Resources s e r v i c e
o f
b o s t o n
spring 2003
c o l l e g e Gary Wayne Gilbert
a
Why? The slippery slope that descends from an excessive urge to protect one’s own
By Andrew Greeley illaire Belloc, an English Catholic writer from the first half of the last century, once remarked apropos of Catholic leadership that any organization whose leadership was guilty of such knavish imbecility must have the special protection of God. As we ride the turbulent waves of the latest reprise of the sexual abuse scandal, we must wonder why. Why did some of our leaders fall victim to the current wave of knavish imbecility? Some “experts” appeal to celibate clerical culture as an explanation, with no evidence to support such an argument and no explanation why police, physicians and sometimes even academics similarly protect their own. So do many church leaders of other denominations, though not with so much dedicated imbecility. Some gay-bashers blame the church for ordaining gay men in recent years. But most of the cases that have surfaced are of men who were ordained long before the alleged increase in gay ordinations. The answer, I think, has nothing to do with celibacy or homosexuality and much to do with the propensity
H A Welcome to Our Readers ven in a Church with a dramatic history, the present crisis is by all measures a Catholic moment of unusual intensity. American Catholics in particular have had to face the harm caused to the Body of Christ by actions that ranged from negligence or bad judgment to malevolence and outright betrayal. It has been painful, but it has also elicited moving signs of faith. How can, how should Catholics respond to the sexual misconduct scandal? We do not have one answer, but we do offer resources: the best analyses, reflections and commentaries on the crisis that have appeared over the last year in a wide range of publications. They are reprinted in
E
this first issue of C21 Resources to stimulate your own search for a response. This magazine is one outcome of The Church in the 21st Century, Boston College’s two-year initiative to aid the Church in recognizing, understanding and moving beyond the crisis. Inaugurated in September 2002 by University President William Leahy, S.J., the initiative seeks to illuminate three broad topics that have emerged in the crisis: the roles of laity, priests, and bishops in the Church; a contemporary understanding of sexuality in light of Catholic beliefs; and the challenges Catholics face in living, deepening and handing on the faith to future generations. For those who cannot attend the
ongoing events on campus, for BC graduates and friends far from Boston, and for all who want to think more deeply about the issues, we offer the following 14 articles from across the spectrum of Catholic thought. The first six articles are devoted to the overarching question of how and why the scandal took place and the cultures and structures in the Church that were responsible. Next come two very personal reflections. The last six articles consider proposals about changes needed in order to move ahead. Future issues of C21 Resources will explore in greater detail the main topics of The Church in the 21st Century. The Editors
Continued on page 2
boston college | c 21 resources | spring 2 0 0 3
1