No matter your take on the recent UN committee report on the problem of sex abuse in the Catholic Church and no matter how you feel about the recent public argument involving Woody Allen and his daughter Dylan Farrow, two things are clear:
The more we talk about sex abuse as a crime, the more likely it is that victims will come forward.
The more we make ourselves aware of the problem, the easier it will be to protect our children.
Everything else is just semantics.
Every once in a while, I catch myself wondering why the child sex abuse awareness movement (especially in the Catholic Church) has never elicited support from Hollywood A-listers.
Yesterday, Dylan Farrow gave us a painful and personal reminder.
Her immensely brave open letter in the New York Times is raw. She openly accuses Woody Allen and gives details of the abuse. But she goes a step further, naming the Hollywood A-Listers who continue to support Allen.
(Although Allen has not been found guilty in a court of law, he has been accused of abuse by one of his children, and went on to marry his step-daughter.)
The sense of betrayal that Farrow expresses is a universal theme for victims of child sexual abuse. The crime of abuse is horrific enough for a child, but when adults whom the child loves and respects side with the abuser, it is devastating. It drives the victim into a world of shame and silence. I know that feeling first hand.
I also know another feeling that Farrow describes—the sheer disgust as she watches Hollywood elites fawn over Allen, his movies and his continued award nominations. No one in Hollywood will publicly stand up for Farrow, just like no one in Hollywood stood up for the victim of Roman Polanski. Just like no one at Adrian College will stand up for me and the other victims of Thomas Hodgman.
So, now do we do?
We have a call to action—We need to change how we deal with victims of sexual abuse.
1) If you know victims of abuse (and you do), tell them that you love and support them. Tell them you believe them.
2) If you can help a victim report to the police, do it.
3) Open up communication with your children and family members about abuse. Don’t shroud discussions of sex or abuse with shame.
4) Write your legislators about changing laws dealing with child sex crimes. Three bills in California (two dealing with statutes of limitation and another dealing with training reporters) need support.
5) Don’t give your money or allegiance to organizations who engage in legal battles with victims in order to hide abuse and cover-up. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles spent millions trying to keep their crimes secret. So did the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Orange. Publicly admonish those who covered up abuse.
6) Don’t go to Woody Allen movies. Go a step further and don’t support any actor or studio affiliated with Allen.
7) Raise children who are well-armored against abuse. My upcoming book can help you get started. The proposal is done and we are currently looking for an agent/publisher. If you want more information or know a contact who would be interested, email me.
I have spent all morning going through the documents recently released by the Archdiocese of Chicago (before you applaud any proposed Archdiocese “transparency,” remember that the documents were only released because the court ordered Cardinal George to turn them over).
Cardinal George has spent a lot of time during the past week trying to minimize the documents’ importance and impact. It is now painfully apparent why: George personally covered up for abusive priests.
Case in point: Joseph Bennett
From the summary timeline:
The Cardinal’s deposition and the file also suggest that the Archdiocese:
May have withheld evidence from the Review Board;
Had more concerns about Bennett’s canonical rights than child safety;
Gave misleading information to other bishops about Bennett;
Claimed that a victim’s accurate memory of freckles and other markings on Bennett’s body were not enough evidence to remove Bennett from ministry;
Told parishioners to “question accusers;”
Never checked to see if boys were working in the rectory with Bennett, even after the
Review Board requested Bennett be removed from ministry;
Called Bennett a “fine pastoral leader” when he was reappointed as pastor of Holy Ghost in 2003, even though there were known outstanding abuse allegations against the cleric; and
Blamed Vatican policies for not removing clerics with allegations of molesting children.
You should read the whole thing yourself. It’s shameful and Cardinal George should be held accountable.
Less than 24 hours after Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire announced his intentions to file bankruptcy on Wednesday, the Calaveras County Grand Jury has handed down a criminal indictment of Fr. Michael Kelly.
According to the Lodi News/Modesto Bee, “the criminal grand jury indicted Kelly on three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child and one count of oral copulation with a child.”
During five years of civil litigation—which unearthed enough evidence to convince a civil jury that Kelly most likely had abused Travis Trotter—Bishop Blaire allowed Kelly to remain in ministry, working with children and administering sacraments (holding the keys to parishioners’ salvation). After the jury verdict and Kelly fled to Ireland, Blaire said he “urged Kelly to return” but continued to defend the priest‘s innocence. On the eve of a criminal indictment, Blaire declares bankruptcy.
What more do you need to know about Stockton’s child protection policies?
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Malcolm Gladwell’s essay in this month’s RELEVANT magazine is worth your time. Read it online here. In it, he discusses how he rediscovered his faith as he was writing his latest book DAVID AND GOLIATH.
In both examples Gladwell uses in the essay—parents whose child was murdered and a small town in France whose citizens defied the Nazis in World War II—he discusses the “weapons of the spirit”: the ability, as Samuel says in the verse above, “to look at the heart” and not fear the physical. Unfortunately, most of us “estimate[d] the dangers of action by looking on outward appearances—when they need[ed] to look on the heart.” And hence … faith suffered.
Gladwell goes on to say that finding God’s spirit is not about blind acceptance of the actions of others, but instead is using the “Weapons of the Spirit” to look into man’s heart. Standing up for justice. Doing what is right. And if a non-religious person like me can get it, there is a whole lot of untapped power waiting to be set free.
Bishop Kevin Vann … you listening? What about you, Timothy Dolan, Francis George, or James Wall? Have you wondered why so many Catholics have moved elsewhere to celebrate their faith? Perhaps you should look in the mirror of your heart. Because we have looked into your heart, and we fear for you. But we no longer fear you.