Recovered Memories: It Ain't Necessarily So

Church Must Accept Reality of False Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

In Dallas in 2002 the bishops were quick to put in place a policy to make priests the fall guys for the sex abuse crisis. Today an accusation is as good as a conviction for a priest. And the bishops remain above it all, immediately removing an accused priests and blasting the accusation to the world even before having any proof.

Some priests are no doubt guilty, but cases of abuse based on recovered memories are shaky. The irony is that much of the abuse was actually witnessed by others. No one had to depend on a he said, she said scenario. In his book Sacrilege, Leon Podles documents numerous cases where eyewitnesses to abuse ignored it. He documents others where the abuse was reported by fellow priests to their superiors and the information was quietly ignored and suppressed.

The only consistent element in all of the abuse is that those most responsible for protecting youth, the bishops, have preferred to protect themselves from any accountability for their sins of omission.

Dissent: It's Part of the Problem

Back in 2002 when the bishops met in Dallas, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz suggested that the USCCB implement a study to determine whether there was a correlation between the sex abuse crisis and dissent. His suggestion got this much support: 0000000000000000000. (Well, you get the idea - how many other bishops were there? Add those zeroes.) Those of us who have been fighting scandals in our diocese for decades can offer plenty of anecdotal evidence that there's a direct link between homosexuality/sex abuse and dissent. I could give some specific examples here in my own diocese, but you get the idea. Oftentimes the dissenting pastor is a charmer who boosts attendance of cafeteria Catholics and generates more money for the collection basket. So he's never corrected and is much-loved by the finance office at the Chancery.

But I digress.

Fr. Z. at "What does the prayer really say?" carried a Good Friday post that tempts me to ask -- Is the pastor at that parish a homosexual or homosexualist? He's certainly disobedient. Read the story and weep (or laugh - sometimes you need to laugh or you'd cry all the time.) The fact is, when people say the crisis is over, point them to the on-going dissent and disobedience around the country and ask what's fueling it? At Most Holy Redeemer in the Castro section of San Francisco the answer is easy -- homosexuality. See here and here. There are plenty of others. We have our own gay-enabling parish here in Arlington, Our Lady Queen of Peace.

The good news is that the seminarian quoted by Fr. Z. is the future of the Church. The bad news may be - how many seminarians are more like the disobedient pastor than the young priest-in-training? Fr. Z.'s advice is "This will eventually be solved by the biological solution. Be patient. Learn well. Keep your mouth shut. Pray a lot." I certainly agree with the "Pray a lot" part and he might be right about the "biological solution", but as a mom and gramma I can't quite agree with the rest.

The Church and churchmen tend to take a "long run" view. Problem is - Parents don't raise their children in the "long run." They have only a few short years to get it right and scandal, particularly when it occurs at college, robs children of their faith. So as a mom I say, sure be patient, but don't keep your mouth shut. That's what helped cause the problem in the first place. Fight like the devil is on your tail and after your children because he his.

Pray for seminarians this week during the Divine Mercy Novena. We are in great need of real men who are prepared to fight and die for their bride, the Church and for their flocks.

Christ is risen as He said. Alleluia!