Pastor's Letter-- November 15, 2020

We have just finally received the Vatican’s internal investigation document outlining the highest level scandal of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church: that of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, D.C. This report, two years in waiting, is over 400-pages in length. It details events from four papacies, beginning with Pope St. Paul VI. It seems to spread the blame to every period of the Church since Vatican II.

This is big news. You will find it described by almost any media source, probably for weeks or at least days. Some will be more accurate than others. Please try to use Catholic news sources, which will have a more in-depth understanding of the issues at play and will still be relentless in their pursuit of justice. I would recommend these two: Catholic News Agency, which has been consistently demanding transparency, reckoning, and reform, and were right in their estimations that this document would be released this past week; and Zenit (zenit.org) which always gives accurate information from the Vatican.

Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin, whose Vatican office was in charge of the project, gave a short video introduction to the report. Some of his words were worth repeating in this short column:

We publish the report with sorrow for the wounds that these events have caused to the victims, their families, the Church in the United States, and the Universal Church. The trust of many of the faithful of the church has been damaged. As the Holy Father did, I too was able to see the testimonies… As Pope Francis said, ‘the suffering of the victims and their families is also our suffering.’

Although the investigation’s report is very long, it begins with a helpful summary. This would be very good to read first to hear precisely what the Vatican itself has ascertained and judged. This is my plan as I write this. It is not fun to have to go back after two years and revisit the same horrific stories of pain and lost faith. “Better late than never” is usually true, and I think in this case it is, despite the painful reckoning that we aren’t done yet with the necessary demands of restorative justice and future prevention.

I am not sure what will be the ultimate judgment of this document down the ages. It is so early that we cannot tell if it will mean significant changes in policies. At least, thanks be to God, it continues the trend toward firmly establishing the precedent that the universal Church wishes to foster a culture of intolerance to sin and to negligence, even among the top of the Church’s hierarchy. Please pray for conversion of heart that is the beginning of substantial change.