November 22, 2020 - "The McCarrick Report"

Even though we have waited for nearly two years for the McCarrick Report and knew that the news in it wouldn’t be good, at least I am still dealing with the shock of some of the details in it.  One detail from the Vatican’s report on our former archbishop that saddens me is the following.  Repeatedly senior officials were warned that something was unsuitable and inappropriate with promoting McCarrick and that charges from serious people needed to be considered.  On each occasion a Vatican official disregarded the testimony of lay people, priests, and religious and based decisions exclusively on the advice of other bishops.
 
In 1994, Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, a Sister of Mercy, informed the Papal Nuncio of charges against McCarrick.  In 1999, John Cardinal O’Connor of New Year did the same.  Both Mother Mary Quentin and Cardinal O’Connor even suggested individuals from whom the Vatican could get more information.   Yet, those individuals were never contacted or their contribution was dismissed.
 
In Mother Mary Quentin’s case, then-Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, who was the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States from 1994-98, actually came to the conclusion that she had come forward because “she wanted to make herself appear important.”  John Allen, Editor of Crux commented that “is about as bald as synthesis of the clerical mindset as you’re ever likely to see in print.”
 
From our perspective now we can only wish that they and others like Fr. Boniface Ramsey who tried to sound a warning had been taken seriously.  If that had happened, victims could have received justice much sooner and the Church might have been spared this heartache and nightmare.
 
In a recent interview John Allen of Crux asked Bishop Robert Barron what are the lessons learned from this report and how does it contribute in creating a safe environment within the Church?  Bishop Barron thought that there were three lessons that we could learn from the McCarrick Report:
 
First of all, the clerical cultural must be allowed to become self-referential and self-protective.  “The priesthood is not a privileged club, but a brotherhood whose sole purpose is to serve the people of God.”
 
Bishop Barron believes that a second lesson is that “lay people must be involved at all levels in the process of assessing the legitimacy of allegations of clerical misconduct.”
 
Third, Bishop Barron asserts that serious investigations of complaints must be undertaken.  He found himself saying over and over again to himself as he read the report, “Why didn’t they look into it?  Why didn’t someone do a serious inquiry?  Why do they keep dropping the ball?” Inasmuch as it inspires a serious engagement of these matters, the report does indeed contribute to a safer environment in the Church.”
 
At the end of his Letter to a Suffering Church, Bishop Barron offered a Prayer for a Suffering Church.  I am going to close this column by printing part of that prayer here:

“Grant we pray, O Lord, healing for all victims of sexual abuse. Purify your Church of corruption. Bring justice to those who have been wronged. Grant consolation to all who are afflicted. Cast your light to banish the shadows of deception. Manifest to all your advocacy of those who have been so cruelly hurt, and your judgment upon those who, having perpetrated such crimes, remain unrepentant. Compel those in your Church whom you have entrusted to safeguard the innocent and act on behalf of the victims to be vigilant and zealous in their duties. Restore faith to those from whom it has been stolen and hope to those who have despaired.”
 
Until next week,
Fr. John