Bill Crane responds to Archbishop Vlasny's recent article in the Catholic Sentinel

Dear Friends:

Below is a recent letter that Bishop Vlazny wrote in the Catholic Sentinel. The Bishop has cleverly communicated in a very subtle way a message that lays a false guilt upon the media, attorneys and even victims themselves as being the enemy of the Roman Catholic Church. The Bishop even goes as far as incorporating the local body of Roman Catholics as being a part of the moment of darkness that is upon the church, ("as we bear the burden of the sin of child sexual abuse").

In Dallas last June we witnessed a national public setting of bishops corporately confessing of past sins for allowing children to be abused sexually under their watch. As a hierarchy they want to make decisions apart from the body but when they are caught in their trespasses the body is a part of the hierarchies sin? They embraced decades of scandal and protecting themselves rather than the protection of children and disclosure of what they knowingly failed to do. What the bishops still fail to acknowledge is that with public confession comes accountability (Even Richard Nixon knew this). Accountability is not sidestepped, overlooked or somehow miraculously eradicated. Lives have been ruined and permanently effected by the decisions that the Catholic Hierarchy made not that long ago in their own selfishness of not protecting children.

The events that unfolded in Dallas took place out of attrition not contrition. True repentance corresponds with action. We are reminded of Cardinal Law's repeated lies and extreme damage control tactics to minimize and dilute the seriousness of sexual abuse by those under his watch, and to think that Cardinal Law is a close friend to the Pope and was a possible candidate to being the next Pope.  Wow!  If that's not a sober reality check?

The Bible teaches us that a man will reap what he sows, this same principal holds true for a hierarchy as well. We are now witnessing the bad fruit of the hierarchy that was sown years ago. We are also witnessing the accountability for those decisions that have come externally and not internally. As a survivor of clergy sexual abuse it still saddens me that money is the only language the hierarchy understands and that they willfully ignored the voice of children who cried out to them in their pain for decades. The bishops have been playing with a strange fire, a fire that has burned and scared many children, family members and devout Roman Catholics. Only extreme measures of accountability will put this fire out that still continues to burn among the hierarchy. We still have not received full disclosure in getting to the bottom of the seriousness of these sex crimes perpetrated on children. I wish we would witness the same motivation for disclosure that was put into embracing scandal among the hierarchy.

Bill Crane
SNAP Oregon



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THIS MOMENT OF TREMENDOUS SUFFERING AND ANXIETY WILL PASS

by Archbishop John Vlazny

In the final chapter of St. Paul's magnificent letter to the Romans, he offers this final admonition: "I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet."

When I read those words recently, it dawned on me that Paul would probably offer a similar admonition to us here in the Archdiocese of Portland as we bear the burden of the sin of child sexual abuse by those whom we trusted most in our own faith community. For the past several months some lawyers, reporters, victims and a host of other interested parties have been decrying both the evil of the crimes committed and the ineptness or, worse yet, the duplicity of the Church's response to these tragic events. Understandably, dissensions among us have arisen, disregard for legitimate authority is on the rise, the smooth talkers seem to have all the answers, and the "wrong folks" regretfully remain in charge.

Everyone knows that "divide and conquer" is an old strategy when engaged in battle. I don't mean to exaggerate the situation, but let's face it. The Catholic community, particularly now here in the Archdiocese of Portland, is engaged in a real struggle with evil. All the evil is not outside our community. Some of it is buried deep in our own hearts. Whatever past personal struggles with Church policy and practice that were submerged in our subconscious have re-emerged with vigor and venom.

This is truly a moment of darkness for all of us, but I assure you the sun still shines. I have been telling people that there is a huge dark cloud hanging over us now in Western Oregon. The consequences of these storms still remain uncertain. Everyone wants to know what will happen. What financial losses will we experience as a result of all these claims? Some think I know and I'm not telling. The only consolation I find in that accusation is that I, at least, know that I don't know!

The secular media has shared with the people of Oregon far and wide that the Archdiocese of Portland is now dealing with more than 100 claims of child sexual abuse by the clergy. All of these allegations have been raised during the past year, resulting from the extensive publicity generated by reports of similar scandals on the East Coast last winter. Like Jesus himself, we have deep compassion for those who have been victims of such a terrible violation as is indeed the sexual abuse of a child.

Because the allegations all seem to result from events that occurred between 20 and 60 years ago, attorneys and archdiocesan staff have expended considerable time and energy in the process of sorting things out. The stories of victims need to be heard. In an effort to compensate victims justly for their suffering and for the care they require, the archdiocese has undertaken a thorough study of its available assets. Prudential strategies have been developed to safeguard the mission of the Church during these dark hours and to make certain that resources distributed to the Church by donors for restricted use are protected.

Child abuse is very wrong and sinful. Victims need care, even many years after the abuse occurred. But it is also true that some lawyers will benefit disproportionately from representing their clients. Some reporters have written or spoken about these matters with prejudice or misunderstanding concerning the Catholic Church. The spotlight is on our church now because we are big, we are interesting, and we have been around for 2,000 years. Some, sad to say, wish that history would come to an end. It won't, of course, because the story of the Church is written by the Holy Spirit, not by us.

We do need to remind ourselves that the vast majority of those who abused children sexually have never served or operated in the name of the Church. Most abusers take advantage of members of their own family where trust is high, and the good name of the family seemingly justifies the conspiracy of secrecy about such matters. Interesting, isn't it? Similar conditions used to prevail in the Catholic family until these recent revelations opened the eyes of all to the devastating effects that irresponsible trust and secrecy can have upon victims.

As your pastor, I have been troubled by stories coming from priests and parishioners around the archdiocese, many of which reflected a diminished sense of Catholic solidarity and little concern for the common good or the pain and just compensation of victims. One pastor expressed particular concern about the declining contributions of parishioners who were unwilling to make donations that might somehow compensate victims, either justly or unjustly. A parish pastoral council had an extended discussion about what could be done to safeguard parish assets during this time of litigation. Another pastor had been advised to raise funds for a parish project through a separate foundation unattached to the archdiocese and the archbishop. People of another parish were troubled and seemingly angered that the archdiocese wasn't making full disclosure to parishes about its present troubles and the foreseeable consequences of litigation.

My friends, when similar occurrences take place among your friends and neighbors, I offer you the same admonition that Paul did when he wrote to the Romans long ago, "I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil." This is a moment of tremendous suffering and anxiety for many of us. But it will pass. It really will. We like being in control, but we are not this time. We pray, "deliver us from evil," but sometimes evil happens. Just talk to some of the victims.

The sufferings of this church are real, but when I think of the sufferings of others in years past, like our older citizens during World War II, when their lives had to be put on hold, or our Jewish sisters and brothers during the time of the Holocaust, or the Catholic community that worshiped and gathered underground during the Communist era in Eastern Europe, I realize that a church suffering for the sins of some of its own will also survive and be stronger and holier and wiser as a result.

When I was a kid, I heard the saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." We can handle this. We are not a weak or insignificant church. Sisters and brothers, be steadfast. Stay together in faith and mutual respect. Be a truly Catholic church, bonded together in the solidarity of our fellowship and mission. Take to heart St. Paul's bold assertion: "The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet."

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