OK – this is an absurd title, but if you are following media frenzy regarding the sex abuse in the Pope’s old parish, and the recent letter about the past abuses in Ireland, it sort of sounds that way. The Catholic Church doesn’t have a corner on the market for abusing children – just a long history. Then there is the media aspect of associating the Pope with sexual abuse. And last, if you want a giant civil case the Catholic Church is at the top of that list.
So does all of this attention help the victims? In the short term probably not much, but I think we are reaching a pivital point in awareness and understanding about child sexual abuse. One of the biggest problems with sexual abuse awareness is that there aren’t a lot of physical signs that people can identify with to associate to a cause. Whether it was woman’s rights, civil rights, gay rights, race for the cure, Jerry’s Kids, etc. you could look at that population and generally see a difference – even if it was just a pink ribbon or tee shirt. Several years ago I spoke before a state senate committee and was told I didn’t need to provide my name. I did anyway. There is still this fine line between privacy and victims rights, and wanting to be counted as having been affected by this crime.
Dealing with change
For now, I see this getting messy and potentially destructive as the world comes up to speed on understanding child sexual abuse. All acts of change are first acts of destruction. Perhaps it’s appropriate that this is happening around the first day of spring. Aside from the symbolism of spring, it was 45 years ago this weekend that 3000 people gathered in Selma Alabama and began a four day march on the capital. By the time they reached Montgomery their numbers were over 25,000. As awareness of child sexual abuse grows, I see a similar movement taking shape.
So what should the next step be for the Catholic Church? Apologies and settlements are probably not going to cut it in the end. Here are a few ideas:
- Openly discuss the problem internally and with church members
- Educate everyone on what child sexual abuse is and why it will not be tolerated by the church
- Hold pedophile priests accountable – remove them from the church community – and no longer provide for them
- Provide counseling and support as needed to those who were victimized in the past
- Do whatever is necessary to ensure that the church and activities it supports are safe for all children
And lastly – back to my original title. It’s not realy absurd, just incomplete. Let’s get the Pope…to fix the Catholic Church!
Let us know if we can help you dealing with your family’s sexual abuse situation. For ideas to get started please check out our book on what to do during the early days after disclosure.
