Benedictus, Qui Venit: When a letter speaks to more than the immediate…

It seems rather appropriate that Pope Benedict XVI released his Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland on the feast day of St. Joseph, the Catholic model for fatherhood. The Letter is directed toward resolving the controversy around Child sexual abuse that has erupted in Ireland. Right at the very outset, at para 4 of the letter, the Pope indicates that the crisis has its roots in the “the rapid transformation and secularization of Irish society” a transformation that he argues impacted on the religious no less than it did on the lay. Also, he argues, “The programme of renewal proposed by the Second Vatican Council was sometimes misinterpreted” resulting in a certain laxity in following both tradition and canon law. This larger context was compounded by “inadequate procedures for determining the suitability of candidates for the priesthood and the religious life; insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in seminaries and novitiates; a tendency in society to favour the clergy and other authority figures; and a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal, resulting in failure to apply existing canonical penalties and to safeguard the dignity of every person”.

In identifying the problem in this way, the Pope continues his critique of the problems that secularization, in the sense of a divorcing of spirituality from our lives, has brought to our world. In identifying the problem in this manner, without explicitly saying so, he sharply disagrees with secular critiques of the problem. He does not say that these cases of sexual abuse are the result of the requirement of celibacy by Catholic religious. The problem he argues is the result of spiritual and moral laxity. This logic seems to be in keeping with the larger position of the Church with regard to human sexuality; the human being is not only about physical desires. The human being is much more than his or her physical desires, and has to necessarily restrain oneself from what is known to be wrong.

There is another side to his analysis of the problem. The Pope rather appropriately points out, that “that the problem of child abuse is peculiar neither to Ireland nor to the Church”. However when saying this, he does not shy away from the fact that there has been something amiss within the Church. Where the tendency towards sexual abuse is open to all human beings, once it has occurred, the question is how we deal with it. The letter is clear that the problem lies in the manner in which these cases of child abuse have been dealt with. The letter is clear that the manner in which the local Church sought to deal with the testimonies of those abused, and with the guilty, was definitely gravely lacking.

It has been observed that given the rash of abuse controversies that seem to be hitting the Catholic Church, spreading from the initial and highly-publicized scandals in the US, this pastoral letter of the Pope will be read for direction and guidance all over the world. While this may be so, we may find that given the manner in which he has located the problem, the letter may be, and indeed, MUST be read by local Churches, for an insight into issues beyond sexual abuse.

The manner in which the testimonies of the abused in Ireland, and the guilty in those cases, were dealt with may sound familiar, in entirely different contexts, to those living in Goa. Time and again parishioners from various parts of the territory allege that when they wish to highlight the misdemeanors of errant priests, they are faced with a silent and sullen community, both religious AND lay. Appeals to the office of the Archbishop go unanswered. When responded to, it appears that the manner of the response, where one is confronted with a committee, rather than the paternal and pastoral figure of the Bishop, leaves complainants feeling let down. Where religious have been caught with their hands in the till, the response apparently is to transfer them to another post, rather than take strict, canonically sanctioned penal action against them. At times in the face of a clear violation of canon law, one is presented with the blithe response that a waiver for the operation of this particular aspect of the law has been sanctioned. This column does not wish to provide the stamp of truth to these allegations. Nevertheless, a personal experience leads me to believe that the Catholic Church in Goa; hierarchy, religious and laity, would do well, especially given our presence in the season of Lent, to reflect on this letter and engage in some serious soul searching.

Toward this end, let us redirect our attention once more on the extract already referred to above. “…inadequate procedures for determining the suitability of candidates for the priesthood and the religious life; insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in seminaries and novitiates; a tendency in society to favour the clergy and other authority figures; and a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal, resulting in failure to apply existing canonical penalties and to safeguard the dignity of every person”.

This extract seems to ring particularly true in the context of the continuing accusations that the hierarchy and clergy of the Church (through errant members) have participated in the destruction of the Goan environment, and the embarrassment that was the official response of the Archbishopric to the Dogui Bodmas incident.

When speaking of our ‘misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal’ the Pope seems to suggest our attention in the direction of the image of the pilgrim church. The Church is a human institution struggling to follow in the footsteps of its founder. The hierarchy should not loose sight of this fact, and open itself to suffer scandal and ensuing persecution, especially if it is for the larger goal of safeguarding ‘the dignity of every person’. We should not forget that it is these persons, in the singular and the collective, who make up the body of the Church. The infringement of their dignity leaves the body of the Church itself, wounded.

For the Goan Catholic, as with Catholics across the world, the Big Boss has spoken. His letter while focused firmly on the sin of sexual abuse, speaks to contexts beyond sexual abuse. Do we hear it speaking to us?

(A version of this article was first published in the Gomantak Times, 24 March 2010)

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The title of this blog has been taken from the title of a post on the blog titled Whispers in the Loggia. The phrase is an extract from the larger Latin phrase 'Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini' that translates to 'Blessed who comes in the name of the Lord'.