The Roman Catholic Church has spent the past year trying to repair its credibility and public reputation in the wake of scandals involving priests and allegations of sexual abuse of boys. Bishops, such as Cardinal Bernard Law, had been shuffling the offending priests around to other parishes to “cover up” their crimes. Now, however, 24 priests in the Boston Archdiocese itself have been removed pending resolution of their cases.
This summer, American cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church met in Dallas to try to resolve this issue. After the protests of concerned Catholics, the Cardinals had instituted a “zero-tolerance” policy that would remove priests accused of sexual abuse immediately.
Finally, the Holy See — the office of the Pope — has weighed in. Worried that the “zero-tolerance” policy was counter to church law and that it denied accused priests due process, the church has decided to set up a special tribunal that would judge the allegations and determine whether or not a priest should be defrocked.
This step by the Vatican is worrisome. These tribunals sound like a closed-door judicial body that will not ameliorate in any way one of the major failings of the church. We have fears that if a priest is cleared by a private church tribunal, it is a continuation of the cover-up and not a true indication of his innocence.
If any priest is committing such atrocious acts as sexually abusing children, it should be a matter for the criminal, not the ecclesiastical, courts. As soon as a member of the church has received allegations of sexual abuse, he or she needs to call the police, just as would any other responsible member of society. Then the accused can have his day in court, and if found guilty, he immediately should be defrocked and excommunicated, as well as imprisoned.
Sexual offenders can be rehabilitated, however, and mere punishment can’t be the end of society’s efforts. Priests, or anyone, found guilty of sex abuse must also be treated for their behavior, while being segregated from society until they are no longer a threat.
In any case, the cover-up by the Roman Catholic Church of priests who have engaged in sexual abuse has gone on for far too long. If they wish to salvage the reputation of one of the world’s largest religions, they are going to have to try something with more accountability than the tribunals they are suggesting now.