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Removing the Dark Cloud of Abuse from the Church

8/30/2018

4 Comments

 
     I have been wrestling with the question of what to say about the latest set of abuse scandals to come out in recent weeks.  One of the reasons for my struggle is that I am dealing with my feelings of betrayal and disillusionment that such things could happen in the Church I love. Another is that I know these ongoing revelations damage the trust you have placed in all leaders in the Church.
    The issue of sexual abuse in the Church has been like a dark cloud hanging over the Church during most of the years I have been a priest.  During my seminary years I remained unaware that sexual acting out of any kind could invade the holy sanctuary of our seminary.  In years following my Ordination I would learn that a fellow seminarian, Rudy Kos, became one of the most notorious child abusers in his time as a priest.  
    In my Diocese of Dallas I learned how a disbelieving and defensive posture on the part of leaders could allow situations such as these to continue.  I also had the opportunity to know some victims of abuse.  In one case I had the honor of walking with her through many years and to seek with her a just response from diocesan authorities.  
    Since that time I have prayed daily and fasted weekly for victims of abuse. The pain of victims of abuse, especially abuse by someone who represents God in the Church, has moved me greatly. Many struggle for the rest of their lives with feelings of being unlovable, as though they are just an object to be used.  Their pain never completely goes away and their difficulty in relating to God and trusting anyone in the Church is a lifetime struggle.
    Arriving in El Paso five years ago I found that we were dealing with or had already resolved a number cases involving child predators.  None of them were recent and many no longer were eligible for prosecution. As cases became known we sought to identify victims and offer them any assistance we could.  We made sure that a zero tolerance policy was in place and that no one who had been credibly accused would ever have permission to be involved in ministry again.
    In our diocese we have been greatly assisted by the expert work of our Victims’ Assistance Coordinator, Susan Martinez.  She works alongside our Pastoral Review Board as a member of the Pastoral Response Committee, which is made up primarily of lay therapists who evaluate the claim and make recommendations regarding how the diocese can assist the victim, as well as what should be done with the perpetrator.  She will encourage the victim to report to authorities.  If the victim is a minor, she will report to the appropriate authorities. Susan has also arranged for me to meet with several victims when they requested. It has been a very heart-wrenching and moving experience for me.
    Most of the cases of which we become aware happened long ago, but we always seek to identify other possible victims.  Recently there was a credible case of abuse by a priest, Miguel Luna, which came to our attention.  He had been removed from active ministry some years earlier due to concerns we had about his behavior although no victim had come forward. When two courageous women came forward we had announcements made in all our parishes and also announced what we had learned in the media. In this way we could warn any new potential victims and invite any others to come forward.  As a result, a third victim came forward.  The statute of limitations had not passed for the third victim’s case, so Miguel Luna is presently being prosecuted.
    Another important step we have taken is our commitment to create a program of safe environment training to reach out to all children, diocesan and parish personnel, and volunteers active in the Church.  VIRTUS, as it is known, conducts criminal background checks on all volunteers and personnel and teaches children and adults, in an age appropriate way, how to recognize the signs of a potential abuser.  In just the last few years we have trained thousands. Our hope is that we will provide the tools not only to protect our parishes from the presence of child predators, but that we will also create safer homes and schools, which are the places where most abuse takes place.
    I am confident that on a national level the Church will continue to seek better ways to assure that no person, no matter their rank, will be above the law.  Meanwhile, here at home, we will continue to do all in our power to regain the trust that you have a right to expect from leaders in the Church.

Bp. Mark

4 Comments
Juan Marquez
8/30/2018 06:33:15 pm

I found it disgraceful how the bishop deflected towards the end of his statement by pointing out that the majority of abuse happens in the home. This is exactly why the church is in the middle of an ongoing scandal: deflection. Also, how does training people who didn't commit the abuses help the situation at all? The people committing the abuses are priests, what special training are they receiving?

Reply
Alberto Rivas
8/31/2018 03:19:28 pm

He is correct, Mr. Marquez, and it is not deflection. Most abuse does happen in homes and especially public schools where the abuse rate is some 5 times the rate as in churches.
But Your Excellency, in all honesty I am dismayed at your sense of "betrayal and disillusionment," which implies this comes as a surprise to you. Surely you, or indeed any priest or lay worker in the church is aware of the problem of homosexuality in the clergy which has been present continuously. You are aware that most sexual abuse is not pedophilia, but homosexual in nature, some 79% of all cases, according to well-known reports. How can this crisis come as a surprise? It should come as a "well it was bound to break sooner or later" type of acknowledgement.
Even I, as a typical Catholic, maybe a little more involved in church life than some, have encountered several gay priests, almost openly gay, but certainly known to the parish staff, in the several.parishes I've been a member of. I've even had a priest make a pass at me.
To pretend that this situation is totally unknown to the life of the clergy seems at least a bit disingenuous.

Reply
James Kevin Richardson
9/2/2018 09:04:10 pm

Until the Bishop Speaks and writes, publicly, to the Holy Father to request- in the strongest terms- that Donald Wuerl be required to remain in the US and face the secular justice for his roles in (at the very least) the cover-ups in which he is named in the PA Grand Jury Report, then I say his words are merely more insult heaped upon the injury done to the Faithful by our beloved clergy.
When the scandal broke out in Boston in 2002 Cardinal Law abandoned his see and ran to Rome. The fact that Donald Wuerl is now incommunicado and invisible tells me they might be trying the same thing once again.
This scandal and the RICO prosecutions that will follow it will finish the fiscal destruction of the Church in the USA. It will become practically impossible to live the Faith as openly in the future as we have in the past. Thank you miserable, slimy, "shocked and surprised, saddened, betrayed..." bishops for this wonderful shattered Church you have given us.
Enemies of Christ and the Faithful!

Reply
Manuel Perez
10/12/2018 08:45:55 pm

While Bp. Seitz must be commended for being much more pastoral and more open about communicating with his flock, he also needs to open his eyes and realize that the terrible abuses committed by priests and covered up by bishops and even cardinals, do not date back 20 years, but 60 years and maybe even beyond. About 20 years ago, a fellow Catholic told me in El Paso: "do not leave your sons alone with a priest." That froze me in my tracks and forced me to begin a search for facts to substatiate or deny that advice. I've reaad more than enough credible articles to be convinced that only a naive Catholic that lives isolated from reality could have been ignorant of the priestly sex abuse scandal.

Yes, there are sex scandals across all occupations, but we cannot rationalize or diminish the magnitude of the scandal on this accout. All childern of God, especially priests, must take very seriously what Jesus is quoted as saying in Lk 17, 1-2: Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin."

Thank you Bp. Seitz for finally beginning to openly address this problem in El Paso.

Reply



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Catholic Diocese of El Paso
499 St. Matthews St
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