RAPE AND RELIGION
The SA Catholic Church under fire, June 2003

Church under attack? by Gunther Simmermacher, editor, Southern Cross (official journal of SA Catholic Church)

It is unfortunate that many Catholics seem to regard the recent revelations of sexual abuse by some priests as an ³attack² on the Church. For this, the secular press must bear some responsibility. Headlines that refer to the Church as being one of ³shame², to the priesthood as ³a brotherhood of silence², and to priests not convicted of any crime as ³sex pests² border on libel. While the coverage itself has not been unduly prejudiced, these headlines have been. It is not surprising that many Catholics have adopted a siege mentality, speaking of ³attacks² on the Church and of mounting ³defences².

Understandable this reaction may be, sensible it is not. The true attack has not come from the press, but from within. Had the Church, on all levels, taken adequate care to prevent such abuses and to deal with them scrupulously when they did happen, then the secular press would have nothing to write about. Simply put, the responsibility rests with us, the Church.

The notion of the Church being under attack reveals something other than a hesitation to take full responsibility. This mindset presents the Church as a victim, its reputation implicitly taking priority over the real victims, the survivors of abuse. This is inequitable. Our principal concern here must be with the victims of abuse by Church personnel.

Catholics reading the distressing revelations in the secular press may feel tempted to challenge the integrity of those who make credible claims of having been abused. This, however, is a brutal response, one that lacks compassion and serves to perpetuate the abuse. It also discourages victims of other sources of sexual abuse from coming forward, which clearly would be undesirable even to those inclined to dispute the scope of abuse within the Church.

The whole Church must acknowledge that some of its priests have committed deplorable crimes; that the victims of abuse are indeed casualties of betrayed trust. We must reach out to the survivors of abuse, not seek refuge from them. We must find an understanding of the devastating long-term impact sexual abuse has on victims. Many victims feel a sense of shame, self-blame, alienation and betrayal. Many will not come forward because they fear they will not be believed. Their secret suffering too perpetuates the abuse. The Church must find ways of reaching out to and supporting these people. We would negate our Christianity if we were to respond to the survivors of abuse without compassion and solidarity.

Crucially, the Church must no longer take unilateral initiatives in addressing the problem of abuse within it. The hierarchy must on all levels engage, openly and sincerely, the victims of clerical abuse in questions such as policy, reparation and atonement. There is no better way to heal the Church.

END By Sarah Crowe

It was a Sunday, early 1985, when a solemn procession of mitres, staffs and white golden episcopal robes traipsed through the dusty streets of Sebokeng township and into the Amaroma, the Catholic church in Zone 12. The gifts presented on the altar at Mass that day were bullets and teargas canisters. The readers were victims of police brutality and the Church was on their side. I was there, and it was awesome.

In the past few weeks the screaming Sunday headlines, front page, attacking the ³Church of Shame², made me cringe and fumble for explanations to my children. But was this really an ³attack²?

Last year, I was part of a panel which tried to advise the bishops on how to ³handle the media² in regard to cases of sex abuse by Church personnel. One need not be a senior journalist to know that the best way to do this is in a spirit of openness, honesty and sincerity. That¹s exactly what the Vatican¹s Pontifical Council for Social Communications has been saying all along. Moreover, the bishops needed to be one step ahead: to go public with sex abuse cases before they found themselves on the defensive. The Catholic Church here had the opportunity of learning how not to do it from the American, Irish, English and other bishops around.

Our bishops did not take this sound advice. They hid in the shadows, and when they did come out, there was muttering that sexual abuse by Church personnel is ³not acceptable². This is the kind of language you use on your child for not doing his homework. Not rape.

The bishops¹ legal advisers took the line that they do not trust the police to handle these cases correctly. Imagine if we took that approach to robberies and hijackings. But the lawyers¹ job is to save money for the Church in the event of civil claim being made against an offender. The Catholic Church may understandably reserve the right to follow its own internal procedures, parallel to the law of the land. But there should be no gloating about how ³the process may go as far as suspending the priest permanently². Criminal law could suspend the priest permanently from society by locking him up.

In this democratic South Africa we demand transparency of the highest order from our politicians. Our bishops should be going much further. So this is my challenge to the bishops: prove that you are indeed on the side of the victims. Shout it from the pulpits. Call on victims to come forward. Publish a register in the Catholic press of cases and action taken. Full disclosure is called for.

Be bold and go out under the glare of the cameras and tell us all how and why it will not happen again. The media are not, as some think, some kind of anti-Catholic mouthpiece with a hidden agenda. They are not something to be feared, unless of course the Church does indeed have much to hide. But the bishops must know that once such disclosures are out in the open, there is nowhere to hide. The press will not let go, nor should they. They¹ll ask uncomfortable questions about whether there is a connection between abuse and mandatory celibacy, and how the Church is reforming. It won¹t be easy, but it must be done.

There is only one way for the bishops to prove that they are indeed ³fully supportive² of the victims: by demonstrating that they are. They did it so compellingly in 1985 when there was no doubt that they were truly on the side of the oppressed.

By their courage now as then, the bishops can make more of us proud again.

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