The pope's meeting with victims on the island of Malta seems a step in the right direction, simply by showing that he can be emotionally engaged. But it also suggests further evidence of his tone-deafness -- or perhaps it's simply that he really does believe that adherence to the church's dogma is what is important, not earthly laws and responsible action in the world.
In other words, the church sees the abuse as sin, which can be overcome by repentance and redemption. It minimizes the fact that these were situations of children being entrusted to the care of adults, who criminally betrayed that trust and must be subjected to the secular justice system.
According to an article by Rachel Donado in today's New York Times, the pope held a 20 minute private meeting with a small group of victims, while in Malta for another purpose. He was "deeply moved" by their stories and expressed "shame and sorrow" for their pain. It is reported that he had tears in his eyes. He prayed with them and assured them the church is doing all in its power to investigate accusations and bring to justice those responsible for abuse.
For a Catholic to receive such personal attention from the pope must be extraordinary; one found it "redemptive." But will the pope's personal engagement -- for 20 minutes -- be translated into a different understanding on his part and lead to action? That remains to be seen. He has also met previously with victims in the U.S., Australia, and Rome.
A skeptic would say that it is empty rhetoric when viewed against the fact that one of the victims in this group is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against abusive priests that the Maltese diocese "has been investigating" for seven years and "has not yet determined how to proceed against the priests." Three of the accused are still working as priests. Seven years? and they still haven't figured out what to do?
One of the young men who addressed the pope told him that he spoke for those who feel marginalized by the church because
"we are of a different sexual orientation. . . . It seems almost as if we are less readily accepted and treated with dignity by the Christian community than we are by all other members of society. . . . Your holiness, what must we do?"Lacking an actual transcript, I don't know if this is the pope's immediate response to this question, but the article reports it as if so. It says:
Benedict applauded mildly [presumably for his courage in speaking up], before delivering a speech on St. Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus and alighting on a central theme of his papacy: in Europe, the pope said, "Gospel values are once again becoming countercultural, just as they were at the time of St. Paul.If that was his response to the young man's comment that he feels more accepted in society than in the church, then here is what I hear the pope saying: 'To be accepted in the church, you must be converted, like St. Paul, and turn away from the wickedness of worldly values -- ie your homosexuality. Homosexual behavior is a sin. You must repent, and only then will you be fully accepted in the church. Yes, you have been sinned against by the abusive priests; but you have also sinned and must also repent.'
Is that what he meant to say? It is consistent with church dogma. Or is he just tone-deaf to the effect of what he says? It's the old 'love the sinner, hate the sin' hogwash that I hear from my Methodist preacher cousins.
Either way, it was not a good response -- even though the pope's pastoral side came through in the small, intimate setting and gave the victims an emotional sense of being listened to. But being listened to with 'tolerance and compassion for the sinner' is not the same as being really heard in a way that leads to an empathic re-examination of the church's dogma that could lead to change in policy.
Ralph
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