PEOPLE..."?
I am of Catholic faith and ashamed that the church has allowed this and other men to continue to participate in sexual abuse while professing to be men of God. Shameful and despicable!
8
McCarrick was a big fundraiser. That says it all.
25
@SouthJerseyGirl Yes, just like "Citizens United".
1
So, what else is new? This is a never-ending horror story involving a syndicate that saves millions with their tax exempt status. Let’s end it.
10
@Max Green Have you gotten on GOOGLE and asked what the Church contributes to world charities?
3
Yes Mr. Rabbit I was told emphatically by an abusing priest
that the vow of celibacy is a ban
against sexual intimacy with women only. True and convenient for abusing priests. This “sexual McCarthyism” must be a term that’s being used to excuse, cover up, and protect men who are ordained but cannot adhere to the the most basic tenets of human decency.
That same priest was quite sure he
would end up in heaven because
he was ordained, therefore ontologically changed forever and
protected from the separation from
God that is the Catholic version
of hell.
Indeed it is wise to think about and
examine the good and bad that
priests and ministers do, and not
just at the point of receiving
communion. The best can help
people find a richer, more creative
life within a common sacred place.
The worst? Get out!
3
@Mrs. McVey: the vow of celibacy is not just an official "ban against sexual intimacy with women only", as you state. celibacy was invented so that priests would not have to take [financial] responsibility for all the kids they fathered out of wedlock ...
2
@Mrs. McVey You know nothing about the Catholic Faith. No one, No one, not even the Pope, is guaranteed salvation and heaven.
5
@Mrs. McVey
No, your aquaintance was wrong. The vow of celibacy is a ban of intimacy with anyone.
Also, no one is guaranteed to go to heaven.
3
This is not sexual harassment. This is sexual exploitation.
12
With respect to the law of the land, priests who are not accused of pedophilia, but sexually harass or abuse adults, should be treated in Harvey Weinstein-like fashion. The church, on the other hand, should stop pretending that priests who violate their vow of lifetime chastity are the exception rather than the rule. This report about Cardinal McCarrick suggests that the church is willing to look the other way as long as it doesn't involve children. I ask this of the Church: When - in the name of your obligation to SERVE the Community of the Faithful - will you put an end to your withering practice of excluding married men and all women from ordination to the priesthood? Just as healthy trees cannot grow from deprived soil, the church cannot go on hiding the furtive graspings of men who are ordered to remain celibate.
8
There are many fine people who are Catholic, but until the "Church" starts turning over priests to the police, we can only talk about the fine things many Catholics do, not the "great the Church has done and continues to do." An organization that allows sex attacks of children deserves no praise for anything else it does. It's like praising Mussolini because he made the trains run on time.
15
Decades and decades of knowledge and no action. No investigation. No judgement. What moral courage these leaders of the church have had.
Meanwhile they were wholly able to judge women, gays, children and anyone who didn’t meet their “strict” moral code.
27
So, would the Catholic church please explain to me again why exactly women can't be priests, bishops, and even pope? Yes, there are some women who are abusive but nowhere near as many as men....
15
The absolutely ridiculous answer is because Jesus chose 12 men to be the Apostles, thus indicating that He wanted only men to be priests.
But don't worry, in a couple hundred years from now, the Vatican will decide that theory was erroneous and discard it, allowing women priests after you and I are long gone. Just like they got rid of St. Christopher (they decided he never existed and was just a legend) and Limbo (where the un-baptized babies went).
The only way to remain a Catholic is to recognize that only the Pope is infallible, and then only on a very short list of subjects. Anything and everything else can be modified, changed or revoked/repealed (not the 10 commandments). Knowing this allows you to disregard any rule you see as ridiculous, since eventually it will be got rid of. It may take 400 years, but it will happen.
1
@Patricia Maurice I gather you are not a Catholic. Good for you. We all have "free will" we practice as we choose.
1
McCarrick was removed from his work because he sexually a bused a minor. he should be in jail for that crime. So should those who protected him.
28
"This is so tragic because there is much great that the Church has done and continues to do. "
There are many fine people who are Catholic, but until the "Church" starts turning over priests to the police, we can only talk about the fine things many Catholics do, not the "great the Church has done and continues to do." An organization that allows sex attacks of children deserves no praise for anything else it does. It's like praising Mussolini because he made the trains run on time.
11
To correct the downward spiral the Church took while John Paul II and Benedict XVI were in charge Pope Francis should expunge the Sainthood the Church bestowed upon John Paul II.
18
A dear friend of mine was sexually abused by two priests from the age of 8 to 12. He finally told me when he was 23. He detested the church. His mother made him go every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I tried to comfort him as best I could for over 3 years but he eventually killed himself. One priest was moved to another parish, the other to the Vatican. I will never forgive the church and its cover ups but it has gone on for centuries. I've since read a lot on this topic. The church hides it still.
45
Why wait decades?
End statutes of limitations that protect these loathsome people, and by that I mean both the attackers and those who protect them. They all belong in jail.
18
The Catholic Church accepts seminary candidates from only the very tiniest pool of male candidates willing to swear celibacy for life. It it should not be a mystery that a high percentage of them prove to be sexual molesters, or worse, child molesters.
For the first thousand years of the Church's existence, priests were allowed to marry...a perfectly sensible provision that accepted the reality of human biology, instead of foolishly denying it. For its own survival, my Church must eventually wake up and rescind the celibacy rule. I have met six former priests so far. All left the priesthood to marry and have children. The good ones leave and the sexually disordered ones like McCarrick remain. A disgraceful situation!
21
@Bill Tiernan
I believe the 'Church' made celibacy the rule-of-law for Catholicism because the 'true reason' for not allowing marriage to a woman by a priest was to stop the second and third generation fights between male descendants receiving property handed down from male descendants to their own male children: hence, the division of property that the Vatican hoarded would go straight ti Vatican coffers; thus by making marriage (Read producing male heirs) illegal: the 'perverted' by-product of which became, closeted homosexuality, that now has literally brought misery to untold tens of millions of male children, their parents and sincere young men and women who have heard the call to serve their communities spiritually.
12
"He is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the United States to be removed for sexual abuse of a minor."
What a joke. The "church" pretends to be responsible because it removes these creeps who attack children from their jobs.
Why have they not turned them over to the police years earlier?!
No more patience for any institution that protects sex abusers. The attackers--and those who have looked the other way--all belong in jail. End statues of limitations on such crimes.
My aunt abused me for years when I was a small child. Boys make up over 1/3 of child victims, and women make up over 20% of child sex abusers.
Neither of those groups, or any groups of abusers or victims, should continue to go without justice.
17
He preyed on men who wanted to be priests, thereby training them not to feel guilt in accepting their own sexual urges, and preparing them to be predators themselves. The Catholic Church has been a cauldron of sexual deviance since the 12th century, when celibacy was introduced.
21
Why isn't he in prison?
26
I finally left the Roman Catholic Church as few years ago, after reading all the victims stories. I am a cradle Catholic, I'm disgusted by the culture of abuse, secrecy and extortion by the hierarchy of the RCC! There are good priests, but the hierarchy has for centuries been corrupt. That anyone continues to support and belong to the RCC, sickens me. For years, our family religiously tithed, that money often went to silence their vici!
And to the apologists: STOP excusing the popes, the cardinals, bishops, they are ALL in COLLUSION hiding and abetting the pedophiles!
It's disgusting that John Paul II was beatified! The man was NO saint!
Lastly, notice how many of the abusers were promoted! Folks, this proves the RCC's hierarchy is rotted to the core, including Francis!
35
There is no internal mechanism for investigations, HR, or legal department for reporting, nor should there be. There should be external reporting to child protective services, the police, hot lines and adult protective services. Why would internal investigation processes get the church anywhere other than where it is now - full of abuse at all levels?
May the abusive institution continue to crumble before our eyes as it is exposed decade after decade.
15
I'm not a catholic so Im not following this as closely as I should, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who is just aghast that this is still going on. I would've thought the Church properly dealt with this long before Spotlight was even a single character on a script.
15
I was a Roman Catholic seminarian for 10 years from age 16 to ordination at age 27. The LAST thing you would do is speak up. And to whom? Seminary is a reign of terror with the biggest fear that of being thown out. For me, it took leaving the Church and years of therapy to unreavel the entire experience.
You are correct about the Church collapising on itself. For every one Catholic being baptized, three are walking out the door (in the U.S. and Europe). This is so tragic because there is much great that the Church has done and continues to do.
Jesus wept.
37
@Bill
There are many fine people who are Catholic, but until the "Church" starts turning over priests to the police, we can only talk about the fine things many Catholics do, not the "great the Church has done and continues to do." An organization that allows sex attacks of children deserves no praise for anything else it does. It's like praising Mussolini because he made the trains run on time.
10
After years of staying away from the Catholic Church, I decided to return last November. I told myself that the Miracle of Communion transcends the man. In a way, I still believe that. But, in receiving Communion, I cannot help but wonder where the hands of the offering priest have been.
If there be no God, let us pray for one. Most emphatically I state that my faith cannot be challenged. For me, if there is no God there is no purpose. That said, my faith does not negate free will. Rather it supports my freedom of thought.
I’ve tried to tell myself that “Screwtape” has manipulated my doubt in the Catholic Church. That is untrue. Rather, the evils perpetuated by the Catholic Church speak for themselves.
I am tired of crying and tired of nausea over the sick players in my Church. I must withdraw my loyalty.
10
No, despite the sexual McCarthyism at play here, making passes at men in their twenties is not illegal, though it was obviously ill advised. McCarrick has done good work, which should be acknowledged more. Yes the Church should have accountability structures tho the default policy of paying off disaffected complainants is clearly not working anymore. Complainants take the money and yet wont let the issue go... even after 50 years.
While framing its witch hunt as protection of the vulnerable, media plays a destructive and divisive role in rehashing such issues in the judgemental way it does. Perhaps the Church should allow married priests but it is unlikely to allow men to marry other men. Given the suffering of loneliness, is it any wonder that some men of the cloth seek solace from seminarians? These tragic and human stories deserve more nuance.
3
@rabbit Before 'nuancing,' Rabbit, let's stop the sexual predation against children by the Church's ministers.
14
@rabbit
he was removed for sexually abusing a minor...it's right there in the article.
No Witch Hunt. No McCarthyism.
This creep belongs in jail.
11
He raised a lot of money for the church so his harassment and deviance is ok?? Pay to play or something along those lines?
8
Why is the Catholic Church not prosecuted under the Rico statute? For decades, it has conspired to cover up felonies by its leadership and rank and file "priests". It has wrecked lives, killed people, and yet continues to operate with impunity, removing people like Cardinal Law to the safety of the Vatican, and then having the Pope preside over his funeral. It is an organization without shame, and with an appalling history of covering up its crimes. Time to make it pay, and if possible to put it out of business. Absolutely shocking.
21
You talk about the church on the basis of its membership. How about the two main political parties. Democrats and Republicans have abused children - in far greater numbers. Should all democrats and republicans be attacked as you suggest? How about Doctors - they have also abused children - disband the medical profession? Get me a pitchfork because I read the NYT. Get some perspective.
2
‘Too big to fail’ would be the phrase that comes to mind when I think about how many people within the Catholic Church knew and yet did nothing about this predator.
Jesus wept.
Jesus condemned those who abused the helpless in society. Those who would drag a woman to be stoned for adultery while ignoring the man involved were rebuked by Him - then how much more would He condemn someone using his position and power to prey on others no matter what their age ?
Spotlight highlighted one horrendous aspect of the rampant abuse seen in the Catholic Church - an institution that used to commit much more widespread abuses in times past when it had unchecked power. There seem to be many more layers to the seemingly systemic degrading of human beings by some in the Catholic community and unfortunately no lack of the ‘faithful’ who look the other way .
Much more has to be done to show a genuine change in the Catholic Church .
12
What would Jesus say about this Catholic Church and its priests? Clearly, the Catholic Church is more interested in sweeping its problems with priests under the proverbial rug than dealing with the problem.
8
It's obvious the Catholic Church is incapable of self regulating from within. There have been too many lives damaged by sexual predators who hide behind the almighty cross. The antiquated system of the Catholic Church ignores the fundamental human rights of the innocent victims who suffer from sexual abuse while " their own" are protected and advanced. The Catholic Church must change. Priests should be allowed to have relationships- celibacy is unnatural for a healthy male. At least give them a choice. Diversity, transparency, tolerance and a clear mission to erraticate sexual misconduct from the Catholic system is necessary to eliminate future incidents. If the Pope truly cares about human suffering let him start by protecting his people from Clergy who abuse and hurt.
8
Like other forms of child abuse this is a cycle that repeats until something or someone breaks the repetition. Cardinal McCarrick was sexually abused as a child (probably by his priest) and he continues the pattern in an exponential manner.
He is really no different than the community pariahs whose photos and addresses appear in local paper crime watch as child sex offenders.
I accept that it is a compulsion - possibly a predilection - that it is impossible to control. The life-long victim damage, social and psychic shame is well documented so, why chemical or surgical castration is off the table is the mystery to me.
Another mystery is, why hasn't some parent stopped these predators is a violent manner.
7
I am riddled with doubt and cynicism stemming from the institutionalized dysfunction, denial, and deceit within my church. I suspect if the NYT could dispatch reporters to every diocese in the US, they would find similar cases of lenient bishops turning a blind eye to priests breaking their vow of celibacy and or living double lives in their own versions of the Jersey Shore beach house. A SF apartment, a Palm Springs condo, many make regular escapes from scrutiny and judgment. Because of the Church's insistence on celibacy and its condemnation of homosexuality, good priests are forced into hiding, and nothing good comes of it. We hear about the bad priests who exploit the system of secrecy and whose crimes go unpunished, but these stories only hang more shame upon every good priest forced deeper into hiding. Whether they act out sexually or not, priests must wear masks of perfection they can not sustain. Every priest I know suffers--depression, anxiety, alcoholism, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, obesity, acid reflux, and the list goes on. Human beings long for intimacy, affection, and companionship and it's now become an open secret that priests are not so special as to be able to deny this basic need. They must be allowed to be fully human and enjoy the fruits of intimacy and companionship. When the veil of hypocrisy is lifted, it becomes increasingly hard to look upon the Church and her priests with anything but pity. Restore her to health. Accept the truth and change.
18
I'm surprised that by now, McCarrick hasn't been transferred to Vatican City to live a life of "pious reflection," where he would be, not coincidentally, immune from US criinal and civil process.
10
The deeply tragic and equally ironic part of this sad history is that these men, who purportedly speak for God, don't believe in God. If they did, they would not have acted the way they did. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that these are godless men leading the church of God.
9
I'm surprised the Catholic Church is still legal, tax-free and operating. It's institutionalized abuse with no end in sight. I'm fortunate my Irish grandparents escaped its tyranny by immigrating to the USA.
9
I am a practicing Catholic who has seen faithful and promising initiatives within the Church discouraged or sidetracked by liberal American prelates such as Cd. McCarrick and I must live in a Church whose on-going vocations challenge (of insufficient priests) must at least in part be attributed to hierarchs who abused men out of the priesthood or never admitted some healthy men in the first place, rejecting or dismissing them from seminary for being too "morally rigid."
I am thankful that the New York Times and other organs of the media are helping to shine light on filth within the Church; filth that the Church (including, according to your reports, Cd. Seán O'Malley and others) has not rooted out from within herself yet. Please continue to shine this light and to research and report the stories of McCarrick proteges who follow in his steps, etc.
At the same time, just as Spotlight Movie's Walter “Robby” Robinson failed to correctly prioritize attorney MacLeish's disclosure of abusing priests in the Boston Globe in 1993 ("page B42 in the Metro section"), I would like to see some "Public Editor"-like treatment of the NYTimes Magazine's failure to publish to publish the story on McCarrick in 2012 - as Rod Dreher and others have widely reported that NYT's reporters had deeply investigated the Cardinal's story at that time but then neglected to let the truth be known in our Newspaper of Record.
13
John Paul II's pontificate was a complete disaster. As his acolytes were fond of saying over his too long tenure: "the Church is not a democracy." My heart hurts for those poor Catholic boys.Those evil men just waiting for them to show up and go some place for a weekend of "touching."
17
@Estaban Goolacki That would be "Saint" John Paul II, thanks to the current pope. And there are those who still insist that the current pope is a beacon of hope--after his willful denial of clerical wrongdoing. When and where in the world is it going to stop?
2
For those who suggest that allowing priests to marry would fix the problem, just look at the entertainment industry. Or Fox News. Or the large numbers of politicians who've abused young people of both sexes. Or, for that matter, those married Protestant ministers who've been caught with young men, and who then swear they've been through some conversion therapy and are now straight arrows and forgiven by Jesus.
15
Why would any religion expect their priests or pastors to be celibate? This not natural for most people and creates a false normalcy which leads to forbidden sex.
7
That is no excuse to molest anyone, minors or adults..
14
It is not about celibacy, there are plenty of married men who are ...pedophiles.
11
This is painful to read. I am beyond feeling pain for the Catholic Church as an institution, and my empathy and support is only for the victims. I believe the adults who were targeted suffered just as much of a violation as the children. McCarrick violated those he was supposed to be teaching and mentoring.
I am not holding my breath for the idiotic doctrine that does not allow a priest or nun to have a happy, loving and consensual relationship with an adult of their choosing who is not their boss or subordinate. It is an inconvenient truth for the Catholic Church that healthy and loving long term relationships are a part of our humanity. So many parishes today would not survive without the commitment and work of married lay people who serve as deacons. The Church will be forced to wake up, or continue to fall apart as so many good people are leaving it in droves.
17
Time to close the doors on the Catholic Church. They have damaged so many, not just with sexual abuse, but abuse of sexuality. They lied to us. They continue to foist religious falsehoods on uneducated people so as to keep themselves in power.
26
Any other business would have been slapped with a RICO decades ago.
8
@Ken Your use of the term 'abuse of sexuality' is extraordinarily important; I haven't heard that used in the contact of the Church's sexual abuse. But this might be the broader wrong--I won't say worse because nothing is worse than preying on the innocent.
3
This could all be solved if the Catholic church would allow priests to marry. But, as my Irish-Catholic boyfriend says, "celibacy started because they didn't want their rich clergy to leave their property to anyone but the Church." Greed is the root of all evil. You would think that Christians would remember this and live their lives accordingly, but no.
18
If allowing priests to marry would solve this problem, how explain the numerous examples of married Congressmen (usually Republican, I might add) caught with their pants down with young men, or married ministers with prostitutes, or married men in positions of power in every field preying on women and men regularly? It all comes down to power, who has it and who doesn't.
17
Some Catholic priests do marry. They are in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. They may not however be promoted to bishop or cardinal. Their cardinal is one of the cardinals who elect the pope.
These priests have a special dispensation from Rome.
5
@Allison
FYI - Harvey Weinstein was a married man at the time he abused so many women.
1
The church has gone out of its way to condemn homosexuality over many decades. Yet male on male sexual contact was not uncommon in the clerical ranks. The church lacks the courage to follow its own prejudices even as it attempted to foist them upon the sheep.
14
Back in the 2000 timeframe, I believed Cardinal McCarrick was one of only a few who "got it", when it came to the priest scandal. Boy was I ever duped. Oh yeah, I also never thought Trump would be President.. Anyone want to know the next big stock to buy?
20
I’m looking for a religion with no churches and no priests and a 500-page bible. On page one would be the message: “It’s about love”. The other 499 pages would be blank, just to drive home the point.
I can dream.
19
This is kind of like which came first, the chicken or the egg, in that, which is worse the acts of of the clergyman or the coverup?
2
In my view the pedophilia is done by sick individuals whereas the coverup is perpetrated by people who consciously choose to perpetuate a system that permits widespread abuse. In that, I think the latter are the worse offenders.
1
One Cardinal was asked some years ago about this problem in his area. His answer was: I solved the problem, I threw these priests out, everyone of them, when I became a cardinal.
2
@James B I hope that cardinal's name wasn't McCarrick, or the other cardinals' names we know of now.
New Yorkers of a certain age will remember when McCarrick, then Archbishop of Newark, helped secure bail for Robert Chambers, the "Preppie Killer," who murdered Jennifer Levin in Central Park in 1986. McCarrick vouched for Chambers' character - the young man who lied repeatedly through the police investigation and steadfastly blamed the victim throughout his trial and incarceration, saying she had asked him for "rough sex." (It should be noted that Chambers is now once again in jail, a convicted high-level drug dealer.)
36
When the Church's teachings against homosexuality are added into a pressure cooker of men without partners, all types of things can happen, psychologically and behaviorally. They cannot love another individual and they exist in a predatory world without women as anything but housekeepers. At least this guy touched fewer children than the normal perps. How anyone can follow an institution like this is one of the great wonders of western history.
13
The fall of the Roman Catholic Church: do as we say, not do as we do? Hypocrites all.
20
This will further erode the attendance and support of previously declared Catholics.
6
Wondering why it seems that predator clerics are recognized in their old age?
7
The Catholic Church has been and always will be about the MONEY.
29
@Jimmy At least since the 4th century. Probably earlier.
2
The phrase rotten to the core comes to mind. Waiting for your next article where we get to hear some advice from the Pope on how we should be doing things here in the USA. Maybe he should focus instead on his own huge never ending child abuse issues.
15
The Catholic Church is the last remnant of the Roman Empire. Does it really surprise anyone that it is a cesspool of corruption and abuse?
15
The Roman Catholic Church has lost all credibility. How could anyone with a shred of decency still support this organization with its ugly history of pedophilia, sexual and physical abuse and enslavement of young women in laundries from which they profited. Morally bankrupt.
31
Jesus wept.
16
Inside the Catholic Church pedophilia is acceptable so they think nothing of covering up sexual abuse of young boys. Any other organization would have been driven out of business long ago.
16
Many of the Bishops and Cardinals that are still in power in the United States were appointed by Popes John Paul and Benedict. How many of them knew this from their sources?
Just another reinforcement of how corrupt the Church was during this period and still have holdovers that run the present American Hierarchy. I have more respect for thos appointed by Pope Francis, but they have little power or influence in the Conference of U.S. Bishops
7
@Dennis Mulvihill Pope Francis canonized Pope John Paul II. This drove out any little hope I might have had for him and the church he leads..
2
In a world where there are so many sex abuse scandals there is a risk that people will stop paying attention. This story is particularly important because it focuses on the cover up. Any number of prominent church leaders could have at least prevented Father McClarrick's rise in the Church hierarchy. Many of the comments are about the Catholic Church, which deserves the criticism, but a similar article could probably be written about other religions and major institutions in society. What is needed is a fundamental change in the thinking of the broader community. We can not ever forget that it is indifference of the many as well as the quilt of those with authority that allows abusers to be protected while victims continue to suffer..
14
@Yosef Blau, I do not understand why we are not talking more about the root causes of sexual abuse; what drives people to molest children, and what drives people to harass and assault other adults? I've always believed that those who molest children are sick; is there not a way we could begin to address this horrible illness? As for harassing and assaulting other adults, there is a power problem there. Why must people lord their power over others in such a sick way? That is an illness, too. If we can study addiction and depression and all manner of other disorders, can't we find out and treat what causes these scourges?
1
"the church has made strides in dealing with sexual abuse of children"
The Archdiocese of St Paul recently paid 210 million dollars to victims after being criminally and civilly charged with child endangerment. Attorneys and the courts have gotten better at protecting children. What is the evidence that the Church has actually made progress?
Willingness to be part of the cover up was a condition of advancement in the hierarchy. It's not a coincidence that McCormick was protected.
11
It is high time the Church had its moment with #MeToo, as the Times put it in its Twitter feed.
Blatant abuse has been rampant in that institution for decades and before. While the religious side of the Church preached goodness and light to the flock, the corporate side was busy playing hardball with individuals and families, with coercion, obstruction, and denial to keep justice at arm’s length. The Church in some states has joined other organizations to fight mandatory reporting requirements and other legislation that would extend the statute of limitations on the reporting of sex crimes.
Christ took a dark view of those who harmed the defenseless and innocent — particularly children. I take great satisfaction that the day of reckoning for those who knew of, perpetrated, and kept silent on the sexual abuse of children, teens, and adults is coming, and will not only occur here on earth but beyond. This thought alone makes me want to believe in an afterlife.
Am I harsh? You bet. I have known survivors of this horror, who never really got over the physical or the psychological abuse of deepest trust betrayed. I have known many good priests who have been tarnished with and saddled by the acts of their colleagues. But what still enrages me is the tearful comment by one man I knew, who said all he and his family wanted was a simple apology for his abuse — their faith and forgiveness were still that strong — but their archdiocese could not see fit to give them even that.
25
With apologies to Lincoln "A church divided against itself itself cannot stand." Any why should it?
5
Any day now the Church will announce that McKarrick is suffering from dementia and cannot testify or be tried or otherwise held accountable for his past. He'll be sent quietly to live in some rather affluent church environment where all his needs are taken care of abundantly for the rest of his days. This is the Church's pattern. This is Church justice.
16
Great reporting! In AA they say: “We are as sick as our secrets.” The RCC will be a lot less “ sick” admitting these secrets and paying the price. Now: on to Donald Trump.
11
At this point, is anyone really surprised? Mr. Ciolek must have been pretty naïve. These Seminarians are well educated what did they think was going on? Would it really be that hard to tell McCarrick to go take a leap? As a Catholic I do believe the media does take some pleasure in these stories but the Catholic church is dying because of frauds like McCarrick and Egan. They are dead or all soon to be dead. The town I live in has five Catholic Churches. They are all dying. In five years you will need one church tops because the churches are empty and broke. Let women become Priests and you will get rid of all the dysfunctional Priests.
10
@Jack We have not yet begun to hear of the sexual dysfunction among nuns. Maybe there are not as predatory nuns (although I have heard of one case of sexual abuse by a nun toward a female teacher), but there is definitely dysfunction and hypocrisy among the female celibates in the church.
1
@ Jack We have to think about this in terms of power relationships, not in terms of individual choice. When a person enters a social organization in which they are in the group with the lowest status, and they get sexually assaulted or harassed, they know that telling the truth doesn't matter--when that truth is about a very powerful person in the organization. Furthermore, these relatively powerless people are often groomed and chosen by predators because they do not (at the time) have much self-confidence and are often not integrated into the larger organization, therefore not having a trusted circle of friends. Sexual predators search for easy victims, they understand the social dynamics and structures of organizations that enable them to continue to be predators, and they groom their victims with special favors and manipulative kindness, making the victims feel special albeit uncomfortable, and thus fearful to oppose the predator. These types of social interactions always depend on differential power of the predator and victim. Hopefully people can see that being a victim has more to do with the social structural circumstances than just the psychological weakness of targeted victims--because this allows us to see that any person, given the right circumstances can be victimized.
5
Power and control over other people seems to be at the heart of a religion that has looked the other way for decades if not millennia at the sexual abuse that has been with rife within the Church. Devout? I hardly think so. Religion has just been a vehicle for many to wield power and influence and indulge sexual appetites. While this is no different than the Hollywood casting couch nor the corporate version of that couch, it is far more perverse because it involved the very spirituality of the person abused.
One thing I noted, as an aside is the number of residences available to the clergy at the expense of the parishioners. No vows of poverty there. The hypocrisy of decrying the plight of the poor is disgusting.
22
I just continue to wonder where the world is going to find the moral courage to shut down its largest sexual abuse ring--it definitely ain't coming from the religious side of the arena and the politicians smell too much money to do anything so where in the world will we find the moral courage to end this?
15
Nine hundred sixty-eight years ago, St. Peter Damien endorsed the imprisonment of clergy who are a danger to youth. "About 1050, during the pontificate of Pope Leo IX, he wrote a scathing treatise on the vices of the clergy, including sexual abuse of minors and actions by church superiors to hide the crimes." (excerpt from Wikipedia article about St. Peter Damien)
Does this mean that the Catholic Church is to be condemned as immoral and two-faced? Not at all -- the Church has experienced internal corruption since one of Christ's inner circle accepted 40 pieces of silver to plant a traitorous kiss on His cheek. The fact that the Catholic Church is not immune to sin is not a sign of hypocrisy; it is proof that evil attempts to ruin whatever it can. The poet Rita Dove put it very well: " ... evil can be creative. Evil is not stupid. You know, it can be, in fact, as intelligent as what we imagine good to be and we have to realize that, if we’re ever going to fight evil."
10
Between the Catholic Church, USA Gymnastics, and Penn State Football, is it any wonder we don't let our kids out of our site? We rejected a daycare because they had a male employee. Not fair, you say? They had a molestation scandal a short time later.
See something, say something. Trust your instincts. If the situation feels wrong, it is wrong.
19
I was wondering did the pries/abusers go to Confession as Catholic's are commanded to do? Did they seek out a fellow abuser? ff they confessed to a "straight" priest, did the straight one have any obligation to tell the authorities? Just wondering.
3
Thanks for the opportunity to revive a stale joke. Remember Bush's Leave no Child Behind? The Catholic Church also had an outreach program- Leave no Child's Behind.
12
Think of all the immigrants (like my grandparents) who prayed, paid, and obeyed. Convinced they were committing sin by eating meat on a Friday, or by having sex, or some other human "failing." Or the mothers who had 10 or 12 children, thinking they could not say no to their husbands, or to contraception, even though 3 or 4 kids would have been enough for them. Then, think of the pedophiles and sexual predators of adults who rose through the ranks and sat in judgment of the regular, everyday Catholics. Really disgusting.
138
@Another NY reader
Add the faithful Catholics who stayed in loveless or abusive marriages because to divorce would be a sin.
12
Cardinal, indeed. The bird this miscreant most resembles is the vulture. Not surprising that his abuses have been covered up for years at the highest level (read: Pope). Why people still pay any attention to the ravings of these costumed lunatics escapes me.
21
I never understood how someone could worship a god powerful enough to create an ordered universe, but weak and clueless enough have his plans for the nascent human race thwarted by a talking snake. Really? The one thing supposedly created in god's image, tricked by a talking snake?
This is the same god capable of measured escalation of threats against an ancient pharaoh, with the ability to cherry pick only the first-born for death when said pharaoh didn't come around. How is it, then, that this god needed to flood the Earth and kill every living creature not housed in the Ark, because his humans didn't praise him often enough? Couldn't he have killed just the people, and left the armadillos and maple trees in peace?
Well, if you can believe that kind of stuff, then it's no big leap to listen to an unmarried priest tell you how best live a married life, or a moral life. Life counselor - Immediate Openings! No experience required!
These days, hearing voices can be a sign of mental illness. Funny how 2-5,000 years ago, that same behavior allowed a few to claim that they knew god's will, and therefore should be obeyed.
Religion- can't live with it, could live very well without it.
21
It's the same story or a variation over and over. The Roman Catholic hierarchy seem incapable of cleaning their own house when it comes to pedophilic, ephebophilic and predatory priests. It has begun to seem as if most of them just don't care about the abuse of children, adolescents and adults who are vulnerable; meanwhile, what they do fixated on is abortion, harassing openly gay people and fighting same-sex marriage, and supporting far-right politicians, like Donald Trump. It's absolutely disgusting and flies completely in the face of the New Testament, on which the Christian church, especially Roman Catholicism, is founded. Perhaps locking more of these priests and bishop up will wake them up; clearly assuming they will do the proper, truly Christian thing is not working!
18
Churches make great buildings to turn into apartments.
More apartments are on their way.
15
For DECADES. DECADES. Is it any wonder that people are flocking away from religion/church, in droves? All to protect the image of the Priest/Cardinal/Pope/Church? Yet a whole bunch of people still follow this Pope fellow blindly. I find these things just absolutely mind blowing, the church knows/knew about hundreds of these pedophiles, yet did nothing, maybe moved them around or promoted them. This tells me the children are considered expendable, they are future leaders or members of the church. They are just something to be used.
16
Not decades; millennia.
6
The Roman Catholic Church : a greater physical threat to American citizens than any Islamist group ever was.
The reams of revelations of acts of sexual terrorism committed by Catholic clergy and deliberately concealed by an obscurantist hierarchy convince me of the need for the US federal government to put a clampdown on this criminal organisation no longer worthy of our consideration. President Trump, do the United States a favour and sever diplomatic relations with the Vatican, save the US taxpayer a bit of money for such a superfluous mission.
8
The Catholic Church needs to do away with the celibacy requirement, and also admit women to the priesthood.
19
This..this is why so many of us have left the Church. This is what happens when a patriarchal and dogmatic institution does not allow their priests to marry. This hypocritical form of Christianity subjects a woman to her husband in the marriage ceremony (no thanks to "Saint" Paul), dictates to us how to raise our kids allowing no birth control or freedom of choice, and makes divorce a "mortal" sin if a woman attempts to free herself from violence and abuse. Yet those very bishops and priests who dare to tell us how to live our lives regularly commit among the most heinous and destructive of all evils. Where is this Pope who is named after the humble Francis of Assisi? Why does he not heed that very saint's own creed, "Make me an instrument of thy peace"?
Let me tell you a story. A close relative of mine was sexually abused by a priest. To this day he is not the same after years of substance abuse. But as a young teen, he was ashamed to tell anyone of his molestation. He is but one of thousands and thousands living in this upside-down world of ours who is scarred for life.
I will not stop until this Church receives the justice and punishment it deserves. This can not and will not go on.
51
Catholic priest seem to like boys and evangelicals prefer underage girls. The Catholics say they are trying to put safeguards in place. Evangelicals don't need to bother -- using the theory of radical grace, they confess their sins, proclaim their faith once again and presto, the stain is gone. For additional transgressions simply wash, rinse and repeat the cycle.
These non-tax paying organizations turn a blind eye to the most unspeakable crimes imaginable against children. I find the relentless war these so-called guardians of ‘morality’ wage against same sex marriage, abortion rights and perhaps even the use of contraceptives, immoral and intolerable. This is why we have a wall of separation between church and state enshrined in our constitution.
We must ensure that wall never falls.
51
The audacity of this church leaves me bitter and vengeful.
This is a church of elitists who think they are above law, because they're wearing a funny collar?
My Dad warned me about pedestals, and pedophiles and priests. Dad was right.
Do not revere priests, Dad would say, "they are NO different than any other many, just wearing a collar is the only difference."
Dad, God Bless your wisdom and protection. I cherish it!
13
Why are some so keen on making the United States a theocracy or allow the ignoring of the law in the name of "religious freedom"?
21
It's very sad, but not really surprising, that the RC church, after over1.000 years of being ruled and led by men, with women always subservient, that it would eventually become a criminal operation. The hierarchy is corrupt.
23
I have fond memories of Cardinal McCarrick when he was in charge of the Washington archdiocese. He was a powerful advocate for the poor, and he made some effort to address the church's treatment of the LGBT community. With that being said, there's no excuse for his behavior towards seminarians. Sadly, it doesn't surprise me. Some people, when placed in positions of authority, will always use their power to abuse others. I'm also not surprised that the church promoted him. After all, as the article points out, his fundraising powers were extraordinary. I guess Jesus was right when he said "where your treasure is, there will be your heart also" (Matthew 6:21).
9
After mass yesterday, I was asked why I hadn't made my donation to the archbishop's annual appeal. This article re-affirms my decision to donate only to funds I can restrict to the parish. I don't intend to support the tactics of archdiocesan lawyers who fight victims.
46
Abject acceptance of rigid dogma conditions people to not question and not publicly pursue wrong doing. Questioning everything should become the first directive of spiritual and daily life. Going to hierarchy only reinforces hierarchy. The RC Church is too faith bound without enough emphasis on reaction, accountability, and change. Bit short on facts and history as well. Praying reality away is not a healthy life style ever. RC thought is now in our civil courts at the highest levels. It must be resisted.
4
As a former seminarian who realized early on that the Roman Catholic Church’s celibacy requirements really permitted too many men with skewed sexual proclivities to move forward to ordination, it does not surprise me to hear about Church leaders engaging in “unwanted by others” behavior. Unfortunately, too many Church clergy leaders are so invested in the concept of celibacy to be able to analyze the issue and take the necessary steps to open the priesthood to men and women who want to live a full life with partners and families in the same manner as their parishioners. Given that Church leaders seem now to be able to condemn and attempt restitution for the terrible actions some of their clergy have engaged in, those same leaders need to open up to the root causes of that problem and really revisit the way priests,celibate or married, can serve their communities. Of course, a married clergy won’t eliminate all of the problems with sexual predators (See the coaching industry, Hollywood, Corporate America, Congress, and anywhere else that powerful people can abuse their powers), but it would likely open the Church to a reinvigorated Church with new ideas and strengths.
37
I was brought up a Catholic but stopped attending church as soon as I left home. I did not like the misogynism and hypocrisy I felt was endemic in the church. In my girl’s only high school, one of our teachers, a priest, committed suicide. A nun, who taught me French, became pregnant while still in habit by one of the lay teachers. Of course it was a scandal that was hushed up, but we knew and I could not see how her behaviour conformed even remotely to her faith and vocation. I do not recall hearing of any abuse but I do recall a priest who ‘flirted’ a lot, and was made uncomfortable by it. This kind of thing pushed me ‘over the edge’. I felt that I could be just as moral and good a person without the trappings of the church. Of course when the allegations of physical and sexual abuse started to surface that just underwrote my decision.
Be it as it may what one thinks of the church, I think is horribly sad is that those priests and nuns who had a true ‘vocation’ and are decent and upstanding human beings are essentially tarred with the same brush as are the transgressors. It must be incredibly problematic for them and no doubt one of the reasons the church is finding it very, very difficult to find people to fill its dwindling ranks. Why do so many of those who choose the religious life seem to find it so difficult to adhere to the principles they supposedly embrace and espouse?
11
Perhaps treating human sexuality as a positive, healthy part of life would be a starting point for religion. Consider that a call to serve as a pastor or priest is not the exclusive preserve of men. Consider that a rigid, hierarchical bureaucracy can and does lead to abuses.
I am truly sorry for the young men who were singled out for 'special attention' by McCarrick and other high ranking members of the Catholic church.
25
It is obvious that way too many men are not following a true vocation but are seeking to escape from a sexuality they are not understanding or handling. We do not see the kind of institutional abuse in the clergy of other religions we see in the Catholic Church. It cannot be pretended there are just a few bad apples.
6
The Catholic Church is the largest Christian religion and presented on a worldwide stage so it's not surprising to hear of the extent of this abuse. But rest assured, this kind of institutional abuse is alive and well in other religions. It's not about a certain religion - it's about power. It is as true for many other religions or denominations as it is for politics, companies, entertainment business etc. Power corrupts.
3
I listened to McCarrick many times over the years I was a practicing Catholic. His words spoke to me through very difficult times in my life. I am glad that courageous people have come out and brought their abusers to task. I am numb to all this heinous behavior and have fallen away from the Church. Another wolf in sheep's clothing...
9
Sort of baffling to me how people don't connect the puzzle pieces with these scandals in the Catholic church.
1) The Catholic church considers homosexuality a sin and has been stridently against the concept, not as much as fundamentalist Judaism or Islam, but close. This might be shifting now in America, but the church still doesn't really accept gay people.
2) The Catholic church only allows men to be priests.
3) Heterosexuality is fine, although Catholics often keep up the amusing deception that they're not having sex until marriage.
4) So, people born gay and into strictly Catholic communities are forced to suppress their sexuality, can be drawn into the priesthood as a refuge, and have their repressed sexuality manifest itself, often as pederasty.
Maybe this isn't PC, but it seems clear to me why these scandals are nearly always committed by men upon boys, not by men upon girls, nor women upon everyone. And maybe if the Catholic church wasn't so traditionally repressive, these scandals wouldn't be as frequent.
16
Should any of this really be surprising? The Catholic Church has a long history of concealing and deflecting abuse cases, one that stretches beyond the 1980s. Take the Vatican during Italy's fascist period as an example, when sex abuse scandals simmered at the highest levels of the hierarchy, in Pope Pius's plain view. What did the Church do? Obviously, nothing. The involved cardinals were allowed to either remain in their posts or earn some new, more important role at the Vatican. What's playing out today is merely a repetition of past events, and the Church's reluctant, cyclical responses to today's scandals underscore the Church's steadfast commitment to its primary interest: power.
8
I came a cross a copy of a letter written by Charlemagne to the church. In it he says he has heard of sexual perversion in the priesthood and he hoped he would hear no more of it.
1200 years ago! This perversion has been going on in the church for at least that long. It's so ingrained into the polity that it will never end.
6
Having no knowledge of the Catholic Church, I have to ask;
Is there blanket immunity given to Priests, Cardinals and other church hierarchy from prosecution? How is it that one religious sect can "hide" criminals- worldwide? Someone please provide an answer.
7
Payoffs, religious blackmail (you don't want to hurt the church!), guarantees it will be handled, and at times, religious threats to excommunicate (yes, really) if you talk to police.
1
How incredibly sad in this age of enlightenment and science. This male-dominated organization bans birth control in a world with too many people, creating untold misery, poverty and disease in many poor catholic-dominated countries. Many people seem to be able to see the evils of other religions but are blind to their own.
14
And, why isn't this guy in jail? Who protected him? Why aren't they in jail. Joe Paterno had his reputation destroyed and died a broken man for simply not doing enough. Yet the Catholic Church gets a pass every time by prosecutors. It's time to bring it to account and put them out of business. If there was a Christ, then this cannot be his church if one reads the bible.
12
Religion and Politics are where the pedophiles flock to--and the Boy Scouts of America (duh.)
3
Lots of coverage on Catholic sex abuse and never an article on the Muslim grooming of underage non-Muslim girls or honor killings? Why is that?
10
Amen, Albert. It's time for the Catholic hierarchy to be rethought and reformed.
1
I didn't leave the Catholic church over the sex scandals, but OMG they are rotten to the core!
16
The Catholic Church
Scaaaaaaaandalous,....
3
Jesus warned about the anti-Christ. The Catholic church is a gigantic hoax preying on the simple minded.
11
If religion is false, how did Jesus say anything?
The anti-Catholic tenor of these comments is disturbing. I am not Catholic, but people who belong to that church are often good people, and they are Christians, not members of a cult.
It's the Catholic hierarchy that allowed the sex scandal to flourish, not the faith itself.
5
Now do Islamic clerics.
8
I wonder how Saint John Paul II is enjoying his eternity in hell?
4
The world's premier institute for the pederasty arts is still somehow in business 'doing the Lord's work'.
What a sicko church.
23
Citing homosexuality, celibacy or the exclusion of women in the hierarchical structure of an organization as explanations for sexual abuse ignores that sexual predators and pedophiles operate across the board. A common denominator between religious dominations, corporations, government, the entertainment industry and other groups that enable perpetrators to continue abusing less powerful members is a hierarchical system in which power bestowed on certain individuals instills fear among those who want to be accepted, promoted, included or employed. Another common denominator is the conspiracy of silence. If we don’t talk about or acknowledge the accusations, they don’t exist and we can continue business a usual. No group wants to acknowledge that its structure works for a select few at the top and is inherently flawed. It’s heinous that a religious organization which promotes moral behavior for its members turns a blind eye toward leaders who don’t hold their own accountable. That it’s a church is no more detrimental to victims than those abused by Olympic doctors, coaches, relatives, and other perpetrators. And when victims report abuse, are often disbelieved, blamed, ignored, criticized or made to relive the abuse in relating abuse. The challenge is to rethink our hierarchical systems that put power in the hands of a few individuals to one that creates a more equitable experience for everyone.
18
When this behavior began to come out, I was naive, shocked, and trusting. Now as it continues, I am finished. Well and truly finished.
16
Yesterday I went to Mass and listened to my priest give a homily about how heartbreaking it was that the daughter of very Catholic friends of his - parents who sacrificed to send their kids to Catholic school, who were involved with their parish, who lived lives of faith & devotion - that this daughter had gotten married on a beach, without any religious aspect to the ceremony, and how sad it was that younger generations have fallen away from the Church.
And I listened and I thought: what the younger generation knows is that the Church as an institution doesn't actually care about them, doesn't care about protecting them or raising them up right, doesn't care about their well-being, it seems only to care about their numbers. There's no other reason to behave in this "damage control mindset" rather than addressing this massive problem, among others, head-on, with humility, with a plan to fix, change, make amends.
I'm outraged that this is the first I've heard about McCarrick. I grew up in the Newark Archdiocese, and my brother is a parish priest there. And I am heartsick. Heartsick thinking about my parents shaking hands with McCarrick, thinking about the harm behind his charm. It completely infuriates me, that men called to a difficult life, one that requires sacrifices of sexuality and a lot of emotional labor, were abused and manipulated in this way. Being a priest is a hard enough life as it is.
163
Indeed. Rabbis, imams, and Protestant ministers can all have spouses. Perhaps the Catholic Church should take a hint and put an end to this absurd and utterly unhelpful prohibition on priests getting married. It wouldn't solve everything overnight, but it would certainly disincentivize a fair number of newer priests from abusing their power after rising through the ranks.
6
The Church is an outdated institution, in the business of producing pedophiles. How ignorant can anyone be to believe that it is beneficial to individuals and society that men (and women) crush their very natural instincts to love, and enjoy the fruit of that love in sexual union.
In suppressing their natural instincts these young people naturally become confused, neurotic and depressed and thus susceptible to whims of predators, themselves tortured souls.This is not what the original Christians envisioned when they set out to establish the Church. It is now a self perpetuating institution interested only in its power, not the welfare and nurturing of its members.
11
The Church is a two thousand year old institution that, like the military and the government, has been dominated by men, some of whom abused others.
The problem isn't specific to the institutions, but is general to the various cultures throughout history that allowed men to control power.
That power was established by religion.
15
No, the church is not evil; the theology of Jesus of Nazareth remains a guide for sane living. What we have are ecclesial leaders who purport to be shepherds when they have little respect for the laity. The church as an institution is simply too medieval to be an acceptable governing body in this day and age. It is ludicrous for bishops to ask us to pray for vocations to the priesthood when they, as a body, are loathe to take responsibility for the decline in the number of priests and practicing Catholics.
21
The institution of the church has always made its first priority defending itself from scandal. Since the first Pope this has been central to the Roman Catholic Church. There's a reason they have Canon law, there's a reason they want their Ecclesiastical Court back - it allow behaviors like this to remain hidden. The fact that the church's version of Harvey Weinstein was promoted and officials who were told ignored it, enabled it or covered it up says all anyone needs to know to about the total lack of an ethical core in the church as a whole. We keep hoping this will end, it won't since what we see and hear really does represent the core of that very corrupt institution.
8
What this reflects upon is a church more caught up in matters of dogma and power and believing the 'right things' then in having a church that truly cares about its people. These abuses have been going on a long time, and the covering up of them reflects the clannish nature of the church, that its leaders and priests have as a primary goal 'protecting the church', which basically means themselves. Whether it is the Magdelene Laundries or the orphanages in Ireland, the sex abuse by priests, time and again the church says the right things but by actions does nothing. JPII and the US churchmen he appointed were obsessed with issues like abortion and gays, and believing the 'right things', and didn't see beyond that. The biggest problem the church has and will continue to have is the old "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't work, that when a church doesn't live into its mission, when it acts in a corruprt way while proclaiming moral truth, it will fail in its mission.
16
Sadly, Clericalism makes this horrible crime even worse. The thirst for power, attention and influence contributes to a toxic culture found in the American Catholic Church today. It’s a cancer on the Body of the Church that Pope Francis continues to speak about. A Church likes this has no healthy future. Just look at the leadership of the US Church. A bunch of ‘yes’ men caught up in the trappings of their office unwilling and unable to walk out of step with the party line. Sad.
Bring on married men and women and help transform this institution from within.
7
It's good to hear these voices speak truth to power, although so many decades have now passed. I hope more men & women, who've been intimidated, harassed, inappropriately touched, and/or sexually assaulted, come forward. May they all find power & healing.
I can't help but think of a young man who my mom said was her first boyfriend in Ireland, back around 1925, who told her that he had been sexually abused by the local priest. He later committed suicide. How many young lives were destroyed by these hypocrites?
Until RC clergy are allowed to marry- both straight & gay- and there are female priests, bishops, cardinals and popes, it won't stop.
18
And to think that a Cardinal can be elected Pope, and elect a Pope.
7
Another large institution without proper self awareness nor oversight. Makes one wonder how the human mind reconciles the teachings and perverse conduct. Just less complicated to ignore and preserve the privileges of the trade.
4
Where are the historians? Surely this has been going on for centuries. I recall one historian (his field was US history) commenting that European villagers were relieved when a new priest arrived with a housekeeper because they knew their children were safe.
49
It's perfectly simple. If you believe in God, then you don't need to join an organised religion. If you want to help others, then you don't need to become a priest.
Organised religions are socio-political groups. They come between Man and God.
If you belong to the Church of Rome then you are part of the problem, tacitly giving your support to the abusers, like the cowards standing silently watching schoolyard bullying.
50
The ultimate audacity of the Vatican was to elevate Pope John Paul II to sainthood, a mind- boggling slap in the face to all those victims of sexual abuse whose pleas for justice were ignored.
202
exactly!
5
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, including w/i the rigid Catholic Church.
30
So as the Catholic Church passes around the collection plate and the congregants tithe to provide for the poor and the needy a percentage of the take goes to pay for lawsuits brought on by the congregants' children who have been sexually abused by the Catholic Church. So in fact they are paying the Church for destroying the most important things in their lives; faith in a just God and their children. It is sick, sick, sick and apparently not about to change in any hurry.
71
Following the mass I offered yesterday at a VA medical center,
an counselor fully accredited from a Catholic medical center approached me asking: "Are you alright?" For the past year he has been bringing his elderly father (Korean Veteran) to the 10:30 Sunday Eucharist and only at my initiative engaged in conversation. But yesterday the son came forward asking: "Is something wrong?" Taken aback I said "not that I know of" then adding, "Does it show?" The therapist nodded yes without words.
"I suffer from depression," I answered hiding nothing except the reasons why. For one, Cdl. McCarrick was our chaplain--a wonderful one--at a Catholic campus where I was an
undergraduate, naive then but no longer. Hardly believable what The NYT is printing here together with the newspaper's earlier front page Sunday edition. O.K., got it. While the story has to be reported, no news venue attacks the Catholic Church with more delight & venom than the Primacy of The New York Times, Its Hierachy & Its Scandals.
8
...delight & venom than the Primacy of The New York Times, Its Hierachy & Its Scandals.
You lost me right there.
Plus, FYI, this is how you spell "hierarchy."
5
Abe46, Your depression will start to lift when you refuse to live in denial any longer and accept the fact that while Cdl McCarrick might have done some wonderful things, he was not wonderful. He was a pedophile who talked himself into abusing young adults as a way to keep himself from abusing children. All the rest of what he did that was "wonderful" pales in comparison to his deviancy. The New York Times does not report in delight and venom; that's your own denial talking.
12
Do not blame The NY Times for reporting abuse! That is their job and if they did not zealously follow these stories they would be doing the public a great disservice. The Catholic Church, and it’s rules of celibacy, is solely responsible for these crimes and must be held to account. My guess is that if rules of celibacy were policed better the Church would collapse because there would not be enough priests left to serve the congregation.
4
A few words in support of traditional celibacy -
Christian: Matthew 19:12 Not my words, not the Pope’s. These are the words of Jesus - “The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Jewish: Isaiah 56:4-5. Not even Christian words, but those of a highly revered Jewish prophet. One easily sees that these very words of the prophet are fulfilled today, when priests from every gentile nation on earth keep the Sabbath and choose those things that please God. As the prophet says, God will give them an everlasting name that endures forever. Moreover, they will receive a memorial even higher than Jewish sons and daughters.
These are powerful though not often cited scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments. They are worthy of humble reflection today. Their truth is not overcome by the actions of McCarrick.
4
The problem is that not enough priests are able to keep their vows and their sexual outlet lies in the children and younger men under their command. Celibacy is perhaps a worthy discipline but it is an extremely difficult one to require of thousands upon thousands of healthy men. The Church is huge and needs the manpower but realistically is never going to find men who can keep to those vows in the numbers needed.
2
My whole life, I've been told I'm the bad guy for having grown up without religion, and yet, I read stories about religious power-mongers molesting children at least twice a year. Just last winter was a story about two Mormon extremists who kidnapped four girls and "married" each other's 7 and 8 year old daughters in the name of god. Two of the girls were found in a deplorable single-wide trailer, the other two in an empty 50-gallon water drum (they're all alive).
43
Religious is not the culprit. When a ‘christian’ behaves in this manner, it’s because he has not been transformed by the gospel. This Cardinal was a career man in the church, not a follower of Jesus.
3
Stephen, I was made to go to church when I was a kid. I was not comfortable there. Finally, I asked my mother why she never went. " I don't believe in it.". "Why do you make me go?" "For you to decide for yourself. If it makes sense to you, continue to go. If you find it very hard to believe, don't believe it." I've never gone back. it's been about 50 years.
3
More disgusting deeds done by so called "men of god"...
Time to pass legislation barring cover ups and payoffs and making the "silencing of the lambs" criminal offenses that give those doing it...lawyers included...the status of co-conspirators subject to the same legal penalties (as in jail time) as those commiting the illegal act.
Watch how all those "Boohoo" "don't pick on me" religious, political and legal "leaders" cry about such an approach...much more than they ever cry for the victims.
11
Only because of its political influence in Western society dating back to medieval days has the Catholic church escaped massive civil and criminal lawsuits and a listing as a terrorist organization. Imagine the outcry and swift retribution -- lynchings -- if the Mafia, MS-13 or any other cabal were found guilty of sexually abusing and covering up the sexual abuse of so many people.
Until this twisted 'church' is thoroughly investigated with the same urgency as the Mueller investigation, and purged, no responsible parent should allow their child anywhere within 1000 feet of a church or a priest; allowing that to happen should be considered felony child abuse. For every poor leper that Mother Theresa helped, the Catholic church has abused and mentally tortured far more.
And Congress is about to confirm another of its acolytes to the Supreme Court.
15
And the Catholic Church thinks it is so holy that it can tell women what they can do with their bodies by denying a woman’s right to choose, while priests and archbishops rape boys and young men! What a disgusting lot. Why is the Catholic Church still a thing.
393
I agree. With these scandals, the Church has lost its moral authority.
18
I attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette Illinois from 1968-1970. It was a hotbed (excuse the pun) for this sort of thing and one of the priests , Father McGuire was teaching there at the time. He has since been imprisoned for rampant pedophilia thank the good Lord but that place was unbelievable about how they tolerated sexual abuse by the people who ran the place. I was almost molested but escaped the situation Thank God. These days I have nothing but contempt for the Catholic Church and especially the Jesuit Order. May these pedophiles abusing their power over kids rot in Hell.
51
If your "Lord" is so "good", why did it allow the pedophilia to happen in the first place?
Anyone that supports the Catholic Church in any fashion, is an enabler of this kind of sexual abuse. It goes to the top.
5
I read the article and this is another of the exposes of which lot has been written about from time to time. I am not a Catholic nor a Christian but as a rational ( I think) human being may be permitted to make a logical observation. When you allow all the luxuries as rich food ,wine including 4 or 5 course dinners routinely, the individual in the priestly attire grows up with all the hormonal overtures and sure enough the creature comfort temptations are in abundant supply. To ask the individual to curb these urges , is bound to fail sooner or later.
Why not eliminate the celibacy requirement or put them on a mere sustinence diet as is required , as in dome eastern religions. Just an observation.
15
Sexual abuse (of anyone, children/adult of either/any gender) has very little to do with forced curbing of natural human urges or celibacy. Abusers do it because they are inherently evil and most of them are in positions of power and they know they can get away with it. Sexual abusers are not solely ministers of the Church either -- remember Harvey Weinstein and others. Let it also be known that the Catholic Church and Christian religion are not the only ones to shelter abusers in their midst. All religions including the eastern ones have their abusers and the powerful friends who shield them from being prosecuted. A lot of the abused do not dare to report their abusers for fear of being excommunicated and/or ostracized from their communities. We need to expose these criminals and their enablers for who they are and mete out commensurate punishment whenever possible.
4
Thank you for more detailed reporting on this. As I commented when the Ross Douthat piece came out on June 23, it really is time for women and married men in positions of power.
I have been told by men I greatly respect in the church hierarchy that “If we can’t trust our bishops, we’re lost.” Sadly that trust has been broken by too many bishops and radical measures need to be taken to restore trust and credibility. Democratizing and/or dismantling the strict hierarchical power structures, greatly empowering lay oversight bodies, and removing from any authority all those involved with cover-ups will be a good start. Trusted transparency must be created, or else all will assume the worst about those vested with authority in the church.
How can any clergy person “go and make disciples” when the institution they are asking people to support is completely broken? Evangelizing others to believe in the divinity of Christ and His real presence in the Eucharist is one thing, selling them on supporting the institutional Roman Catholic Church is quite another - Particularly if you are trying to evangelize young people who are at a stage in life where decisions about marriage, child rearing, and family life all turn them either toward, or away from, the church as a spiritual home.
31
"Unwanted touching was not a crime under church law" kind of says it all. One wonders if McCarrick was not such a prolific fund raiser if he would have been defrocked.
120
George Carlin who was raised Catholic, went to a Catholic grammar school and was an atheist when he died said it best - "Religion is sort of like a lift in your shoes. If it makes you feel better, fine. Just don't ask me to wear your shoes."
116
My faith-- and those of others at St Augustine parish -- was deeply shaken by the brutal removal of our pastor by McCarrick in 2001 when he was archbishop of Washington. He was a politician, enjoying himself on Capitol Hill. Now I know why he ruined a priest's career: he just assumed everyone was a predator like him. I am glad that the truth has come to light.
30
It's time to recognize the simple fact that John Paul II's pontificate was a complete disaster. As his acolytes were fond of saying over his too long tenure: "the Church is not a democracy." Indeed it is not, and what that means is that the buck stops at the Apostolic Palace. John Paul was no saint. He was criminally negligent.
John Paul II was a literate, intelligent man who was quite capable of understanding the scope of the problem. So his failure to act can only be attributed to his puerile defensiveness on all matters "sex" and rank administrative incompetence. He surrounded himself with incompetent, corrupt men that the current occupant of the See of Peter is trying to clean out.
Benedict XVI's sclerotic pontificate did produce probably the most valuable administrative innovation since the mandatory episcopal retirement age: that would be the new 'tradition' of papal retirement. I give Benedict some credit for having the humility to recognize his own incompetence. Would that John Paul had done so circa 1990 and the Church might have been spared the destruction of its moral credibility for at least a generation.
70
This is why it's galling that John Paul II was canonized as a saint.
7
I cannot agree more with this post. All the points ring true. John Paul II refused to acknowledge the abuse because of its potential for damage. When I left Catholic high school in 1960, a good priest friend lectured my class on the dangers of the outside world to the Catholic faith. Nothing in the “outside world” drove me from the church; it was the hypocracy, the denigration of women, the blindness of the beauracracy. I have mourned that betrayal through my 75th year.
9
I was sexually harassed by a Nigerian priest in my work as a hospital chaplain. I went to management and they took it seriously and censured him. But meanwhile another female colleague told me about an African priest harassing her as well. She rejected his overtures with repugnance saying “but you are a priest!” He responded thus: “well everyone does it over at the seminary and we just absolve each other.” Boston.
Sickening.
130
A priesthood that requires celibacy draws from a fairly small pool of men. Though this would certainly not be true of all of them, it seems to me it is fairly likely that this small pool would include a disproportionate number of men with various problematic sexual issues.
A priesthood allowing marriage would certainly enlarge and diversity the pool of of men attracted to the priesthood and could contribute significantly to ending this plague of horrible abuse. And, of course, structures that ensure accountability are essential.
290
@Judy
Agreed. And as I understand it (which may not be very far) the requirement of celibacy is imposed by the Pope on his own authority and can be changed at any time. Celibacy throughout the priesthood -- and its concomitant crimes and perversions -- is a CHOICE made by all the modern popes, including Francis.
6
I'll bet that this McCarrick learned his craft when he was a seminarian. Years ago an eventual priest may enter a seminary as a teenager. Many probably never knew about heterosexual love or sex, the surrounding "men" were all there was. I believe that this has been going on for centuries and is now firmly rooted in this organization, that is, it is now institutionalized. The priests even have some academic slight of hand to convince these impressionable and naive young men that this type of conduct is "normal." If they think they have sinned then they can now seek redemption with god's forgiveness in confession once a week.
14
The Catholic church just can't deal with sex, which we know is a normal part of life, and a big portion of our lives. Now, it is possible to be asexual, which makes you a perfect candidate to be a Catholic priest or pope, but it doesn't work for anyone else. The Catholic Church and it's position on sex makes itself a magnet for people who are confused about their own sexuality. A place where they can hide. But in the end, they are overcome by their own sexual desires.
Good luck to the church in sorting this out. I'm 67 years old and can't wait for them to sort this out. At the pace the Catholic Church moves it will be another milenium or two before they figure out what I just pointed out, "Sex is part of life, get real."
125
"One cannot really be Catholic and grown-up."
- George Orwell, 1949
That people today still proudly choose affiliation with the criminal, bigoted and self-contradictory organization that is the Catholic church is remarkable. The transgressions of this superstitious, hermetic, evasive and abusive "religious" group are not aberrations...They are systemic.
327
That fits with every religion from Islam, Judaism, Hindu, Buddhism and others.
Non-religion allows everyone to be themselves without shaming and leading people into bad behavior.
14
You see this over and over again - a man given authority and power over others feels free to abuse his inferiors. I posit this is the herd mentality - when a man gets so much power his brain changes, and he is motivated to dominate his flock both mentally and physically. Thus he believes he has the right to force his sexuality on those who revere him and feels no guilt or regret. It's narcissism spilling over the edges.
31
This equally applies to our current president.
10
If any other organization was operating the world's largest and most notorious pedophile ring, its leaders would have been sent to prison for a very long time and its financial patrons would have turned away from it in utter shame. Active members of the Catholic Church who continue to give their money and support to the child rapists are enabling the most damaging of human behavior. How can you sleep at night?
255
@mpound
You are right, Warren Jeffs is, in fact, in prison! When will bishops and popes be held accountable?
9
It is apparent that McCarrick has selective memory. It is also apparent that the Catholic Church has a long way to go in preventing sexual abuse of its congregation, as in the case of children, and its own priests.
I believe these abuses should be brought to civil and criminal courts, not a Tribunal of Cardinals. They are protecting their own,
Just be cause they are a Catholic Church does not put them above the Law.
The abused need to report it to law enforcement, not other members of the Catholic Church.
49
Good story on a tree. Overlooks the forest, though.
26
One wonders whether and when your Father Douthat will respond to this article or whether, like his comrad in arms, Brett Stephens, he will also demand that Senate Democrats not oppose the confirmation of the promoter of church-state unity, Kavanaugh. Stay tuned.
90
"Father Douthat," indeed. I've been struggling for years into which file to place Douthat. Mr. Grillo, thanks.
5
He will blame it on liberals in the church, just as he blames all other problems on liberals in the world.
9
When is enough, enough? When does the shame and humiliation of the church become a force big enough to stop this abuse? How many more predatory dinosaurs like ‘Uncle Ted’ are still active or being protected? A radical change is needed to bring the church into the modern world and signal the end of this boy’s club operating as a path towards salvation.
37
Yes, the church ought to do something to clean this mess, because in addition this tragedy also negatively affects the image of good priests and bishops. The devil cannot win this fight. Dear Pope Francis we need your urgent help.
19
"Pope Francis we need your urgent help."
Wrong. What we need is the help of law enforcement. If Pope Francis is found to be aware of and enabling the child rape that is occurring on his watch, he too should be in jail. Forever.
14
The seminarians were young men, not boys. One says the touching was above the waist and no kissing. I don't understand the human psyche well enough to comprehend what was going on with this strange behavior. I do believe it would benefit the Church if priests were allowed to marry, and if the priesthood was open to women.
23
This isn't about sex. It's about power.
40
No Sue, this is about sex and power a place where human frailty and weakness often intersect.
3
Zero tolerance means prosecuting abusers to the full extent of the Law, as well as, Excommunication.
75
Women in the ministry might dilute the pool's ocncentration of abusers, but religious denominations that allow women to minister have these issues too, and cover it up just like the Catholic Church. For example, https://forward.com/news/402226/reform-rabbi-was-secretly-censured-for-a.... Women too are capable is sexual misconduct. Men and women ho engage in this behavior will find a way to do so with or without positions of power in religion.
7
Nauseating. The clergy is populated with homosexuals that have attempted to institutionalize their sexuality. The irony is the church has the power to stop the abuse, simply by accepting their sexual orientation and allowing these guys to marry each other.
14
Being homosexual doesn't make someone a predator to other adults or a pedophile. A predator is a predator - Using their power over someone else to get what they want.
99
Oh? Simply by getting married stops people from using sex as a tool for dominating others? In general I think the people who are given to this abuse are doing it for dominance in stead of love not because they may not be able to publicly declare a committed relationship.
24
Anyone "doing it" for love would likely seek a consensual partner who was also looking for love.
Sexual abuse by priests and the unconscionable coverups have done severe damage. The harm to those preyed upon has been not only psychological but spiritual. Many people, including family members of the direct victims, lost their religious faith as a result of these horrendous acts. The Church has been seriously damaged, too. It has lost credibility. Most Catholics now ignore the condemnation of birth control as a “grave evil.” More than 90 percent of Catholics of reproductive age use contraceptive methods the Church forbids. Catholic women have abortions at rates comparable to those from other religious backgrounds. The old men who run the Church blame feminists for these rebellions, but they should take a look in the mirror. They have significantly weakened their moral authority by treating the rape of children as a minor offense.
158
My son's Godfather converted to Catholicism. He was in Law Enforcement & specialized in "Vice Crimes Against Children."
At the VERY LAST SECOND, Mr. Theodore E. McCarrick failed to show up to perform the four (4) Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Holy Communion, Holy Confirmation, and Holy Matrimony. In his place, he dispatched an African American priest who had recently arrived from Nigeria. No one in the family or large group of friends had ever heard of him. That priest seemed as bewildered as the rest of the gathering as well as to the man who was converting. Although the priest was competent & genuine is his efforts to perform the conversion, everyone was disappointed. The newly anointed "convert" was gravely ill, and had weeks to live. Everyone was deeply puzzled as to the exceptionally poor manners of Mr. Theodore F. McCarrick. We had had ZERO notice.
I wondered silently to myself about the brush-off of a public figure in Law Enforcement. My puzzlement quickly morphed into suspicion. Perhaps Mr. Theodore F. McCarrick had something to hide from such a large gathering of Law Enforcement, most of whom were prosecutors.
Turns out, my silent suspicions were well-founded.
41
"Cardinal McCarrick, now 88, who declined to comment for this article, said in a statement last month that he had no recollection of the abuse." That happens when a person abuses so many--and gets away with it for half a century.
58
As long as the church maintains a culture of abuse, children and vulnerable adults will continue to be victimized. I hope that catholic priests take up #metoo movement loudly and publicly. They need to clean house or the cycle of abuse will never end.
88
Don't hold your breath. Priests would never take up that cause. They aren't supposed to be active in political movements really. The church only offers it's sanctioned opinions on various political topics and the #metoo movement won't be one of them.
5
I dearly love the teachings of the Catholic church. I grew up with wonderful priests who never touched me inappropriately. This reoccurring problem deeply saddens me and makes me wonder why Catholic priests can't marry. I don't believe that sexual abuse is only a Catholic problem but one can't help to conclude that the very natural urge to reproduce is a root cause of the problem for the sins of many Catholic priests. The Code of Canon Law requiring chastity for priests claims that a priest's heart cannot be divided. But wait. Does that mean the heart has limits? Can't I love a woman and God? Can't one love enhance the another instead of limiting it? Are Protestant ministers less devoted? Are Rabbis less dedicated to their congregation? Are Muslim clerics less focused on God? Were the priests, bishops, and popes who did marry, during the first four centuries of Catholicism less pious than they are now? Pope Francis is currently considering making exceptions to ordain married men who are already heavily involved in the Roman Catholic Church in certain circumstances. The idea would be that they could work in rural areas that suffer from a shortage of clergy. This is a good start and can be the beginning of a better Catholic church in which the clergy can marry.
61
I believe that Roman Catholic clergy were allowed to marry up into the 12th century when daily mass made celibacy necessary. Correct me if I'm wrong.
4
[[one can't help to conclude that the very natural urge to reproduce is a root cause of the problem for the sins of many Catholic priests.]]
The root cause of the problem is that abusers place themselves in positions of authority over vulnerable people. And, they look for damaged people whom they can further exploit.
I've met a couple of cardinals over the years and I can tell you that the issue of abuse sends them running out of the room. In my opinion, it's not that they were ashamed but that they were defensive. They identified more with their fellow clergymen than with the victims. The victims were spoken of in the abstract.
Anyway, as we've seen with coaches and doctors and movie producers and actors and politicians, when there's no serious oversight, you're going to have problems.
24
Pope Benedict VIII in 1018 formally forbade priestly marriages; the prohibition was extended by the First Lateran Council of 1123. Until the Reformation, parish priests frequently took wives, or at least kept mistresses and concubines, as did Popes and cardinals. After Protestantism rejected celibacy for the ministry as unnatural and unnecessary, the Council of Trent, in 1545-63, declared it an “objectively superior state of life” and imposed excommunication on priests or nuns who violated the canon laws prohibiting marriage.
The Catholic Church has become an evil in the world. Their recruitment process seems to select a high percentage of predators of young boys. They then shelter those predators and promote them to high church office. The Church is an abomination that must be brought down.
It is time for our officials to stop sheltering the Church and begin prosecuting them as a criminal organization. The Priests who did the crime, the Bishops who covered it up, the Cardinals who authorized the policy and the Pope who presides over the entire criminal enterprise should be indited, if found guilty, sentenced to long prison terms. The assets of the Church should be seized to pay restitution to the victims. The Church itself needs to be completely redone. Until the new ethic can be installed, no Priest should ever be alone with any child.
We can no longer ignore the fact that the Catholic Church is a perversion in our society that must be cleaned out or abolished.
54
You're not adjusting the pH of a solution.
Adding women to the pool of priests doesn't change the motivation of male abusers who join the clergy in order to molest and rape people.
7
I am not interested in adjusting the solution, it is probably too late. I think the only thing that can be done is to throw out the whole mess and start over.
Although I did not mention adding women to the Church, if we were to start over, at that point, then adding women to the mix would be a great idea. Women tend to be a civilizing influence in an organization. All male organizations can quickly go off the rails.
1
This fellow should go to prison. But, I would like to see an investigation into Dolan. He allegedly hid money from Victims while Archbishop of Milwaukee by moving it into a Priests Cemetery Account. The sum was reportedly in the millions. Dolan needs close scrutiny of his actions while in power.
182
As a cradle Catholic with 10 years of Catholic schooling, my recollection of penance is that one must be truly sorry and try not to sin again to gain God's forgiveness, or the Church's, anyway. I'm not seeing true repentance by the church, from the popes on down, and sincere effort to refrain from the sins of abuse of power, trust and people. How they can hope to be forgiven, God only knows.
42
This is just the latest article on this terrible issue. The damage done to young men and women who have been abused is beyond words. I wonder if the church’s policy of celibacy for priests may at least in part create greater potential for abuse. Why not let priests marry and have children, as we do for example in the Episcopal Church? After all, priestly celibacy is a matter of practice, not doctrine. Tradition has it that many of the original disciples were married and had families, including Peter. And while we’re at it: Let’s have women be priests. Roman Catholicism is a dazzling, intellectually rich faith. It’s long past time for it to enter the 21st century.
18
That this so-called church gets tax exemptions is one of the great social injustices. The catholic church's sex crimes are as endless as the crucifixion itself--one wonders if they ever will end
214
I went to Catholic schools all my life . I graduated in 1976 from a catholic Prep school in New Jersey. I. remember one of the priest who I know was gay going to the Jersey Shore to a house that was occupied by about 5 other priests.
My headmaster of the NJ school was arrested in 1995 in Toronto while the Pope was saying Mass in NYC for attempted abuse of a minor ( he was 16 and part of a sting operation).
There were lots of gay priests when I was growing up. I dod not really find out until college when friend admitted to me all the priests he was having sex with.
Actually that a high % of priest are gay in no surprise. What young guy interested in sex wants to join an organization that forbids sex? If you were gay, at a young age not even knowing it, giving up sex is not such a bad deal when you do not want to discuss it to begin with fearing that you are gay.
The 70's was a different time from today. That the church hides and destroys information that is harmful to it is no surprise. All organizations protect their own and regularly disobey the law. Police, Government, School athletic programs, sporting institutions, Military, and RELIGIOUS ORDERS have all lied to protect the institution.
182
"That the church hides and destroys information that is harmful to it is no surprise. All organizations protect their own and regularly disobey the law. Police, Government, School athletic programs, sporting institutions, Military, and RELIGIOUS ORDERS have all lied to protect the institution."
Okay. But does that make it right? Or even alright?
In other words, aren't you trying so hard to tell us there is nothing to see here? Why? To whose benefit?
12
Dear Suppan, Please go back and re-read Donald Ambrose's letter. He is not trying to justify or pooh pooh evil. I believe he's saying that it is wide-spread and that there is Plenty to see here. And there. Keep fighting the good fight. Thank you and best wishes, B.
6
Let’s emphasize that you’re talking in the past tense here. I agree that in the 1950s and60s lots of young men that were gay and thought that was evil and unnatural were drawn to the priesthood, under the misguided belief that prayer and abstinence could keep their proclivities in check and save them from eternal damnation. We see now how that turned out. Luckily today most people are more realistic about their sexuality.
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Power corrupts. The hierarchical structure and the ability to dole out goodies like appointments to Rome and so forth leads to this sort of abuse.
I'm no fan of the RC church which is more of a real estate investment trust than anything else, but this sort of abuse happens in other social structures besides all-male supposedly celibate ones, look at Fox News, Weinstein, Charlie Rose, and so forth.
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"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
The quote was formulated by the English Catholic, Lord John Acton, as part of his analysis of the history of criminal activities by past popes, and of the crimes committed during the Inquisition by the Catholic Church (1887). It's a quote that pertains directly to Roman Catholicism, and, in a time of persistent child abuse, is still pertinent to Catholicism.
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“I am sorry beyond words, and embarrassed beyond belief, at this atrocious conduct,” that statement plus $80,000 is a smack in the face for Ciolek and other abused seminarians and young priests. Surely the Catholic Church can do better than this? One wonders how many centuries the Catholic Church has in reality been a men's club for the sexual abuse of its parishoners (men,women and children) and young acolytes?
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@Mike
No, the Church can not and will not do better.
It is embarrassed only because it has been found guilty.
This is why so many have left this shameful club.
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Know what would solve most of this, very quickly ??? WOMEN Priests.
Just saying.
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And married priests, like in all other denominations.
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Women can also be abusers (of children, young adults and adults -- of all genders). Naive of you to think otherwise.
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They also need to do away with the vows of celibacy which are either attracting damaged people or damaging those who commit.
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Seriously, anyone touching inappropriately should be stopped, PERIOD!
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Years after the so-called zero tolerance policy was implemented, the stories of sexual abuse and violence by priests and bishops continues. Worse, the institutional church continues to ignore, deny, and obfusacate - this is the greatest sin of all, allowing predators free reign to harm those they are supposed to serve and care for, in the name of Christ. The Catholic Church is rotten at the core.
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The Boston Globe's investigation depicted in the movie "Spotlight" started in 2001 and yet we are still finding out about hidden abuse by priests. Somehow I don't think the Catholic Church has changed it's "cover it up and silence the abused" process.
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First of all, if true, these allegations deserve punishment and compensation to the fullest extent of the law. There is nothing more heinous than the sexual abuse of children or of young adults. Nothing. Second, the Church should not only apologize but take real steps to make sexual abuse impossible in it as an institution. Those are the practical givens.
As readers, citizens, religious, and non-religious, however, we also have a duties. Among them, we have the duty to wait for facts. Allegations are only allegations. Everyone deserves the right to presumed innocent until proven guilty. We also have a duty to look at all human institutions in perspective. For example, I have had this argument over the terrible and unforgiveable Catholic scandal with non-Catholics in my home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. So there we are, in the state "promised" to the Indians, in the state "stolen" from the Indians... condemning the terrible Catholic Church with all its terrible abuses. Yet is the United States wholly and 100% reprehensible? Do we refuse to fly its flag? Do we refuse to see it as, ultimately, a force for good in the world?
All human institutions are flawed, and all humans are subject to the law that power corrupts, and infinite power corrupts infinitely. That is no excuse, surely, but as readers and citizens we could do better to realize the very flawed and dare I say, sinful world, that we inhabit.
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I frequently say, "Who says we don't need a savior?"
The sexual scandals of the Catholic church are sickening, but we must also remember that it stems from a variety of causes. Additionally, the Catholic church is not the only faith system that has sexual abuse scandals -- look at other major world religions as well! I study comparative religion, and the field is rife with abuse scandals that are hastily covered up.
I believe that the sexual abuse stems from the requirement of celibacy and the toxic masculinity present in the church.. First, priestly celibacy was not actually required by Jesus in his teachings. The Catholic church does not recognize that he ever married, which is one reason why it promoted celibacy. Additionally, Paul highly valued it, which is the primarily reason why the Catholic church continued the practice. In medieval times, the Catholic church urged celibacy so it could retain the parish land holdings; up to that point, some priests did marry, and when they passed away, their families inherited the land. Thus, the practice is also economically driven. The church also has a strong patriarchy with a toxic sense of masculinity.
At the end of the day, though, it is important to separate a faith system from the scandals of its followers. I find religion to be breathtakingly beautiful; that's why I've chosen to study it. Faith is one of the most amazing things to see in action. But, like in any community, there are going to be bad seeds, much like this cardinal.
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Good information, thanks.
As a long time practicing Catholic, I’m long beyond sympathy for the church’s hierarchy in this matter. Like most other large organizations, money and power are corrupting. Guys like McCarrick are among those that Jesus referred to as “hypocrites “. It’s way, way past time to root out all of them, no matter the cost in money, power or lost membership.
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The question here is not whether there are a few "bad seeds", the question is what is the organization doing about these individuals? In this case, it is more proof that the institution is more interested or inclined to protect those who raise money for it, those who are powerful against those who are relatively powerless.
We can rationalize anything by quoting from history or with whataboutism or other tactics, but it is important to ask honest questions about such activities. It is important to the voice for the voiceless. That is what is at issue here. The beauty of "faith" is tainted by these establishmentarian attitudes and authoritarian excesses.
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The psychological and emotional carnage committed by the Catholic Church continues to rise. One can only imagine the actual numbers of victims over thousands of years the Church has existed. And sexual predation is just one type of predation the Church practices; there has been military, political, psychological, sociological, and gender hegemony. It reveals once again the true nature of the Church – an anachronistic, insulated men’s club, whose primary goal is the retention of power.
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“I couldn’t imagine that he would have anything other than my best interests in mind.”
Before the physical abuse comes the emotional abuse, the duping and domination through indoctrination and intimidation. Young minds are warped and deluded long before bodies are assaulted. Such is the nature of things in institutional religion, a frail human ego-construct of power and control. God, save us from your adherents.
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The guy was in his 20's - he wasn't a child.
3
So, the Catholic Church tolerates and promotes sexual abuse that would get you fired in the corporate world. Which is exactly what Republicans are doing with their circle-the-wagons defense of Rep. Jim Jordan's cover-up of college wrestling sex scandals at Ohio State. Why am I not surprised? Catholics and Republicans are both male-dominated hierarchies who have warped views about sexuality, and they both care - care a LOT - about power.
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...and money.
21
The same can be said for other institutions like universities and football and the American Olympic Committee. We must demand transparency and protect whistle blowers. Shame those that protect abusers.
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@Alexander Bain Wow. Talk about a stretch. One question though. Do you want to be rid of Catholic or Republicans to achieve your Utopia.
2
After reading this article I’m incensed more than ever that Pope Francis and his Catholic Church have the audacity and hypocrisy to pass judgement on lgbt marriages and families, demeaning us by teaching that we are intrinsically disordered and that our loving, committed relationships are ununable to reflect God’s plan for humanity. It’s the Church that is obviously disordered and unable to reflect God’s plan for humanity.
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The hypocrisy is maddening, infuriating and utterly, despicably discrediting.
This is what you get when you have an extremely hierarchical, top-down, absolute loyalty power structure: soul-destroying moral decay and corruption.
30
You are judging millions by the actions of a comparative few. Not an ideal attack.
5
My dad suffered this abuse as a boy. He was too ashamed to tell his mother. This was in the 30’s , needless to say my dad never recovered. Alcohol becomes his savior.
My grandmother continued to attend daily mass and donated to the Catholic Church until she died.
Never knowing that a priest she thought would guide her son through his youth destroyed him.
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Priests do not abuse children because they can’t get married. Pedophiles are attracted to the church because it is an opaque organization that prides itself on morality and therefore conceals any crime or immoral behavior.
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