The Associated Press reported this morning (Thursday, April 6):
More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday that revealed the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups.
The report paints a damning picture of the archdiocese, which is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country and spans much of Maryland. Some parishes, schools and congregations had more than one abuser at the same time — including St. Mark Parish in Catonsville, which had 11 abusers living and working there between 1964 and 2004.
One deacon admitted to molesting over 100 children. Another priest was allowed to feign hepatitis treatment and make other excuses to avoid facing abuse allegations.
An earlier AP article report on the same report stated:
“Although no parish was safe, some congregations and schools were assigned multiple abusive priests, and a few had more than one sexually abusive priest at the same time,” the court filing said. “One congregation was assigned eleven sexually abusive priests over 40 years.”
This single report covering one archdiocese revealed 150 priests’ abuse of 600 children (and “the number of victims is likely far higher”) – but the US alone has 194 dioceses/archdioceses. How many hundreds of thousands of youth in the church have fallen prey to those who were supposed to protect and safeguard their innocence?
Enough guilt to go around
In many of these incidents, multiple levels of church leadership share the abusers’ guilt. Priests accused of abuse were shuttled from parish to parish and/or protected in other ways, enabling them to continue their actions unhindered. Others were allowed to retire with benefits. According to the report,
“The staggering pervasiveness of the abuse itself underscores the culpability of the Church hierarchy,” the report said. “The sheer number of abusers and victims, the depravity of the abusers’ conduct, and the frequency with which known abusers were given the opportunity to continue preying upon children are astonishing.”
Often, even law enforcement accommodated the church.
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The damage
We will never know the extent of the destruction done by these priests and their accomplices – but we can get a glimpse by reading victims’ stories.
One man from the AP article “pieced together his traumatic memories” years after the abuse occurred. “He said the realization brought him some relief because it explained decades of self-destructive behavior and mental health challenges, but also left him overwhelmed with anger and disbelief.”
Other stories include victims who ended up struggling their whole lives with low self-esteem, depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, and other issues. A number of victims have committed suicide; many others have stopped believing in God.
The implications
Based on evangelicals’ belief that each of us is responsible for our own eternal destiny, those kids who, thanks to their sexual abuse, grew up without God and/or took their own lives in desperation – they can expect eternity in hell.
Those whose experience pushed them away from the church and into drugs and other self-destructive behavior – they are under God’s judgment now for these sins. If they return to God (the God their abusers taught), they have hope of eternal bliss.
The abusive priests, the enabling bishops and archbishops and parents and police officers and nuns – they are off the hook for their part in the destruction of children’s lives, as long as they themselves “believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.”
The doctrine of personal responsibility, of “believe or burn,” expects children to excuse the trusted adults’ behavior and find healing within the very institution that desecrated their small bodies and souls. If they can’t, these children are guilty of rejecting God, and can expect to pay eternally.
Something is profoundly wrong with a church that is comfortable with this doctrine.
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RELATED READING:
Will the “unreached” go to heaven? – Part Two, a ruthless God
The salvation “formula” doesn’t work in the real world
Pro-birth, Pro-life, Pro-choice, Part Two: contraceptives and all that jazz
Gnats, camels, and Christian indifference
The deception of “righteousness”
FEATURED IMAGE: “Episcopal Ordination & Installation of Bishop Swarbrick as Seventh Roman Catholic Bishop of Lancaster” by Catholic Church (England and Wales) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
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