Editor’s note: This commentary is by Don Keelan, a retired certified public accountant and resident of Arlington. The piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
[O]ver the last six weeks, Pope Francis has been battered by news stories that no chief executive would ever wish to have to endure. And his recent action to convene a conference of the heads of the world’s Catholic bishops conference only compounds his troubles.
The summit, to take place in Rome late next February, is at the wrong place, the wrong time and with the wrong people in attendance. It is time for the church to stop digging the hole deeper; instead, find a way to climb out.
Since mid-summer, the pope and the church have had to deal with horrendous issues, beginning with a 900-page grand jury report from authorities in western Pennsylvania. The report, two years in the making, noted that since the 1940s, 300 priests have sexually violated over 1,000 of their flock.
Shortly after this finding came an 11-page letter from the Vatican’s ambassador, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. In his precedent-setting letter, the ambassador accused his boss, the pope, of shielding the long-serving cardinal of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, charged with abusing seminarians a long time ago. The cardinal has since resigned.
And the pope’s troubles don’t all come from America. He readily admits how he botched the investigation in Chile, over abuses in that country and the resulting cover-up by Chile’s scores of bishops – all of whom were asked to submit their letters of resignation.
The above is what the pope is currently facing, in addition to the clergy abuse problems in other countries – Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, and even in Africa. In Australia, there is legislation being proposed to allow government officials to force the clergy to breach the confidentiality of the sacrament of confession.
The pope should cancel plans for the 2019 summit in Rome. Instead, the summit should be held at the end of October 2018 in Erie, Pennsylvania, in the center of the eight dioceses mentioned in the grand jury report. And not one bishop should be in attendance. Those who should be there are the priests and sisters who had absolutely nothing to do with the past or present scandals, but who were instructed directly or indirectly to remain silent.
Imagine if these legions of clergy were allowed to speak out years ago, and called the world’s attention to the abuse that was taking place and covered up. They have dedicated their lives to the church and its mission and have been forced to remain silent too long. The church needs its rank and file at the summit meeting, not its bishops.
Furthermore, the summit does not need to be for three or four days. Instead, the summit should last only three or four hours. The pope should instruct the attendees that we have witnessed enough – abuse, cover-up, and lack of transparency – and that includes himself. He should tell his priests, brothers and nuns that it is time for them to be in charge, so take charge.
The bishops of the church who participated in these darkest hours knew about it and did nothing, or should have known what was taking place. They need to step aside – their time has come to rejoin the rank and file as parish priests.
The Catholic faith has always had and continues to have a beautiful message that has been embraced for 2,000 years. It is time for that message to be at the center once again.
The image of the church and its priests noted in such movies as, “Keys to the Kingdom,” “The Left Hand of God,” “Going My Way” and “Father Flanagan’s Boys Town,” just to name a few, is what so many are hoping for.
Pope Francis, cancel the Rome summit in February 2019 and, instead, have it in Pennsylvania. You are looking for dedicated young leaders and they are waiting to be called.
