A GATHERING FOR JUSTICE  4/28/07--GINNY

In 1963 I graduated from the College of Mt. St. Joseph here in Cincinnati with a head full of St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa I & II, and Catholic philosophy.  It was a bittersweet graduation, for Pope John XXIII had just died two days before.  Our class was saddened by the loss of this great man, but was excited by his messages of opening the Church to a new day of bringing the laity into a closer participation and active role within the Church.  We were told that now was the time to grow up, act as adults, become the priestly people we were baptized to be, and walk shoulder to shoulder with our priests and bishops.  Larry and I were married a year later, and while beginning our family, took the message of active adult ministry to heart.  We both, over the years were involved in many ministries, and felt good about being involved in this new and fulfilling movement.  I call this my Blissfully Ignorant period of life.  As I look back on it now, I see that while many new ministries were formed, there was little if any participation in executive decision-making.  Those of you who are my age and older know, that adult sense of responsibility was quickly muted by hierarchy, because walking shoulder to shoulder meant lateral movement, and the hierarchical structure then as now is equivalent to a pyramidal ladder.  This theology means that those below (the laity) are subject to those above.  And so, in essence the laity is the church when it comes to supporting the parish and diocese especially with financial donations, or other ministries. However, when it comes to a meaningful voice in shaping decisions that touch directly upon our lives or in making of rules or in the exercising of church governance, we are at the bottom of the pyramid.  Interestingly, it was the aftermath of the abuse scandal that caused many of us to say, “Enough!  This is our church, too.  And we want to save it for our children and grandchildren.” So, 43 years after Pope John’s death I am reaffirmed that now is the time for the laity to act as adults in the Church.

The second phase of my church life I call the Burden of the Cross period.  The anger and despair I felt when David was able to open up to us in 1995, 15 years after his abuse was completely overwhelming and engulfing.  The thought that a man of God, someone we trusted above all men on this planet would hurt my child was almost more that my mind could grasp.  Larry and I knew, that as much as we wanted to expose this crime, we had to wait, for David was an adult and very fragile emotionally.  So we told no one while we waited and watched and prayed that David could eventually come to grips with what had happened to him. 
I find it sadly humorous now that one of the first things I said was that we had to tell the Archbishop,--- that he needed to know about this evil priest. 
Little did we know at the time that, he was well aware of the abusive nature of Fr. Tom Hopp and numerous other pedophiles.  But also during this time we began to look at the hierarchical structure more critically, and while we continued our ministerial work, our eyes were being opened to what was going on in the background of parish and diocesan life.  In 1998 I accepted a seat on our deanery council, which at that time was called Ministry 2000, but continues today as Council of the Laity, Sidney Deanery. This position has given me many insights at the political wrangling of our church leaders, and although the laity voices are spoken, and perhaps taken into consideration, the final decision belongs to one man.  I was also appointed four years ago to the Archdiocesean Pastoral Council, which meets quarterly.  I didn’t know if I could even face the archbishop, but decided that this was one way I could speak to the sexual abuse issue, and keep it in the forefront.  I felt he needed to see my face, and so I always sit across from him if I can, and address something concerning the scandal at the open forum portion of the meeting. This is a small part of the day, with most of the allotted time being dedicated to speakers informing us about various services of the diocese. A few ask a limited number of questions of the speaker, and most members pass when it is their turn to speak at the open forum, so there was usually no actual council as such. I see it, however, as an opportunity to continuously let everyone know that the anguish of abuse is not over as the bishops claim it to be, and as many people wish it to be.  At the March council meeting, though, I felt a corner being turned.  The two topics presented, concerned vocations and the Archdiocesean financial statement.  There were quite lively discussions, suggestions, questions, comments and challenging thoughts from the members. Perhaps a spark of adult participation as Catholic lay leaders in the decision- making process.

   Today I am passing through the Mad as Hell stage (or for those who are offended, my Righteous Anger) period of church life.  Since 2002, David and we have been on an unrelenting march toward justice for not only himself, but also all other children whose body, soul, and spirit have been devastated by this horrible evil of abuse.  In clarification, for us justice does not mean a monetary settlement, although I believe all victims are deserving of that.  Rather, for us, justice comes in the form of accountability, responsibility, truthfulness, openness, and financial transparency from the bishops, cardinals, and pope.  It is imperative for the safety of all children to have full disclosure. 

 

As Richard Sipe states, “You cannot have secrecy and accountability at the same time.  Is sexual secrecy part of the core of this power and part of the core of the operation of this organization?  The answer is yes.  That is what holds it together.”

• I would like to highlight some of the lack of accountability issues in our archdiocese:

• The Archbishop not being up front even in a personal meeting with a survivor.
• The Archbishop, who was the rector of the Cincinnati seminary from 1968 to 1974, Auxiliary Bishop from 1974 to 1982, and Archbishop from 1982 to present, pleads no contest in court???—thus diverting any scandal away from himself.  The only bishop in the U.S. to do such a thing.
• The Archbishop offering $3million to victims in what I refer to as hush money, because anyone who signed on had to relinquish any rights to further suit, even if more was disclosed about the abuser, and all names were confidential.  What I found really interesting here was that 2 victims, whose claims were strong enough to be awarded money had their abusers later placed back in a parish because another of the Archbishop’s tribunal thought they were not that harmful.
• The slow and measured steps to deal with the abusers by the archbishop in general and the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in particular.  Because of the abysmal mishandling of monitoring of these pedophiles, while under the protective cloak of the Church, I feel our children are no safer than if these men were defrocked, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.  Then there’s the ridiculous paid administrative leave policy.  David’s abuser was the first to be permanently removed in our diocese after the sex abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002.  He is permanently removed from clerical duties while continuing to receive salary, housing and insurance.  He is to live his life in prayer and penance.  I haven’t heard who the prayer and penance police are, even though I have been in contact several times with Bishop Aymond who heads up a subcommittee for the USCCB that is discussing this topic.  I have received little pats on the head, telling me they are doing what they can in this very difficult situation.
• The Archbishop spending millions of dollars on Attorneys and lobbyists to gut SB 17.  I must take a moment longer on this topic, for this to me nearly became my undoing as a Catholic.

 

As David stated earlier, the original bill would have granted victims of sexual abuse, for whom the statute of limitations for criminal charges had expired, a one year window within which to file a civil suit against the perpetrator and those who protected him from public scrutiny. Abusive priests and the diocese for which they worked would be held accountable.  The Ohio bishops used all of their power, millions of our dollars, and back door maneuverings to gut this bill. 

What replaced the civil window was the civil registry, which Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann calls a sham.  In other words the Catholic Church’s secret files remain secret.

  This nearly became my undoing.  I started to blame Christ.  How could He allow His children to continue to be harmed?  Had the Holy Spirit deserted us?  What had happened to all of my prayers and the prayers of thousands of others who wanted only the health and well being of the victims?   What about the hours and hours of letter writing, and phone calls to the congress, the time spent in personal conversations with our senators and representatives, the heart wrenching testimonies given by victims and their families? 

All of it stripped away by the same people who are supposed to protect the children but are actually the ones hurting them.  Through the gentle encouragement of Bishop Gumbleton and his advice to get back to the Scriptures, I now know that it wasn’t Christ, but the corruption of the ultimate power of men in Roman collars who caused this chaos. And so, from scripture Matthew 17 we read:  “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed---nothing will be impossible for you.” Therefore, we must never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed Catholics can change the Church.

    So where do we go from here? I believe that legislatively, we need to gear up again and push for proper laws that truly protect children and also allow the court system to provide justice for those already victimized.  We need to “get it right” this time. 
Concerning the institutional church, There is an Old Latin saying about the Church—“semper reformanda”, which means “always in need of reform.”  With a restorationist Pope, bishops intent on keeping their position of power, and priests who are ostracized and vilified if the don’t walk the party line, I feel we as the laity have nothing to lose in rising up and demanding more of our leadership and of ourselves. 
VOTF needs to commit itself to its mission statement and goal # 3.

Personally, I would like to see a push from us demanding the bishops, if defrocking is not going to happen, to set up an easy access national registry of priests credibly charged with abuse, including addresses so that we can monitor if and when they move.  We need to protect this generation of children from them.  This is the least we deserve while we are paying these moral degenerates.   (Like a Probation center where they must check in at intervals if they are to receive check or insurance)

I would like to close in reiterating some of the wise advice I have received from various prophets of our day:

Now is the time to be not afraid, and assume our rightful roles if we are to rebuild trust and renew the face of the Church.  That now is the time to challenge clergy as St. Catherine of Sienna did in her day, speaking truth in love.  That now, as newly ordained say to the bishop, the words Adsum, meaning, “I am here,” they along with us, God’s holy people, can all state Adsum to the universal priesthood, “I am here, I am present and I pledge my loyalty to the gospel, to my conscience, and to the Church.”  For this Church is not just my Church, it is not the Bishop’s Church, it is Christ’s Church, and there’s much rebuilding to be done. We must move forward with imagination, commitment, and the Holy Spirit’s gift of wisdom, all of us saying Adsum.

Thank you