Reflections on recent revelations

The many thousands of priests and religious brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church, who have been faithfully doing their duty in observing their vows and doggedly ministering to the faithful, must feel shell-shocked at the recent revelations of abuse on the part of those of their brethren - and ultimately our brethren as well - if we believe in the Mystical Body of Christ. Recent revelations about those who have been entrusted with the care of others, especially children, and abused of this trust are most painful to say the least.

To say that those of us who have been following the reports about the various scandals and shocking revelations must have remained awe-struck is the under-statement of the year. The various frailties of human nature but most especially paedophilia on the part of those to whom were entrusted the care of the vulnerable is unpardonable.

There are many who aver that this is inevitable - that there must be those few who go astray. The people who join the religious communities and the diocesan priesthood come from a cross-section of families with a cross-range of all the weaknesses that human nature is heir to, including abnormal sexual behaviour and practices.

Added to this is the reassuring knowledge that most candidates to the priesthood or religious life are screened and examined as to their morals and sexual leanings. Even then, some 'bad apples' manage to get through.

Still, some say that the Catholic Church's very adamant stand on celibacy as a requirement for the Catholic priesthood and religious life lends itself to such abuses. How can a young man or woman in the prime of their lives suppress the sexual urges that are part and parcel of human nature and ignore them?

True, one speaks of sublimation: the offering to God and hoping to overcome with His help that urge in man's nature that is of vital and paramount importance in any human being's make-up and nature: sexuality.

And to top off the argument one points at our Christian Brethren in the Anglican Communion who long ago abolished the requirement of celibacy as a condition for priestly ordination and yet now find themselves in a serious predicament. They pushed further: they went ahead with the ordination to the priesthood of women as well as the ordination to the priesthood of individuals that were known to be homosexual.

Indeed, the forthcoming consecration of a self-proclaimed homosexual candidate for the bishopric seems, to many of the Anglican brethren, to be the last straw. And the month of November when this consecration is going to take place is foreseen to create a deep rift in the Anglican Communion. For indeed, some ask, where does one stop?

The Catholic experience

Those who have been through the grind of the 'old' (pre-Vatican II) Church can vouch that the training and formation was rigid and the demands of celibacy, though exhaustively explained, never really hit home. Young men of 16 with stars in their eyes and a sense of dedication 'ready to make any sacrifice', believed and were constantly told that one could do anything - even overcome this very real, demanding and difficult sexual urge. One had dreams as well - that of conquering the world.

In pastoral ministery in various places one comes to know of priests and religious who were finding the observance of celibacy pretty difficult. Yet few of them were encouraged to leave - especially once one is ordained. And few have the courage to do so.

What does a man who has been used to community life and a certain established routine do once he 'resigns' from his position as a priest? There were those who were trained in other matters not based on religion or with things to do with religion and such people found it easier to quit and find gainful employment elsewhere.

They had learned to live with their married partner or their live-in homosexual partner but they had quit the system - the institutional Church - which remains adamant in its observance of chastity as a vow and celibacy as a condition for the priesthood and the religious life.

But many, all too many, stuck it out and 'stayed in': living their duplicitous life of preaching one thing to the faithful and doing another in their own behaviour, in their private lives. They had their lady-'friend' or their gay friend as the case may be and thought nothing of 'staying in', even while catering to such a partner.

As long as one did not rock the boat, or flaunt it too much in public, a priest could even have a lady friend for 'periodical servicing', if he happened to be heterosexual. Or another priest or member of his religious community if his inclinations were homosexual and he dared not leave the safe haven of the religious community in which he lived.

Others still had male friends 'from the outside'. After all, having joined the religious order at the tender age of 17 or 18 and been ordained in their 20s (usually between 25-30) such people had not had much chance of seeing and experiencing what the world has to offer. And by 'world' one often meant the opposite sex.

Unprepared for life

A young man cocooned in a seminary for at least seven or ten years in a close-knit male-only or (in the case of the sisterhood) female-only life, "away from temptations" (even that of a visit to one's home) was, very often alas, at least in the past, little prepared for what life had to offer.

So when such an individual was let loose in his 'ministry' and put in charge of parishoners in a parish or boarders in a boarding school, the natural need for affection that he felt he must share was very often at the expense of children under his care in a boarding school. Or if he was assigned for pastoral ministry among parishioners some male or female parishoner or other.

The very real possibility of ending up with intimacy with one particular person or a number of persons was never far away.

This is what was known as 'the third way': these priests did not want to leave their order or their diocese but they had no qualms about sharing their emotional, sentimental and even sexual life with a woman if they were heterosexual or with a man when homosexual. Others went ahead and abused children, mostly those under their care in a boarding school, especially since these were literally 'sitting' ducks. And when any of the above activities were reported to higher-ups, these higher-ups either ignored them out of incredulity or, often, transferred the culprits to another 'area of priestly ministry' there to start things all over again.

The many dioceses in the USA that have been and are being sued by victims of such abuse and the families of victims - and these range from boarders in schools to altarboys in church - have bankrupted some dioceses over there. In Malta, it seems we are still at the tip of the iceberg. As more and more people come to the fore and talk about a subject that till very recently was taboo, we are bound to hear more about these matters.

Unfortunately the damage control that will be needed and perhaps done will not help those victims who have literally had their lives shattered. It is known that people ended up in a hospital for treatment of a mental disorder because they had been abused by a priest as children.

Back then children were unable to talk about such matters either to parents or anybody in authority. Besides, nobody wanted to believe or admit that such things were happening and the poor young child in question remained psychologically scarred for life well into adulthood. Omertà in the Church led to the ruin of many lives.

Today there might perhaps be more openness and the possibility of coming to the fore and making accusations at individuals. The Church in Malta has set up a task force to handle just such situations but to have such people appear in public and proclaim that they do not know of any cases of such abuses shows that there is a lack either of true concern or lack of honesty.

One can turn a blind eye to the partnerships among consenting adults: male priest with female or homosexual friend; female Sister with female or male friend. But the cases of child abuse should not be allowed: ever. And steps should be taken by the authorities - both Church and State - immediately one becomes aware of such frailties of human nature. We cannot turn a blind eye any more.

Those who have seen such goings on in many parts of the world can vouch that there have been umpteen cases of this sort of thing in the Church and not only in Malta. It was part of the reason why some decided to resign from the active priesthood. Something must be done about weeding out this undesirable element or those who abuse of their power. If for nothing else it is because we owe it to our children.