A week ago, a Pennsylvania grand jury revealed in confronting detail over 1000 cases of abuse of children over a 70 year period at the hands of more than 300 priests, along with an astonishing amount of cover-up and concealment.
'Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all,' the report states. 'For decades monsignors, auxiliary bishops, bishops, archbishops, cardinals have mostly been protected. Many, including some named in this report, have been promoted.'
This shocking news follows quickly on the heels of accusations in July that former Washington, D.C. Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick (pictured), in his day one of the most prominent figures in the US Catholic Church, harassed and assaulted young people and seminarians both as priest and bishop. Here too it has been suggested that others knew and did nothing.
These cases have left the Church in the US reeling. Sixteen years on from the initial revelations of abuse and cover-up in Boston, so many cases have been brought to light and policy changes enacted to protect children and other vulnerable groups, that many believed the hardest work had been done, the worst events revealed. The sheer scale and audacity of the stories out of Pennsylvania and Washington have shattered that confidence completely. The level of outrage is beyond anything the US Church has experienced in recent memory, if ever.
Some US bishops have offered timely, sensitive responses. In Chicago, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote, 'Anger, shock, grief, shame. What other words can we summon to describe our experience of learning' of the Pennsylvania report. 'We [bishops] must resolve to face our failures and hold each other accountable ... We must resolve to live in the light of humility, of repentance, of honesty — the light of Christ.'
President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo struck a similarly forceful note earlier in the week, apologising 'for what my brother bishops and I have done and failed to do' and indicating that the Executive Council of the USCCB had decided to open 'new and confidential channels for reporting complaints against bishops' — a first — and that such channels will be granted 'proper independence, sufficient authority, and substantial leadership by laity.'
Other bishops and commentators seem to be struggling to comprehend the significance of what has happened; some are placing the emphasis on