On behalf of my family I want to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to those of you who have offered prayers and condolences at the recent passing of my mother, Erla Horrigan, who died Aug. 16 at the age of 94. It was a beautiful and peaceful death with her family at her side. This past Wednesday we commended her soul to God in the funeral liturgy. I am grateful to all who came to the service, or who reached out on social media, emailed, or sent a card. My family and I are truly touched. Please know your words of comfort have been a blessing to us. May the souls of all the faithfully departed rest in peace.
I’ll have more to say on this at Mass this weekend, but to be honest it sickens me to my core. When I first read of the allegations a month ago against then-Cardinal McCarrick, who has since been stricken of that title, I only made it through the first two paragraphs of the report before I had to hang my head in shame. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I thought to myself. “How in the world was this possible?” And then the further revelations of the Grand Jury Report in Pennsylvania, which detailed more than 70 years of systematic abuse in which church leaders had shielded those who had committed the crimes, often transferring them to other assignments, only compounded the grief.
The norms adopted by the Church in 2002 with the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Young People have greatly cleaned-up the crisis in the Church. All clergy, staff, and volunteers who interact with minors are now required to undergo background checks and complete Safe Environment training (currently called VIRTUS training). That’s good, but it isn’t enough. It’s clear now that there is a much deeper evil at work in the church, and the shepherds who oversee their flocks have been negligent, and in some places, complicit, in helping to perpetuate crimes against the most vulnerable. Not all bishops, of course, but those who did must be held accountable, just as any priest, deacon, or lay person would be.
Pope Francis this past Monday released a very fine letter to the “People of God” that condemns the abuse as crimes and called for the Church to stand in solidarity with its victims. The letter is too long to reproduce here but you’ll find a link to it on our parish website, along with another statement from Cardinal DiNardo in response to the Pope’s words. I highly recommend you read both. This letter below from Cardinal DiNardo is from Aug. 16 and outlines a series of “goals and criteria” to combat this crisis.
Again, space limits how much I can say here, but I’ll share additional thoughts this week at Mass. Statements of popes, bishops and priests are fine, but they are just words. Without action, atonement, and a renewed purpose of amendment, they will ring hollow. The time for talk is long past. I do not pretend to have any idea of how best to proceed, but I do know that change in the Church governance is needed and needed now. For now let me invite you to join with me in praying for all those who have suffered abuse at the hands of the Church leaders. May God bring them comfort, peace, and healing. Cardinal DiNardo’s full statement follows:
“Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Two weeks ago, I shared with you my sadness, anger, and shame over the recent revelations concerning Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. Those sentiments continue and are deepened in light of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report. We are faced with a spiritual crisis that requires not only spiritual conversion, but practical changes to avoid repeating the sins and failures of the past that are so evident in the recent report. Earlier this week, the USCCB Executive Committee met again and established an outline of these necessary changes.
The Executive Committee has established three goals: (1) an investigation into the questions surrounding Archbishop McCarrick; (2) an opening of new and confidential channels for reporting complaints against bishops; and (3) advocacy for more effective resolution of future complaints. These goals will be pursued according to three criteria: proper independence, sufficient authority, and substantial leadership by laity.
We have already begun to develop a concrete plan for accomplishing these goals, relying upon consultation with experts, laity, and clergy, as well as the Vatican. We will present this plan to the full body of bishops in our November meeting. In addition, I will travel to Rome to present these goals and criteria to the Holy See, and to urge further concrete steps based on them.The overarching goal in all of this is stronger protections against predators in the Church and anyone who would conceal them, protections that will hold bishops to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. Allow me to briefly elaborate on the goals and criteria that we have identified.
The first goal is a full investigation of questions surrounding Archbishop McCarrick. These answers are necessary to prevent a recurrence, and so help to protect minors, seminarians, and others who are vulnerable in the future. We will therefore invite the Vatican to conduct an Apostolic Visitation to address these questions, in concert with a group of predominantly lay people identified for their expertise by members of the National Review Board and empowered to act.
The second goal is to make reporting of abuse and misconduct by bishops easier. Our 2002 “Statement of Episcopal Commitment” does not make clear what avenue victims themselves should follow in reporting abuse or other sexual misconduct by bishops. We need to update this document. We also need to develop and widely promote reliable third-party reporting mechanisms. Such tools already exist in many dioceses and in the public sector and we are already examining specific options.
The third goal is to advocate for better procedures to resolve complaints against bishops. For example, the canonical procedures that follow a complaint will be studied with an eye toward concrete proposals to make them more prompt, fair, and transparent and to specify what constraints may be imposed on bishops at each stage of that process.
We will pursue these goals according to three criteria. The first criterion is genuine independence. Any mechanism for addressing any complaint against a bishop must be free from bias or undue influence by a bishop. Our structures must preclude bishops from deterring complaints against them, from hampering their investigation, or from skewing their resolution.
The second criterion relates to authority in the Church. Because only the Pope has authority to discipline or remove bishops, we will assure that our measures will both respect that authority and protect the vulnerable from the abuse of ecclesial power.
Our third criterion is substantial involvement of the laity. Lay people bring expertise in areas of investigation, law enforcement, psychology, and other relevant disciplines, and their presence reinforces our commitment to the first criterion of independence.
Finally, I apologize and humbly ask your forgiveness for what my brother bishops and I have done and failed to do. Whatever the details may turn out to be regarding Archbishop McCarrick or the many abuses in Pennsylvania (or anywhere else), we already know that one root cause is the failure of episcopal leadership. The result was that scores of beloved children of God were abandoned to face an abuse of power alone. This is a moral catastrophe. It is also part of this catastrophe that so many faithful priests who are pursuing holiness and serving with integrity are tainted by this failure.
We firmly resolve, with the help of God’s grace, never to repeat it. I have no illusions about the degree to which trust in the bishops has been damaged by these past sins and failures. It will take work to rebuild that trust. What I have outlined here is only the beginning; other steps will follow. I will keep you informed of our progress toward these goals. Let me ask you to hold us to all of these resolutions. Let me also ask you to pray for us, that we will take this time to reflect, repent, and recommit ourselves to holiness of life and to conform our lives even more to Christ, the Good Shepherd.”