Premature Forgiveness
Dear Pope Francis: I want to commend you for owning the painful fact of sexual abuse of children by priests as part of your Good Friday comments. Lent is surely the season for such a public acknowledgement. You named the reality of the abuse; you asserted the necessity of stringent sanctions; you acknowledged the profound vulnerability of children. All of this suggests that you are serious about acting to rectify the harm that has been done, to bring justice where there has been injustice, and to bring healing where brokenness remains.
On Good Friday, the day that Christians recall the crucifixion of Jesus, Pope Francis named the sin of child sexual abuse and asked for forgiveness.
“I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil that some priests — quite a few in number, though not compared to the total number — and to ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done by sexually abusing children...The church is aware of this damage,” he said. “It is personal and moral damage, but carried out by men of the church. And we do not want to take one step backward in dealing with this problem and the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, I believe that we have to be very firm. Because you cannot take chances with children!”
Dear Pope Francis:
I want to commend you for owning the painful fact of sexual abuse of children by priests as part of your Good Friday comments. Lent is surely the season for such a public acknowledgement. You named the reality of the abuse; you asserted the necessity of stringent sanctions; you acknowledged the profound vulnerability of children. All of this suggests that you are serious about acting to rectify the harm that has been done, to bring justice where there has been injustice, and to bring healing where brokenness remains.
You also asked for forgiveness. With all due respect, any expectation of forgiveness from God or from those who have been grievously harmed is premature. We await acts of repentance. Just as Jesus counsels us in Luke’s gospel, “...if your brother sins, rebuke him, and IF he repents, forgive him.” (17:3-4)
We await the rebuking of individual priests who have abused and of bishops who have stonewalled investigations and shielded abusive priests from legal action. We await the acts of a repentant church. We live in hope that you will lead the church in these acts of repentance and justice.
After announcing your Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in December, 2013, I am glad to see that you have appointed its members. There are women and laypeople, there is one survivor of abuse by a priest. These are positive signs. Hopefully the members will bring a critical and urgent voice to help guide your actions.
The commission’s assignment is thoughtful and wide ranging:
“Certain that the Church has a critical role to play in this field, and looking to the future without forgetting the past, the Commission will take a multi-pronged approach to promoting youth protection, including: education regarding the exploitation of children; discipline of offenders; civil and canonical duties and responsibilities; and the development of best practices as they have emerged in society at large.”
Your rhetoric is strong and I believe it is heartfelt. But Catholics have been waiting a long time for real action from the Vatican to address the devastation brought by the sexual abuse of children by priests.
We continue to pray that your leadership will manifest in real change. But for now, we wait. And you must wait for forgiveness.
Your sister in Christ,
Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune
www.faithtrustinstitute.org
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