Vatican's Sex Abuse Fatigue

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 5, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

                Comparing today’s media feeding frenzy on Church sex abuse to “collective violence” against Jews, Pope Benedict XVI related the scandal to perhaps the greatest persecution in human history:  Christianity’s historic persecution of Jews knows no rivals, where Jews were evicted from almost every country settled since leaving the Holy Land, including persecution by the early Christian Church, through the Crusades in Germany, France and England, leading to expulsion by the Ottoman Turks in the Spanish Inquisition, through Tsarist and Soviet Russia and the Nazi Holocaust of WWII.  “I am absolutely totally astounded by this.  This is folly,” said Amos Luzzatto, a former president of Italy’s Jewish communities, referring to Father Raniero Cantalamessa’s Friday sermon in St. Peter’s Basilica calling Church sex abuse comparable to “collective violence” against Jews.

            Recent sex abuse revelations against the Catholic Church were nothing new, resulting in waves of lawsuits in the United States and now spreading to Europe.  Reacting negatively to Father Cantalamessa’s Good Friday sermon, Jewish rights’ groups rejected the Vatican’s parallel to Jewish persecution.  “How can you compare the collective guilt assigned to Jews which cause the death of millions of innocent people to perpetrators who abuse their faith and their calling by sexually abusing children?” said Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based international rights organization.  Hier objected to the Church’s comparison to Jewish persecution, since Jews did nothing illegal like Church clergy responsible for sex abuse.  Father Cantalamessa’s remarks referred to today’s unending accusations, endless lawsuits and legal persecution of the Church.

            Dating back to the 12th century for Catholic priests, the celibacy vow required all priests to abstain from marriage and sexual activity.  Cantalamessa’s remarks that Jews were victims of “collective violence” drew parallels to today’s Church, racked with contemporary sex abuse scandals.  While not official Church doctrine, Jews were held responsible for the murder of Christ, depicted in Passion Plays, blaming them for deicide or the murder of gods.   Since the Church’s sex abuse scandals emerged in the U.S. and Europe, the Vatican has been under the gun.  Before the Pope replaced John Paul II April 19, 2005, he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer.  During that time, he received letters from Milwaukee Archbishop Robert G. Weakland begging the Vatican to take action against known pedophile and child molester Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy. 

            In fairness to the Church, Cantalamessa was guilty of nothing more than politically incorrect remarks.  He was not diminishing historic anti-Semitism spawned by the Church or practiced by various countries.  “The use of stereotypes, the shifting of personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism,” Cantalamessa was quoted from his letter.  Since Church sex abuse scandals broke out nearly a decade ago, the Church has argued that it has no greater incidence of pedophilia than the normal population, running around 2%-5%.  While that may be true, pedophile priests have greater access to under-aged children, participating various kinds of Church rituals.  Millions have been paid out in court settlements for pedophile priests in Boston and Los Angeles, bringing disgrace to respected archbishops.

            Recent revelations about sex abuse clouded Easter celebrations around the globe, especially in Ireland and the U.S., where high profile cases continue to dog the Church.  Vatican officials responded defensively, calling recent press reports an “ignoble” attempt to smear Pope Benedict.  Recent reports of Rev. Murphy molesting 200 deaf boys in the Milwaukeee Archdiocese raised disturbing questions of how Church officials ignore the problem to its own peril.  “This ridiculous attempt to hide the cries of the (Church) hierarchy inside of Jewish suffering shows just how far this Pope seems willing to go to stop the truth from coming out,” said Peter Isely, spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.  Despite the Church’s attempt to normalize priest sex abuse, there are legitimate questions about the future viability of celibacy, even without the current scandals.

            Jewish groups should stop overreacting and put into context recent remarks comparing today’s Church sex abuse scandal to historic anti-Semitic persecution.  Cantalamessa’s recent remarks reflect a cumulative 10-year legal hemorrhage of sex abuse-related cases.  Whether justified or not, the Church has been under siege since the sex abuse scandal first emerged in the Boston Archdiocese, eventually forcing Cardinal Bernard F. Law to resign Dec. 13, 2002 for covering up priest pedophilia.  Calling allegations of a cover-up by Pope Benedict XVI “malicious gossip,” the Church tries to shift the spotlight off the Pope.  Over 10 years of lawsuits and untold millions in settlements, the Church feels exhausted.  Comparing Church to “collective violence” against Jews went over the top.  Church officials can’t ignore its undeniable celibacy and pedophilia problem.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.