Imagine an alternate universe where the Catholic Church behaved the way the trustees of the Pennsylvania State University have when confronted with evidence of the cover-up of sexual abuse of minors by the leadership of one of its important institutions.
Let's call that institution the archdiocese of Boston, headed by one Cardinal Bernard Law. And let's say a newspaper, the Boston Globe, published an investigative series showing a disgraceful pattern of covering up sexual abuse of minors by a large array of priests.
Faced with the evidence, what does the Vatican do? It turns to a distinguished law enforcement official--say, a former head of the FBI--to conduct an independent investigation. The result? To paraphrase yesterday's report on the Penn State affair:
The most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior members of the archdiocese for the safety and welfare of the child victims.
Not only are the perpetrators of abuse indicted and convicted, but so are the masters of the cover-up. Cardinal Law and his immediate subordinates land in prison.
The pain and humiliation are great, not only for the perpetrators but for the many who held the now disgraced officials in the highest regard. But the larger institution, the institution that is far greater than the sum of the sinful individuals in charge of it at any given time, comes out with its moral credibility restored. It has confronted its own failings, and insisted that justice take its course. It weathers the storm.
Of course, we do not live in that alternative universe. We live in the one where Penn State behaves a lot better than the Catholic Church.
Judy Jones | Jul 13, 2012 | 5:10pm
Right on. And there there is this;
The similarities between the sex abuse cover up at Penn State and the Philly Archdiocese are astounding. The cover up goes straight to the top. How do these high ranking officials live with themselves?
It is completely unconscionable that so many adults knew about Sandusky sexually abusing kids, and yet not one of them went to help the children.
There cared more about their jobs, their image and their institutions. And look what has happened?
The victims of Sandusky, Penn State, and of the Philly Archdiocese are to be admired for their courage in speaking up and getting predators and those who cover up these crimes against kids, locked up and kept away from children forever. The victims are the brave souls who care about protecting kids.
The laws need to be changed to protect innocent kids, There are many more officials who need to be put behind bars.
Hopefully everyone who saw, suspected, or was harmed by Jerry Sandusky or anyone in the Philly Archdiocese will find the courage to speak up, contact the police, and start to heal.
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, USA, 636-433-2511. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address),
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,) is the worlds oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims.
SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 12,000 members. Despite the word priest in our title, we have members who were abused by nuns, rabbis, bishops, ministers, and victims who were assaulted in institutional settings like summer camps, athletic programs, and Boy Scouts, etc.
Skeptic | Jul 13, 2012 | 6:18pm
“We live in the one where Penn State behaves a lot better than the Catholic Church.”
Really? How exactly is this the case? Penn State officials were more concerned about the institution than the abused children, a fact that was proven by the investigation. Joe Paterno himself recommended PSU not go to police or state officials with the allegations about Sandusky. The only reason Penn State hired the Freeh group was to see what happened despite the first allegations being made against Sandusky 14 years ago.
Is Penn State better than the Catholic Church because two administrators are facing charges and others might? That’s more an accident of timing than anything else. Had Sandusky been found to be abusing boys in the 1970s or ‘80s, none of them would be charged with anything.
What did Penn State do when they were confronted with charges of Sandusky raping boys? They allowed him to retire with a nice pension and gave him access to the football facilities and an office. They did not report him to the police. They did not try to find out if there were any other victims. They did not even try to find out the name of the boy seen by Mike McQueary in the shower.
What has Penn State done right? Well, they did raise more than $208 million last year in donations, which should be enough to pay for the legal defense of their indicted administrators with enough left over to fund a settlement for the victims and their lawyers.
Mark Silk, you are right to compare the Catholic Church to Penn State, but to put PSU on some pedestal because they commissioned an investigation is absurd.
JeannieGuzman | Jul 13, 2012 | 6:32pm
I am still believing that one day Cardinal Law will be forced to return to the United States to face charges of child-endangerment, by allowing literally scores of KNOWN Pedophile Priests to be transferred from parish to parish within the Boston Archdiocese. Law is getting up there in years, so if any DA is going to pursue a lawsuit, now is the time to do so, rather than to wait another 10 years. The Vatican has too much to risk in this day and age by giving law immunity from prosecution in the United States. The last thing that the Vatican would want is for us to send their Papal Envoy, Vigano, back (even though at this point in time, he’d probably rather not go)!
mike ference | Jul 13, 2012 | 6:34pm
Suppose Penn State had asked John Jay University for help? Or, worse yet, the US Bishops Conference.
mike ference | Jul 13, 2012 | 6:40pm
I wonder who St. Vincent College & Archabbey will bring in to sort things out. I hope they do it before training camp opens on their campus for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Interestingly, a Rooney is Nowicki’s lawyer. Anyone know a sportswriter for SI who needs an assignment?
http://www.misconductinlatrobe.com/archabbot-nowickis-deposition/
Amos | Jul 13, 2012 | 8:23pm
“Not only are the perpetrators of abuse indicted and convicted, but so are the masters of the cover-up. Cardinal Law and his immeiate subordinates land in prison.”.
From your mouth to God’s ears!
griff | Jul 13, 2012 | 9:01pm
the next stop for the Freeh group should be the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
RMS | Jul 13, 2012 | 11:39pm
This coverup occurred at a time when the Catholic Church had already begun the work of helping victims, a process that accelerated in 2001, when Penn State for the second ime chose to bury the issue. Comparing the two matters is grossly unfair.
Carl Diederichs | Jul 14, 2012 | 8:01am
When you have two evils that stem from the need to preserve the institutions, it makes little difference if it is a university or a diocese. The bottom line is that little children were sacrificed.
drwho13 | Jul 14, 2012 | 8:15am
“This coverup occurred at a time when the Catholic Church had already begun the work of helping victims, a process that accelerated in 2001…” (RMS)
RMS, You better read some Catholic Church history. That institution has been abusing children for centuries. Go to the below site for some recent RC history.
“Dutch Roman Catholic Church Castrated Boys As ‘Treatment’ For Homosexuality”
The Huffington Post | By Laura Hibbard Posted: 03/19/2012 8:06 pm Updated: 03/22/2012 9:55 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/dutch-church-castrated-treatment-homosexuality_n_1365725.html
FettFan84 | Jul 14, 2012 | 10:20am
The solution is simple. Investigate and incarcerate them.
gilhow | Jul 14, 2012 | 4:18pm
What if? It does! In fact the sins and crimes of Catholic clergy involving sex abuse of the young and the cover-up of those crimes is much worse than the outrageous tragedies that took place at Penn State in the name of sacred football. Even worse, our justice systems colluded with the Catholic Church in allowing those crimes to go unanswered. Our justice systems and those of other nations in effect agreed with Catholic clergy, especially the hierarchy, all the way to the Vatican, that Catholic Church canon law is supreme over the secular legal systems of this and other countries.
gilhow | Jul 14, 2012 | 4:36pm
Jeannie Guzman is living in Wonderland to think that Cardinal Law will ever be forced to face justice in this country for all the crimes he committed as archbishop of Boston. John Paul II was allowed to reward and protect Law by carting him off to Rome and place him honorably as archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica. That implicates John Paul II in the crimes. And Benedict allowed Law to remain in that position as reward for his efforts to protect Holy Mother Church against exposure of a very small part of its scandalous behavior. They’re all guilty of sin by their own definitions. They’re all guilty of crimes according to the definitions of every respectable secular legal system in the world. The primary purpose of canon law is to protect the church against the scandalous exposure of its own sins and crimes. That’s the reason for all its secrecy. And the secular legal systems of this nation continues to submit to that evil purpose.
gilhow | Jul 14, 2012 | 4:43pm
And, Carl Diederichs, the ones most guilty in the whole scandal are the lay people who continue to warm the pews of those churches while their clergy, especially the bishops, all the way to the Vatican, continue to lie and try to hide those crimes. The clergy are getting away with it because of the lack of concern of those pew warmers. Those offended kids belonged to the people in the pews, not to the men at the altars and pulpits. Those pews should be emptied by now because of the continuing cover-up, that horrendous “sin” and crime, that total contradiction of everything called Christian.
Robert G. Frano, A.-E.M.T.-4-Paramedic, A.C.L.S., | Jul 14, 2012 | 4:57pm
In scanning the ‘Net today, I came across the following URL:
http://03409bc.netsolhost.com/snapwisconsin/2012/07/13/green-bay-diocese-us-constitution-allows-bishops-to-transfer-and-conceal-pedophiles/
It describes the efforts of a bishop, (Green Bay Bishop David Ricken, re Fr. John Patrick Feeney-Appleton), to protect a child-rapist using a novel, if morally repulsive / idiotic defense, analogous, in some sense, (I.M.H.O.), to…
The Scott ‘50-to-life’ Roeder defense…
In which the life-incarcerated murderer S. Roeder says he had a ‘moral obligation’ to murder, (...the late hero), Dr. Geo. Tiller, during a (presbyterian) mass!
The church will die a long, slow, agonizing, believer-attrition-related organizational-death if such defenses are…‘legitimized’ by repetition!
This bishop should be laicized immediately for authorizing it…
BTW: I am a survivor of (non-clerical) pedophiles and…(now) deceased parental_units who literally saw the dirty laundry…
And did a ‘Bernie-Cardinal Law What’s the BFD, anyway?’ crime of ommision…fortunetly, As I have survived longer than otherwise expected, it would seem obvious that I didn’t recived an STD from my protected-child-rapist!
CMR | Jul 15, 2012 | 8:07pm
Public Stripping of Babylon the Great
4 The destruction of Satan’s world begins with the end of false religion. Revelation describes the whole world empire of false religion—including Christendom—as a prostitute, Babylon the Great, who has relations with the kings of the earth and makes mankind drunk with her fornication. She herself is also drunk—revoltingly—from drinking blood, the blood of God’s servants. (Revelation 17:1-6) Revelation also describes the end of this disgusting old harlot. Revelation warns: “These [modern “kings,” or rulers with whom Babylon the Great has committed spiritual fornication] will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire.” (Revelation 17:2, 16) From the example of ancient Jerusalem, we know what this will mean. False religion will be destroyed by national governments who formerly ‘loved’ her. Her wealth will be ripped away, and she will be burned, completely destroyed. A fitting end to a disgusting organization!
gilhow | Jul 16, 2012 | 9:03am
Robert G. Frano: The Catholic Church, like most others, will die a slow death for more reasons than the sex abuse of young people that it is still blatantly trying to hide, the consequences of which it is trying even harder to avoid. Religion is slowly dying, just as it slowly rose out of ancient mythology that was an attempt to explain the unknown. Verifiable science continues to put religion to sleep. Slowly, ever so slowly, as illiteracy is eliminated by solid learning, science will win over religion. That does not mean there are no noble human qualities of morals and ethics that emanate from people themselves, and are common to both religious and scientific outlooks on life.
Concerned Reader | Jul 16, 2012 | 3:02pm
“Of course, we do not live in that alternative universe. We live in the one where Penn State behaves a lot better than the Catholic Church.”
Really?!?! The entire football department at the time were involved in these crimes at Penn State, while less than 1% of all Catholic clergy were involved in the scandal. The Catholic Church is one of the largest sources of charity in the world while Penn State educates only those that attend the college.
The scandal on both sides is an absolute tragedy!! But to make one set of guilty parties greater than the other is ridiculous!
WTF | Jul 16, 2012 | 4:39pm
What teh Heck are you claiming here??? It was the police & DA that investigated and prosecuted Penn State. The University did absolutely everything it could to cover the matter up and NOTHING AT ALL to help bring it to light. NOT ONE BLESSED THING AT ALL:=.
Bill | Jul 18, 2012 | 11:42pm
If the catholic church had a full investigation like Penn State and everyone who turned a blind eye like at Penn State were forced out there would be a lot of positions to fill. Who knows how high the cover up went to save the churches image just like Penn State was more concerned about their image.. Hard to believe with hundreds of priests molesting kids worldwide and being sent from parish to unknowing parish many if not most of the cardinals and bishops didn’t know and most of them will never be held accountable while the guilty at Penn State will be. I think that’s the point of the article and his point Penn State behaves a lot better than the Catholic Church. It’s a valid argument.
drwho13 | Jul 19, 2012 | 7:38am
Bill,
You’re right; “It’s a valid argument.” However, the true believers (Kool-Aid drinkers) will never be able to accept it. For them it’s all about defamation of Catholics and Catholicism, taken from the “Bill Donohue handbook.”
Chuck | Jul 20, 2012 | 7:37pm
>Really?!?! The entire football department at the time were involved in these crimes at Penn State, while less than 1% of all Catholic clergy were involved in the scandal.
There are some really uninformed comments about the Sandusky scandal. First off, only two members of the football program knew about the 2001 incident. Mike McQueary who reported it to Joe Paterno and that’s it! It’s a fact.
Secondly, the 1998 incident was investigated by the police and the State College district attorney chose not to prosecute the case. There’s not much any Penn State officials could do about the 1998 charges as it was not pursued by the DA.
We don’t know the complete story of what happened in 2001 regarding the alleged cover-up. The Freeh report paints a very negative picture of the 4 Penn State administrators, but it’s only a piece of the puzzle. We will learn more during the trials of Shultz, Curley and possibly Spanier.
The Sandusky scandal is horrible, but get your facts straight before you throw the entire Penn State football program and university under the bus. There were only 4 Penn State administrators (includes Joe Paterno) who knew of the 2001 incident and 1 ex-football coach who committed these disgusting acts.
Felapton | Jul 21, 2012 | 8:27am
Penn State and the Catholic Church are not comparable. Penn State had one pedophile, while the Catholic Church had thousands. The Penn State pedophile had a few friends covering up for him, whereas the entire Church hierarchy and virtually all the clergy participated in the pedophile priests cover-up; many of the most powerful prelates in the world were themselves pedophiles and most of the rest had put themselves into a position to be blackmailed by the pedophiles. Penn State can do just fine without a football team. Football gets a lot of attention, but its not really what a university is about. But without priests, there is no Catholic Church. ISTM the two cases are only very superficially alike.
pdr | Jul 27, 2012 | 1:53pm
To follow the logic of Mark Emmert and the ncaa, all parishioners of the Philly Archdiocese should be denied Christmas and Easter Mass for the next four years.
Mark Silk | Jul 27, 2012 | 4:47pm
So far as I’m aware, they’ll be playing football for the next four years, so unless you think of Christmas and Easter Mass as annual liturgical playoffs, I don’t see how the NCAA’s logic would lead to their cancellation. Rather, a comparable penalty would be for the archdiocese of Philadelphia to pay the people of Pennsylvania a hefty fine and to remove all honors bestowed on Cardinals Bevilacqua and Rigali.