In his Letter to the People of God responding to the sexual abuse of minors, Pope Francis wrote: “I am conscious of the effort and work being carried out in various parts of the world to come up with the necessary means to ensure the safety and protection of the integrity of children and of vulnerable adults, as well as implementing zero tolerance and ways of making all those who perpetrate or cover up these crimes accountable. We have delayed in applying these actions and sanctions that are so necessary, yet I am confident that they will help to guarantee a greater culture of care in the present and future.”

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has issued a statement [U.S. Catholic Bishops Response] in response to the recent reports of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy: “We are faced with a spiritual crisis that requires not only spiritual conversion, but practical changes to avoid repeating the sins and failures of the past that are so evident”

Cardinal DiNardo announced that the U.S. Bishops have established three goals for action:

(1) an investigation into the questions surrounding Archbishop McCarrick; (2) an opening of new and confidential channels for reporting complaints against bishops; and (3) advocacy for more effective resolution of future complaints. These goals will be pursued according to three criteria: proper independence, sufficient authority, and substantial leadership by laity.

Regarding the criteria, he explained:

The first criterion is genuine independence. Any mechanism for addressing any complaint against a bishop must be free from bias or undue influence by a bishop. Our structures must preclude bishops from deterring complaints against them, from hampering their investigation, or from skewing their resolution.

The second criterion relates to authority in the Church. Because only the Pope has authority to discipline or remove bishops, we will assure that our measures will both respect that authority and protect the vulnerable from the abuse of ecclesial power.

Our third criterion is substantial involvement of the laity. Lay people bring expertise in areas of investigation, law enforcement, psychology, and other relevant disciplines, and their presence reinforces our commitment to the first criterion of independence.

Cardinal DiNardo outlined the process which the U.S. Bishops will follow: “We have already begun to develop a concrete plan for accomplishing these goals, relying upon consultation with experts, laity, and clergy, as well as the Vatican. We will present this plan to the full body of bishops in our November meeting.  In addition, I will travel to Rome to present these goals and criteria to the Holy See, and to urge further concrete steps based on them.”

Pope Francis has already shown his willingness to hold bishops accountable. He accepted the resignation of five Chilean bishops because of their failure to respond properly to sexual abuse cases and/or to protect perpetrators of sexual abuse in the Church in Chile. Pope Francis also immediately accepted the resignation of Archbishop McCarrick from the College of Cardinals and assigned him to a life of prayer and penance, as he awaits a canonical (church) trial.

The Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, led by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, has already studied some of these issues and have made proposals about how the Church receives and examines complaints of episcopal abuse of office (such as a bishop’s own action to harm someone under his authority (minor or adult) or acting improperly in responding/covering up reports of sexual abuse or other misconduct).

So the work is underway.

These are complex and difficult issues. There must be a straightforward process for reporting misconduct that is clear, straightforward, understood by people and easily accessible. There must be a thorough and honest investigation by impartial outside experts. There must be procedures in place to protect whistleblowers (i.e. anyone making a report and anyone who provides evidence/ testimony). There must be transparency and fairness at every step leading up to the final decision and action. The rights of every person must be honored and respected, including the presumption of innocent until proven guilty and due process for anyone accused. There must be outcomes that are seen as just and deserving.

The Church has its own legal process, which it will use, and that process will be different than the U.S. legal process people here are familiar with. This will require some work by U.S. Catholics to understand fully the hows and whys of the process the Catholic Church ultimately establishes for the U.S. and for the universal Church throughout the world.

As Cardinal DiNardo noted, ultimately it is the Pope who will decide and approve the process – and ultimately the Pope who must make the final decision on the outcome of each case, if only to serve as the court of final appeal to confirm the decision of lower courts and courts of appeal.

For the Catholic faithful, this will require our participation, but also our patience.

It requires our participation:

• By our continued prayer and fasting for the reform of the Church;
• By participation of the laity, sharing their skills, talents, training, expertise and experience as they are called to participate in the various committees, task forces, consultations that take place in crafting the new norms and procedures;
• By continuing to pay attention and keep informed that the Church is keeping its word and proceeding as it has committed to do.
• By making sure that the norms and procedures are fully implemented – and followed.

This also will require our patience. We live in an “instant” age, when we want – even expect – everything now. Given how terrible what has happened is and how awful for it to happen again – even once more – feeling the urgency of acting is right and proper. However, it is even more important that we do this right. Usually, doing this right does not mean doing it fast. That is why the whole people of God will need to use the virtues of both patience and perseverance to allow the entire Church to go through this process in a timely way (giving it the priority it needs) to act decisively and correctly. As Cardinal DiNardo stated, “The overarching goal in all of this is stronger protections against predators in the Church and anyone who would conceal them, protections that will hold bishops to the highest standards of transparency and accountability.”

“For in the readings, as explained by the Homily, God speaks to his people, opening up for them the mysteries of redemption and salvation, and offering spiritual nourishment; and Christ himself is present through his word in the midst of the faithful.” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM], #55).

On Thursday of the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time (Year B), the Lord spoke in this way to the Church through the prophet Ezekiel (EZ 36:23-28)

Thus says the LORD:

I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

The Church is the people of God. Ezekiel reminds us that God is and will reform his people, as he has done throughout history. God will purify his people and purify his Church. Believe it. Trust in God’s faithfulness. And let the Church respond, “Amen!”

“For in the readings, as explained by the Homily, God speaks to his people, opening up for them the mysteries of redemption and salvation, and offering spiritual nourishment; and Christ himself is present through his word in the midst of the faithful.” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM], #55).

On Wednesday of the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time (Year B), the Lord spoke in this way to the Church through the prophet Ezekiel (EZ 34:1-11):

The word of the Lord came to me:
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:
Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who have been pasturing themselves!
Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?
You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,
and slaughtered the fatlings,
but the sheep you have not pastured.
You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick
nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,
but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for the lack of a shepherd,
and became food for all the wild beasts.
My sheep were scattered
and wandered over all the mountains and high hills;
my sheep were scattered over the whole earth,
with no one to look after them or to search for them.
Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
As I live, says the Lord GOD,
because my sheep have been given over to pillage,
and because my sheep have become food for every wild beast,
for lack of a shepherd;
because my shepherds did not look after my sheep,
but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep;
because of this, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I swear I am coming against these shepherds.
I will claim my sheep from them
and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep
so that they may no longer pasture themselves.
I will save my sheep, that they may no longer be food for their mouths.
For thus says the Lord GOD: 
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

With the recent news of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, both in the multiple charges of the sexual abuse of minors and adults by Archbishop Theodore McCarrick (who is now on Administrative Leave, cannot function publicly and is awaiting Canonical (Church) Trial) and the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy in six Pennsylvania dioceses over the past 70 years, it is easy to hear the Word of the Lord speaking in judgment against the shepherds of the Church, both priests and bishops, for their failure to care for God’s people: for exploiting (abusing) some members; not protecting the community but, rather, caring for themselves (including their power, status and comfort), in short, not looking after the Lord’s people as a shepherd is charged to do.

Who could possibly doubt the accuracy of this interpretation?

Who could possibly object with this judgment?

Many have agreed – and cried out – of the need to “come against these shepherds … put a stop to their shepherding my sheep so that they may no longer pasture themselves.” Recent events have clearly shown that while the Church has “put a stop” to deacons, priests, employees, teachers, coaches (etc.) when there is a credible accusation of the abuse of a minor so they can “no longer pasture themselves” by abusing others, it has done little to hold chief shepherds (i.e. bishops) accountable for their failures to “look after my (the Lord’s!) sheep” entrusted to their care, to “put a stop to their shepherding my sheep.”

In his Letter to the People of God, [Pope Francis Letter] Pope Francis wrote, “With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”

“I invite the entire holy faithful People of God to a penitential exercise of prayer and fasting, following the Lord’s command.  This can awaken our conscience and arouse our solidarity and commitment to a culture of care that says “never again” to every form of abuse. … It is essential that we, as a Church, be able to acknowledge and condemn, with sorrow and shame, the atrocities perpetrated by consecrated persons, clerics, and all those entrusted with the mission of watching over and caring for those most vulnerable. Let us beg forgiveness for our own sins and the sins of others. An awareness of sin helps us to acknowledge the errors, the crimes and the wounds caused in the past and allows us, in the present, to be more open and committed along a journey of renewed conversion.”

Pope Francis is rightly calling on each Catholic to penance, especially in prayer and fasting. Because each follower of Christ becomes a member of the Body of Christ in Baptism and so members of one another (cf. 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27), we need to pray together and pray with and for each other, not only in praise, thanksgiving and intercession, but also in sorrow, repentance and penitence. So each of us needs to pray for victims/survivors and those who suffer with them, but also for perpetrators and the shepherds who failed in their responsibilities.

But Pope Francis also calls us to “beg forgiveness for our own sins.” Our first response might well be: “who, me? I’ve never sexually abused anyone! I hate abuse! I hate that the Church hasn’t fixed this yet! I am outraged and offended at bishops who covered this up, let it go on and never reported crimes to the police, ignored victims, reassigned priest-predators, got promoted and abused their power! It’s the institution that’s responsible, not me!” Amen. Me, too.

True – as far as it goes. Our culture understands “being responsible” in a very individualistic, personal way; I am personally responsible for what I say or I do. If I didn’t say it or do it, the culture teaches us, then I’m not responsible; “that’s not on me!”

Similarly, the focus tends to be about the acts – what is actually said or actually done. We’re much better thinking about acts of commission (what is said or done) than on acts of omission (what was not said or what was not done).

Consider:

• In the news reports about Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s abuse of seminarians, there are statements made that his reputation was “widely known” early on (before he became a bishop), yet by the time the first former seminarian came forward to make a formal complaint, McCarrick was already the Archbishop of Newark, NJ. Obviously, more than a few people had information, but apparently no one – over decades — either spoke out or acted.
• The #MeToo Movement has brought forward hundreds (probably now thousands) of women sharing their stories of sexual harassment and sexual abuse in many businesses and professions. As survivors tell their stories, more survivors come forward. The harassment and abuse have being going on for decades. Where were all the co-workers who knew what was going on (or at least that something wasn’t right) and said or did nothing?
• As a society, we teach children – rightly – about “stranger danger” and teach them to be aware and cautious around strangers, especially those who seem to be trying to entice them. Yet the reality is that fully 75% of ALL sexual abuse of children happens in family situations. And two-thirds of all sexual abuse crimes are never reported. In many cases, children are too afraid or they do not think anyone will believe them or people close to them tell them not to say anything. Children who are disabled suffer sexual abuse at three times the rate of their non-disabled peers. As a society, we don’t discuss this publicly, much less try to take effective action. As a society, we have been silent and failed to act.

Pope Francis is right: we need each of us and all of us to “beg forgiveness for our own sins.” We need to pray and do penance. We need to be converted.