Writing in First Things (March 29, 2010) George Weigel, a lay theologian and a very attentive observer of the Church and Vatican affairs, made the point that the sexual abuse story presented by the global media as an almost entirely a Catholic phenomenon appears devoid of foundation.
Yet, the Church is, in some measure, responsible for a crisis of fidelity. And the same author states categorically that no other similarly situated institution has been so transparent about its failures, and none has done as much to clean its house. This is a statement which appears to be founded on solid evidence, both on account of the number of cases reported and investigated, comparatively small, as well as the number of initiatives aimed at minimising the impact on victims and the repetition of such incidents.
A welcome statement, like many others, coming from Catholic sources. But then what should one think about the weak outreach of Catholic media in the homes of the average reader, be it Catholic or not, particularly if compared with the stranglehold exercised on the minds of the average reader by the media, whose pervasive influence cannot be overemphasised enough?
It seems to me that in terms of media influence, it is like comparing long-range artillery to simple pistols. The noise developed by the long-range artillery is far superior to the noise and attention which a simple pistol can produce.
The American Church has been prominent, and sadly so, not only in a reported high number of abuse cases over the last two decades, but more notably in studying and researching and documenting the phenomenon:
• The Christian Science Monitor reported on the results of a national survey by Christian Ministry Resources in 2002 and concluded: despite headlines focusing on the priest pedophile problem in the Roman Catholic Church, most American Churches being hit with child sexual abuse allegations are Protestant, and most of the alleged abusers are not clergy or staff, but church volunteers;
l According to Rabbi Arthur Gross Schaefer, professor of law and ethics at Loyola Marymount University, sexual abuses occurring within the Jewish communities approximate that found among Protestant clergy;
l According to Dr Garth A Rattray, 85 per cent of the offenders are family members, babysitters, neighbours, family friends or relatives;
l According to a major 2004 study commissioned by the US department of Education, nearly 10 per cent of US public school students have been targeted with unwanted sexual attention by school employees.
While local Churches and Pope Benedict have been incessantly opening up the “filth” which has also invaded the Church, very little mention has been accorded to its international dimension: the number of misdemeanors involving the young ones.
A notable exception was the recent interview by Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, published in the monthly Jesus (June 2010).
I believe that the dilemma of the Church must be contextualized within the much greater dimension of the problem in civil society.
While applying the principle of zero tolerance and spiritual renewal, Fr Federico invites reporters and readers to look beyond the misdeeds of priests and Religious.
And he is very quick to add: no one is interested in creating an alibi by stating that the problem is not only in the Church, but at the same time it can be rather shortsighted to point the accusing finger only at Church people.
But is this only another alibi?