What Happens Behind The Scenes In The Catholic Hierarchy When Dealing With Troublesome Sexual Abuse?
Sexual abuse by clergy is a complex issue with no simple answers for the Catholic hierarchy due to the internal conflicts between canon law and civil and criminal law. For the Catholic hierarchy the conflict is intense precipitating the use of a multidisciplinary panel that comprise subject experts such as journalists, theologians, canon lawyers, ethicists, victim advocates and mental health professionals to help construct comprehensive solutions.
Some conclusions that resulted from this model represented by the United States, Canada and England were some priests began sexual abuse as early as four years after ordination. Findings also showed priests who abused young children were similar to the non clergy population of sexual abusers. In other panels represented by other countries Nuns reported being sexually abused by priests especially on the African continent. Priests used nuns as opposed to women from the general population to avoid the rampant HIV epidemic.
So what happens behind the scenes to prevent or to delay the mitigation of and the effective responses to sexual abuse as it pertains to the Catholic Church.What is the role of the Catholic Church hierarchy when there is sexual abuse? Following are the not so obvious workings and reasoning within the Catholic Church that go into motion when there is reported sexual abuse.
1. The Seal of the Confessional - Priests often confess their transgression of sexual abuse under the Sacrament of Penance treated very seriously under canon law. A priest hearing such a confession cannot disclose that the confession was made nor the content of the confession. The sacrament of confession has posed conflict with local criminal statutes for decades. Cases only come to light when victims break rank, a victim or relatives of a victim decide to come forward to file criminal charges or to file a civil law suit for psychological damages.
2. Seminary Selection and Training - The National Review Board and the John Jay Report shed light on deficiencies regarding Seminarians.
3. Failure to adequately screen seminarians for psychological propensities such as for pedophilia, and compulsive sexual behaviors.
4. Failure to screen candidates for the gift of celibacy. Many times candidates will presume they can commit to celibacy during their zeal for ordination. Most individuals do not have the gift of celibacy.
5. Failure to shape and to support seminarians for a life of celibacy. Lack of close follow-up and emotional support. Zeal for the priesthood is conflated with ability to remain celibate. Emphasis placed on academia and spiritual growth and not enough on the emotions of seminarians.
6. Not enough follow-up with priests to detect when priests need help.
7. Internal debate within the Catholic Church concerning sexual addiction and compulsive sexual behaviors. Many psychologists are of the opinion these pathology identified in seminarians and priests can be cured.
8. Absolute Obedience of Priests is a central portion of the vows a priest takes at ordination. These attitudes take precedent over any civil and criminal law. At ordination, a holy sacrament of the Catholic Church, all priests solemnly take the following vows of:
A. Chastity
B. Poverty
C. Obedience to superiors
9. From the Rite of Ordination a Catholic document used in every ordination, there is a section entitled The Priest and The Bishop. The Pope as the successor of Peter asks all priests the following: "Do you promise me and my successors respect and obedience?" Each priests vows “Yes.” The priest also vows “I promise my Bishop respect and obedience.” You see each priest receives sacramental power or spiritual ability to minister the sacraments through their Bishop's laying on of hands. Also each priest vows to remain in daily intimacy and cooperation with his Bishop. These powerful attitudes govern how sexual abuse is handled behind the scenes.
10. All priests are under the immediate authority of their local Bishop and diocese. A priest vowed to be obedient to his Bishop during holy ordination that cannot be broken. In the 21st century especially religious organizations are mandated to report sexual abuse to local authorities and this requirement forces many priests and Bishops to turn the other way, handling the abuses internally, often denying the situation, many times opting to seek a cure for the priest or giving a priest time to heal by transferring to another diocese. The ordination vows and canon laws are very strong and play a primary role in all aspects of Catholic Church Life. Behind the curtain priests and Bishops look to the Kingdom of God as their primary model for redemption.
11. There are reporting challenges as well. Bishops and superiors who are sexual offenders according to canon law are granted Absolute Obedience. Absolute Obedience has been abused and twisted as it relates to the abuse of young priests by their superiors. Bishops are also granted a high status of integrity which requires a very high threshold to begin an internal investigation and making it difficult to believe any Bishop could commit or cover up any terrible sin.
12. The ecclesiastical, governmental, and hierarchical fabric of the Catholic Church is wound tightly into the governing fabric of Catholicism and makes it almost impossible to discipline a priest unless certain priests break ranks.The structure of the Catholic Church is taken very seriously starting with the Pope the successor of the Apostle Peter. Next in rank are the Bishops. There are Cardinals who are Bishops with special appointment by the Pope who have a higher rank and all Cardinals are Bishops but not all Bishops are Cardinals. The hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church represents the military structure of the ancient Roman empire during the time of Constantine. It is important to underscore, the Catholic hierarchical structure is viewed as sacred by God.
Behind the scenes all of the above attitudes and covenants function vigorously lessening any probability of change and protection for parishioners.
Will sexual abuse reporting ever reach 100% reporting and will the behavior ever be handled effectively to protect the Catholic community? The answer is only if the Catholic Church acknowledges the defiling devastating and destructive effects of sexual abuse, amends canon law to classify sexual abuse as completely unacceptable and grants sexual abuse a zero tolerance status.
Chinese Version
在處理棘手的性虐待問題時，天主教等級制度的幕後發生了什麼事？ 由於教會法與民法和刑法之間的內部衝突，神職人員的性虐待是一個複雜的問題，對於天主教等級制度來說沒有簡單的答案。對於天主教統治集團來說，衝突非常激烈，促使使用由記者、神學家、教會律師、倫理學家、受害者倡導者和心理健康專業人員等學科專家組成的多學科小組來幫助構建全面的解決方案。 以美國、加拿大和英國為代表的這一模式得出的一些結論是，一些神父早在任命四年後就開始性虐待。調查結果也顯示，虐待幼兒的牧師與性虐待者的非神職人員群體相似。在其他國家代表的其他小組中，修女們報告說她們遭到神父的性虐待，尤其是在非洲大陸。神父們利用修女而不是一般人群中的女性來避免愛滋病毒的流行。 那麼，幕後發生了什麼來防止或延遲對天主教會性虐待的緩解和有效反應。以下是天主教會內部在有性虐待報告時採取的不太明顯的運作和推理。 1. 懺悔印章 - 神父經常承認他們在懺悔聖事中犯下的性虐待罪行，根據教會法，這些行為受到非常嚴肅的對待。聽到這樣的懺悔的神父不能透露懺悔的內容或懺悔的內容。幾十年來，認罪聖事一直與當地刑事法規發生衝突。只有當受害者違反規定、受害者或受害者親屬決定提出刑事指控或對精神損害提起民事訴訟時，案件才會曝光。 2. 神學院選拔和培訓－國家審查委員會和約翰傑伊報告揭示了神學院生的缺陷。 3. 未能充分篩檢修生的心理傾向，例如戀童癖和強迫性行為。 4. 未能篩選候選人的獨身恩賜。很多時候，候選人會認為他們可以在熱衷於任命期間保持獨身。大多數人沒有獨身的恩賜。 5. 未能塑造和支持神學院學生過獨身生活。缺乏密切的跟進和情感支持。對神職人員的熱忱與保持獨身的能力混為一談。重點放在學術和精神成長上，而對修生的情感關注不夠。 6. 沒有對牧師進行足夠的後續行動來發現牧師何時需要幫助。 7. 天主教會內部關於性成癮和強迫性行為的爭論。許多心理學家認為，在神學院學生和牧師身上發現的這些病症是可以治癒的。 8. 牧師的絕對服從是牧師在任命時所發願的核心部分。這些態度優先於任何民法和刑法。在天主教會的一項聖禮－祝聖禮上，所有神父莊嚴宣誓如下： A、貞操 B、貧困 C. 服從上級 9. 在每次祝聖禮中使用的天主教文件《祝聖禮》中，有一個章節題為「神父和主教」。教宗作為彼得的繼任者向所有神父提出以下問題：“你們答應我和我的繼任者尊重和服從嗎？”每位神父都發誓「是」。神父還發誓“我保證尊重和服從我的主教。”您將看到每位牧師都獲得了聖禮力量或精神能力，透過主教的按手來施行聖禮。此外，每位神父都發誓與主教保持日常的親密和合作。這些強而有力的態度決定了性虐待在幕後的處理方式。 10. 所有神父均受當地主教和教區的直接管轄。一位神父在聖職任命期間發誓要服從他的主教，這一點是不能違背的。在21世紀，特別是宗教組織被要求向地方當局報告性虐待行為，這一要求迫使許多神父和主教轉而採取另一種方式，在內部處理虐待行為，常常否認這一情況，很多時候選擇為神父尋求治療方法或透過轉移到另一個教區來給神父時間來治癒。按立誓言和教會法非常強大，在天主教會生活的各個方面發揮著主要作用。在幕後，神父和主教將神的國視為他們救贖的主要模式。 11. 報告也面臨挑戰。根據教會法，屬於性犯罪者的主教和上級將被授予絕對服從。絕對服從因其相關性而被濫用和扭曲 年輕神父受到上級的虐待。主教也被授予很高的誠信地位，這需要非常高的門檻才能開始內部調查，這使得人們很難相信任何主教會犯下或掩蓋任何可怕的罪行。 12. 天主教會的教會、政府和階級結構緊密地纏繞在天主教的統治結構中，除非某些神父打破等級，否則幾乎不可能對神父進行紀律處分。對待教宗是使徒彼得的繼任者。排名第二的是主教。有些樞機主教是教宗特別任命的主教，等級較高，所有樞機主教都是主教，但並非所有主教都是樞機主教。天主教會的階級結構代表了君士坦丁時期古羅馬帝國的軍事結構。需要強調的是，天主教的階級結構被上帝視為神聖的。 所有上述態度和契約在幕後都發揮著積極作用，減少了教區居民發生變化和保護的可能性。 性虐待舉報率是否會達到 100%，這種行為是否會被有效處理以保護天主教社區？只有天主教會承認性虐待具有玷污性和毀滅性的影響，修改教會法，將性虐待列為完全不可接受的行為，並給予性虐待零容忍的地位，才能得到答案。
