• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
People light candles during an Aug. 20 vigil to protest sexual abuse in the Chliean Catholic church outside the Santiago cathedral. (Ivan Alvarado/CNS photo)

Learning from our stumbles

October 5, 2018
By Christopher Gunty
Filed Under: Behind the Headlines, Blog, Commentary

When my first son was little, I was dismayed when one day as he learned to toddle, he tripped over my foot and fell. “I broke the baby,” I said.

Fortunately, my son was uninjured. And he fell many more times as he learned to walk. Sometimes, falling helped him learn how to keep from falling – and from hurting himself when he did fall. You have to learn to put out your arms to protect yourself when you stumble.

As a church and society, we have all been learning how to deal with the clergy sexual abuse scandal. When the issue first came to general attention in the mid-1980s, some dioceses around the country came up with policies to remove those accused from ministry immediately, report allegations to civil authorities and to offer counseling to victims.

The church, meanwhile, continued to stumble and fall when it came to dealing with sexual abuse within the church.

The U.S. bishops and the church in general learned a little better how to handle the crisis in 2002 when the Boston Globe shined its “Spotlight” on the problem. The church responded with a nationwide zero-tolerance policy for abusers in ministry, with commitments to report all allegations to law enforcement and cooperate with civil authorities, and a pledge to help victims with healing. All clergy, religious, seminarians and lay employees, and all volunteers with significant contact with minors were required to undergo fingerprinting, a background check, and training in ways to identify and prevent sexual abuse of minors.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore published a list in September 2002 of 57 priests and religious credibly accused of abuse over the previous decades, with updates to that list since. And well more than 100,000 people in the archdiocese have undergone background checks and training, certification that must be renewed every five years.

Still, the church stumbled. Not all dioceses have been forthcoming with information. And despite the zero-tolerance policies and the training, there have been incidents. Those accused in the Archdiocese of Baltimore are removed immediately from ministry. It reports to and cooperates with appropriate law enforcement agencies.

That there are fewer new victims of sexual abuse in the church is no consolation. Every incident includes a victim – a person whose trust was betrayed and whose life was forever changed. As Archbishop William E. Lori has said as he speaks to groups about the crisis, “No policy, procedure or outreach undoes the pain of the victims of sexual abuse. And while no one can undo the past, neither can anyone in the Church ignore the tsunami of sexual abuse that harmed so many innocent victims.”

Hollywood and the political world are learning these lessons as the “#MeToo” movement brings attention to sexual harassment. That others are learning parallel lessons does not excuse the church for its past actions.

Archbishop Lori and our bishops are asking for the input of the laity to come up with concrete suggestions and practical steps to help the church move forward. The archdiocese has set up “virtual town halls” via communications tools used by the archdiocese – FlockNote for email and text messaging, and the MyParish app – which provide options for the laity to respond to questions about the crisis and to comment. The archbishop plans to re-establish a lay Archdiocesan Pastoral Council that will gather this input from the people in the pews.

It’s time now for those of us in the church to funnel our anger and frustration into helping the victims and the church to heal. The church may have stumbled and fallen along the way when it comes to protecting children and vulnerable adults. God willing, we have learned from our falls and our failures.

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Christopher Gunty

A Chicago-area native, Christopher Gunty is associate publisher/editor of The Catholic Review and CEO of its parent publishing company, The Cathedral Foundation/CR Media. He also serves as a host of Catholic Review Radio.

He has spent his whole professional career in Catholic journalism as a writer, photographer, editor, circulation manager and associate publisher. He spent four years with The Chicago Catholic; 19 years as founding editor and associate publisher of The Catholic Sun in Phoenix, Ariz.; and six years at The Florida Catholic. In July 2009, he came to Baltimore to lead The Cathedral Foundation.

Chris served as president of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada from 1996 to 1998, and has traveled extensively learning about and reporting on the work of the church, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Haiti, Poland, Italy, Germany and finally in 2010 visited the Holy Land for the first time.

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Praying for healing for our pet

An invitation from God

‘Annunciation’: Salvation and the words of the air

Fully entering into the Triduum

Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?

| Recent Local News |

Maryland entrepreneurs get support for start-ups at local Catholic universities

Cathedral of Mary Our Queen to host world premiere of Passion setting

RADIO INTERVIEW: 52 Masses – Quest Complete

Catholic Charities’ William J. McCarthy Jr. named Loyola’s Business Leader of the Year

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Diocesan officials call mass shooting at Nashville Presbyterian school ‘sad, shocking,’ urge prayers for victims, families
  • Maryland entrepreneurs get support for start-ups at local Catholic universities
  • Cathedral of Mary Our Queen to host world premiere of Passion setting
  • RADIO INTERVIEW: 52 Masses – Quest Complete
  • ‘Pray for God’s hand’ over Mississippi: destructive tornado kills, injures dozens
  • Maryland family connects with Poland’s Ulma family, murdered by Nazis
  • National Eucharistic Revival aims to form disciples on mission with new Easter series
  • Confession is ‘encounter of love’ that fights evil, pope tells priests
  • Laws, lawsuits and adult involvement needed to save kids from social media ‘harm,’ say experts

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED