For the Soul of the Church, Confession and True Contrition
By Fr. Donald Senior, C.P., President, Catholic Theological Union
First published in the Chicago Tribune February 29, 2004
Bad news again…only worse than expected. Friday's report issued by the National Lay Review Board charts in agonizing detail the sexual misconduct of priests in the United States over the last 50 years. All of the unspeakable sins against children that have been credibly reported. All of the staggering costs in legal fees and victims' compensation. All of the lives broken and scarred. For months now, the Catholic community and other people of good will who respect the church have been reeling from revelations about this shocking moral failure. This latest, most comprehensive report will increase the shame, anger, and confusion that many Catholics feel.
But there is a big difference this time. My hope is that it will not be overlooked. This is not an investigative report by the Boston Globe or the New York Times. These figures were not pried out of defensive church spokespersons by journalists. This is the church's own report, commissioned and paid for by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Although some bishops were reluctant about filing the report and one even resisted it, the vast majority supports this painful step. It was administered for the sake of objectivity by the National Lay Review Board, but ultimately based on a collective decision by the American Bishops.
What difference does this make? A lot, I think. Not only the content of the report but the deliberate timing of its release must not be overlooked. The first Friday in Lent, coming on the heels of Ash Wednesday, has great symbolic meaning for the Catholic community. It is a day of repentance. Each year Catholics are asked to abstain from meat and to fast as an expression of sorrow for our sins and as a sign of our resolve to change our ways.
And that is how this report of one of the church's worst sins in memory must be viewed if we are determined to protect children. This is not merely our report, it is our confession. In the Catholic tradition God's forgiveness is promised in what we call the sacrament of reconciliation or confession, but that forgiveness is not to be taken for granted. As the Lutheran theologian and second world war martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, there is no "cheap grace." There are three essential steps in the sacrament of reconciliation: first of all, a genuine sense of sorrow and repentance for what we have done, then an honest confession of our sins before a representative of the community, and finally, making amends for the harm our sinful actions may have caused others. Only then, can God's absolution for sin be assured.
The church cannot forget this ancient wisdom at this sobering moment. If we are truly repentant and grievously sorry for having failed our children, then we need to come clean and confess our sins. We must be painfully honest and not hold back. All the sins, all the cost. And then we must make amends. Taking care of the victims, holding priests, religious superiors and bishops accountable, putting in place the structures and procedures that will ensure it will never happen again.
Abuse of children is not confined to clergy. It is one of the most alarming and least discussed social problems in the United States. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that one in five girls and one in 10 boys are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood and only 35 percent of those child sexual assaults are reported to authorities. Most of this abuse happens close to home and the perpetrators are often people who are trusted and have easy access to children. To date, there have been no similar reports from other professions about the extent of the problem among their ranks. Right now, the church is not in a position to offer moral leadership on this issue. If, however, the church puts its own house in order, there is hope it can recover its moral voice and help address this staggering national problem.
Some church leaders are hoping the firestorm from the dreadful contents of Friday's report will eventually blow over. We, the church, should make sure it doesn't. This Lent we-not the media--need to repent, to confess our sins out loud, and make amends. Only then can forgiveness and healing flood in.
© Fr. Donald Senior, C.P., President, Catholic Theological Union