The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis: How Human Wickedness can lead us to God

“But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." – 1 Samuel 16:7

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.” – Matthew 23:27

“I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.” – Ezekiel 34:15-16

I was not hoping to start this blog of theological reflections with something as heavy, disheartening, and frankly evil, as the sex abuse crisis in the Church, but to start a blog on Christian faith in the midst of this crisis without mentioning it seemed disingenuous to me. If there is anything we have learned from this, it is that this cannot remain in the dark, and we cannot ignore it. Through a radical openness, honesty and accountability, we can cooperate more fully with the Holy Spirit to purify the Church with His cleansing fire. Because there has been so much pain and destruction, that cleansing fire will feel like a cauterization.

Much has already been written about the need for members of the Church, especially the hierarchy, to make spiritual acts of reparation to God, which we can all take part in in some ways (e.g. prayer, fasting, almsgiving). The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has already taken some positive measures to address the specific issue of Archbishop McCarrick and the general issue of reporting abuse done by bishops (see Cardinal Daniel DiNardo’s statement here). It is the first step of a major overhaul to address episcopal abuse that will build on the Church’s measures already in place to protect young people and other vulnerable groups from any form of abuse (See Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People).

For the purposes of this post, I would like to focus on the question of holding fast to faith when evil is especially evident. Unfortunately, the clergy sex abuse crisis continues to rattle the faith of longtime Catholics, neophytes and inquirers, and in some cases it has destroyed what faith people had. Although there are good and sound theological reasons for maintaining faith amid evil (Jesus’ crucifixion and death as the prime example), I want to acknowledge and sympathize with people’s experience, especially if they are abuse victims. Indeed, if the man who is ordained to act in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) also manipulates, grooms and sexually abuses people in nauseating ways, how does that impact one’s image of God? If Father or Your Excellency represents Christ in our midst and is also a master manipulator, does that make Christ a monster too?

As the title of this post indicates, I would propose that our common experience of being disappointed in another human being, especially for a moral failing, actually is a way toward belief and trust in God. This is a variation on the argument for God’s existence from desire, made famous by C.S. Lewis and explained very well by Peter Kreeft here. One can make the case by observing disappointment in the human race’s failings in general, but I think it is more effective to see it in the concrete, i.e. loving, personal relationships built on trust. Every infant innately ‘knows’ that he or she is not self-sufficient and must have his or her needs met by another, hopefully by a loving mother and father. Assuming the child is raised in a loving household, he or she continues to trust that his or her mother and father will provide not only physical needs, but emotional and spiritual ones as well. However, even in the most loving of households, there comes a time when the child discovers that his or her parents are not perfect. They have flaws; some minor, some more serious. The child realizes that he or she can still have a good relationship with mom and dad, but the child cannot place his or her ultimate fulfillment, the surrender of one’s life, if you will, in the parents’ hands. Nevertheless, the adolescent or young adult at this point might still believe that that’s possible to do, just with another person.

Let’s take the example of a young woman who is desperately seeking out human love, but consistently ends up with deadbeat boyfriends. After dumping Deadbeat #1, if she builds the courage to start dating again, she must at least implicitly believe that someone else can fulfill her. If she is putting all of her hopes in the perfect one, she might fall into a series of unfortunate events with deadbeat boyfriend after deadbeat boyfriend. Let’s say that as she grows in maturity and self-worth, the young woman eventually meets a decent guy, and they marry and have a good and healthy marriage. Even here, they will come to realize that neither of them is perfect, and they cannot put their ultimate hopes in the other, even as they are called to love and honor each other all the days of their lives.

Is that young woman wrong to hope for and expect perfection in the one to whom she is entrusting herself? Most people might call her foolish for expecting that to happen. Here, I think we need to make a distinction. Although she is foolish to expect perfection from fallible human beings wounded by original sin, she is not foolish to have that desire for perfection in the first place. All of us are this fictional young woman to some extent. We all have this desire to be loved perfectly and to give ourselves completely to another without fear that we will be hurt. This desire to be loved perfectly cannot be satisfied by any human person or finite object, including ourselves (how often and easily we can hurt ourselves!) If we try to satisfy this desire through other persons as ultimate ends, we make them into idols. God, who alone is a perfect communion of self-giving Love as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the only One in whom this desire finds rest and total satisfaction. St. Teresa of Avila’s quote rings true in the reflective human heart:

“Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

In the Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul, describing the ministry of the Church, writes that “we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us” (4:7).  This unchanging treasure is the evangelical reality that “Jesus Christ is Lord”; quite the treasure to be held in vessels made of clay prone to cracking and breaking. Coming back to the issue of clerical sexual abuse, we must keep our eyes fixed on the Eternal Treasure which undergirds our faith, hope and love, even as the human vessels break in devastating ways.

This was a much longer post than I was intending it to be, and I hope that as I write other posts I can be more succinct in my thought. In the meantime, let us continue to pray for the healing of all victims of abuse and for the ongoing reform of the Church by the Holy Spirit.