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June
13, 2002, 9:10 a.m. By Susan Konig |
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priest, a
psychologist and a gay guy walk into a bar in Texas. Everyone starts arguing.
American bishops meet in Dallas today to discuss the latest entries in the Catholic Church Sex Scandal Sweepstakes, no doubt launching a new round of debate about the root cause of the problem:
Are there too many gay priests? Does celibacy turn priests gay? Are most priests pedophiles? Are most pedophiles gay? Are most gay priests pedophiles? Are seminaries hotbeds of sexual misbehavior? Is there a lavender wall of silence? A pink wall of silence? A black wall of silence?
Some of the victims of past abuse are speaking to the bishops in Dallas. I asked a prominent Washington, D.C. clinical psychologist about grown men who manipulate and abuse young boys:
"The truth is that most pedophiles are not gay," she told me. "Pedophilia is not about homosexual urges; it's about power and exerting power. If you have a position of power, then who will stop you when you engage in inappropriate, secretive behaviors?"
I asked a priest about homosexuality in the Church:
"Given the numbers, a chronological adult having sexual relationships with post-pubescent male minors is the real issue. It can even be said, but with great care, that there is an element of homosexuality involved. The critique has to be made without necessarily equating the two. Whether the argument of arrested development or predatory attraction, it remains a predominantly male attraction. But witch-hunting every cleric who has an ounce of fashion-sense or a season pass to the opera will be more than counterproductive; it would be morally wrong."
I asked a gay man, a good Catholic, what do you think? Is it a homosexual issue? Is it a celibacy issue? Is it a pedophilia issue?
"Hasn't everything already been said?" he sighed.
All of this is important. Some of it is debatable; some may be absolute truth. All of it is peripheral to the main scandal.
The Church bosses involved would like nothing more than for the pundits and the parishioners to debate the homosexuality/pedophilia/celibacy controversies endlessly. Because as long as we're busy doing that, we're not asking the bosses the big question: How could you let this happen?
It's good that most dioceses have agreed, belatedly, to hand over accusations to their local DAs. It's good that American bishops are in Dallas developing a protocol for everyone to follow so that this never happens again. It will be good when the completely unacceptable, proposed plan to retain priests who have molested "only one" child is (God willing) struck down.
Because there has to be accountability for all that took place in the past. The leaders of the American Church allowed this abuse to happen, they created the atmosphere, they encouraged it by looking the other way and quietly shuttling abuser priests from one unsuspecting parish to another and they financed the abuse by paying out huge settlements in exchange for secrecy.
One priest told me, "Remember, this is Watergate. And look how long things took to settle after that. The insular and foreign mode in which the 'leaders' of our Church operate is a world of ego and titles. These guys are scrambling for the staterooms on the Titanic even after all the lifeboats have gone."
Promotions are already coming in from Rome. Will some American bishops be "kicked upstairs" to Vatican City? Stay tuned.
With Watergate, in the end the problem wasn't just the plumbers. It wasn't just the president's men. The ultimate problem was the top guy who created the atmosphere that allowed the criminal activity to occur. And then tried to cover it up.
And, in the end, it was the top guy who was on a helicopter to San Clemente. Hold onto your miter, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
— Susan Konig, a journalist, has just written a book, Why Animals Sleep So Close to the Road (And Other Lies I Tell My Children).