Washington D.C., Mar 15, 2019 / 03:01 am (CNA).- Late last summer, as accusations of abuse against then-cardinal Theodore McCarrick surfaced, a grand jury report from Pennsylvania detailed decades and hundreds of cases of clerical abuse, and dioceses began listing their priests accused of sexual abuse, lay Catholics horrified by the news grasped for something they could do.
Some started letter-writing campaigns, prayer campaigns or petitions. Others launched anonymous watchdog websites. A social media campaign with the hashtag #SackClothandAshes encouraged the laity to offer fasting and sacrifices for the sins of the clergy.
Now, several Catholic universities have announced how they’re joining in the reform efforts.
The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. recently announced the launch of ‘The Catholic Project’, an initiative aimed at bringing healing and reform to the Church after the sex abuse crisis.
Leaders at the university have said that as the pontifical university in the U.S., CUA is uniquely situated to respond to the crisis in a number of ways.
“CUA has a unique place in the American Catholic landscape, being sort of the bishop’s university that has a special relationship with the Vatican, but it’s also a lay-led institution,” Stephen White, who was named executive director of the project, told CNA.
It also makes sense geographically for CUA to respond to the crisis, White said, since it sits across the street from headquarters of the U.S. bishop’s conference and is in Washington, D.C., the same city where the now-laicized McCarrick had previously served as cardinal and archbishop.
Furthermore, White said, CUA has a host of invaluable resources at its fingertips.
“(CUA) has all of these assets at its disposal – a law school, a canon law faculty (the only one in the country), theologians, social workers who’ve been working on these questions for decades now,” White said. “It’s sort of a perfect place for a response to the crisis.”
But what form will that response take? There are many, White said.
“It’s sort of an all-of-the-above approach which is sort of why the name of this project came to be ‘The Catholic Project,’” White said.
“We came to realize that there were so many aspects to this and so many things the University can do, that we chose a broader, more generic name.”
Some of those aspects of response began before The Catholic Project existed, such as listening sessions the university hosted with students, a forum where students could vent their frustrations and fears about the crisis. It included a panel discussion “Church in Crisis” series, which included panel discussions about the crisis.
One of the upcoming initiatives of the project will be a collaboration with the USCCB, which will bring bishops together with abuse victims who want to share their story and help the Church heal.
“(They) understand that the Church needs bishops, and they understand that if the Church is going to heal from this, and move forward from this, that the bishops need to understand the survivor’s perspective and that survivors have something to give to heal the Church, even though they are the ones who are least responsible for where we are,” White said.
The project will also be promoting research into sociological questions surrounding the crisis, White said, such as: “What was it that made the abuse spike like it did in the middle of the 20th century? Why did that happen? Was this unique to the Catholic Church or were there other institutions who saw similar spikes? Has the Dallas Charter (the bishop’s previous abuse prevention plan) worked? And if it has worked, what parts of it have worked? Are there parts that have been implemented but that didn’t really make much of a difference, or parts that worked, and what are those parts?”
Another part of the project will work with the business school to come up with ways to help priests and bishops be better managers of their parishes and dioceses.
“When you have an organization that’s run transparently and efficiently and well, you’re less likely to have parts of the organization where bad things can fester,” White said.
“So there’s lots of different components to (the project),” he added.
White also recognized that academic work and research are not going to solve completely the problem.
“But it’s important, and the work that’s going to have to be done in chanceries, and parishes, and bishop’s conferences, is work that can be helped by the things that we’re going to be doing at CUA,” he said.
Other Catholic universities and colleges are responding in similarly strong and broad ways.
Fordham University in New York recently announced a lecture titled “Reckoning and Reform: New Horizons on the Clergy Abuse Crisis” as a part of their ongoing response to the abuse crisis.
David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, told CNA that the event will be a two-part presentation aimed at helping people understand the crisis and what can be done moving forward.
“People are upset and understandably just aghast at what is going on, but in order to find some solutions we have to figure out what has happened,” Gibson told CNA.
Gibson said that by hosting the event in the late afternoon and evening, he hoped to catch some “Catholic regular working folks who are vitally interested in this kind of thing and they can attend,” he said.
“Academic conferences are good and a lot of people are doing those kinds of things, but I think it’s also really important that we do things that can get regular Catholics coming to attend them and to get informed on these kind of things so it’s not just ‘professional Catholics’,” he said.
Gibson added that Catholic universities and colleges will be “indispensable” in the response to the sex abuse reform, for several reasons: because of their vast array of resources, because, as lay institutions, they now have more credibility with many Catholics than the bishops, and because they are positioned all throughout the country, where they can reach many people.
Another prominent Catholic institution of higher education, the University of Notre Dame, recently published a statement outlining the ways that university has and will continue to address the abuse crisis.
Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., president of Notre Dame, noted in the statement that in October 2018 the university created two task forces to being the work of reform: a Campus Engagement Task Force, which “was charged with facilitating dialogue and listening to the observations and recommendations of our campus community,” and the Research and Scholarship Task Force, which “considered ways in which Notre Dame might respond and assist the Church in this crisis through its research and scholarship.”
He then outlined both the immediate and ongoing steps the university will take to address the crisis, as informed by the task forces.
As for immediate steps, Jenkins said the university will “initiate prominent, public events to educate and stimulate discussion.” The focus of the first event will be “where the Church is now, identifying steps that have been taken and problems that must be addressed.”
The second event “will focus not only on the issue of sexual abuse, considered narrowly, but also on the broader questions the current crisis raises, such as structures of accountability in the Church, clericalism, the role of women, creating and sustaining ethical cultures, and the continued accompaniment of survivors.”
The university will also be making research grants available “across a wide range of disciplines that will address issues raised by the current situation. In accord with this recommendation, the President’s Office will provide up to $1 million in the next three years to fund research projects that address issues emerging from the crisis.”
For ongoing efforts to address sex abuse in the Church, the university will continue to “encourage and share relevant research and scholarship … with the goal of producing recommendations for ensuring that seminaries and houses of religious formation are safe environments free from sexual harassment.”
It will also “train graduates for effective leadership in the Church during and beyond the crisis,” through graduate programs in theology, teacher and leadership formation programs, and catechist training programs, which are all “committed to training ministers and teachers to be aware of issues of sexual abuse and policies and behaviors needed to prevent it.”
Jenkins also noted that university will “redouble” its efforts in preventing and addressing cases of sexual assault that occur on Notre Dame’s campus.
“As I join others in praying for survivors, I will do what I can to prevent these terrible offenses. I encourage everyone, each in their own respective positions and roles, to contribute to real and lasting change that will prevent sexual assault and abuse, in the Church and outside it, and to support survivors,” Jenkins noted.
“To the extent we can do this, the dark night of the current crisis will lead us to a hopeful dawn.”
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This is NOT a new development – leftist outside agitators have been hard at work
on our nation’s campuses for decades – going all the way back to the 60s.
The seeds sewn by Saul Alinsky lo those many decades ago are reaping a bitter fruit.
One recent development is the feeding frenzy of baby sharks eating their parents and grandparents, especially those swimming in the cesspool of the facility and administration. It’s like watching Jaws being devoured by his children. I would eat popcorn if the spectacle didn’t turn my stomach.
On second thought, all of this reminds me of Dostoevsky‘s the Devils.
Great image. Thanks!
I am in no way justifying the Hamas attack. However, in retaliation, Israel is killing and starving thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children, some of whom are Christians.
Also, after the Oct. 7 attack, many Jews were amazed and openly wondering how it was possible that the most heavily guarded and surveilled border between Israel and Palestine could have not had any surveillance for many hours on Oct. 7.
Isreal is doing no such thing, and there is no such thing as an innocent Palestinian.
Athanasius:
While I support Israel in its war in Gaza, and polls show that the vast the majority (I believe it was over 80% in the Pew Poll) of “Palestinians” support violent Sharia (Palestinians are among the 3 most violent Muslim populations in the world) it is not truthful to say “there are no innocent Palestinians.” Obviously, a sizable minority are not in favor of violence, and that is a fact, in the same way that “the vast majority favoring violence” is a fact. Saying otherwise is not acknowledging reality, and cannot be justified, and when actions in war are explained on the basis of what is unjustifiable, then a person making such a claim is not defending justice, or arguing on the basis of “just war” principles.
It may be the case that you don’t really believe what you wrote?
According to the Reuters report (I choose Reuters because they are not identified with the “radical right”), three in four Palestinians support the actions of Hamas on October 7.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/poll-shows-palestinians-back-oct-7-attack-israel-support-hamas-rises-2023-12-14
Of course, that was back in December and things may have changed, but I rather doubt that. Mind you, this support for Hamas is even after it has been revealed (multiple times in fact) that Hamas and other terrorists use civilians as human shields–placing their centers of operations and weaponry in schools and hospitals.
Interesting that you would only be concerned with media that may be considered “radical right”.
Under this Administration anyone reporting the truth is being censored and demonized. Only the “radical left” is allowed to spout their propaganda.
Hate to tell you this, I would be considered among the “radical right.” I almost choose the National Review article on the subject, as it is more recent, but choose Reuters. In any event, NR reported the same thing: Palestinians overwhelming support Hamas, and have done so for years.
Mrs.Hess:
I agree with you but I would add that they do so because they are afraid not to.
That is absolutely true.
Exactly!
Mary,
Your write: “many Jews were amazed and openly wondering how it was possible that the most heavily guarded and surveilled border between Israel and Palestine could have not had any surveillance for many hours on Oct. 7.”
A deep look into what is a profoundly convoluted and fallen world…
Some might even ask how it was possible that 9/11 happened at all? And twenty years in Afghanistan? In 2001 were too many security agents assigned to track domestic “terrorists” praying in front of abortion clinics in urban America? And, yet, further into the morass, would such a hypothetical distraction have been due to those misguided pro-life activists who firebombed clinics?
It’s almost as if the relativistic calculus of consequences is incalculably evil. And, as if the clear and consistent defense of moral absolutes (!), as defended under the forgotten Veritatis Splendor, is still somebody’s God-given responsibility…but who am I to judge?
Palestine has been turned into a pile of rubble with thousands of casualties including hundreds of women and children, and many more buried in the rubble. That is obvious to anyone.
Maybe we should let God be the judge of whether Palestinian women and children are guilty or innocent.
Mary, what’s going on in the Holy Land is a terrible tragedy but I think doubly so for the people living in Gaza because not only are they the victims of collateral damage but they’re also victimized and exploited by Hamas and Iran.
The entire population of Gaza has simply been a means of humanitarian aid to steal, indoctrination, human shields, and canon fodder for Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist mercenary cartel working for the highest bidder which currently is Iran.
The rest of Israel’s neighbors want peace. October 7th was an attempt by Iran to derail the peace accords. (And many Iranians want peace also but good luck with free speech in Iran today. )
The IDF has taken more measures to protect putative civilians, measures that put their soldiers at risk, than any military in the world. Civilian casualties are unavoidable in urban warfare, especially when the enemy places forces and munitions adjacent to churches, schools, and other civilian structures.
Rich Leonardi, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem reported that two Catholic women were shot and killed by an Israeli sniper in a Gaza Parish, while an Israeli tank destroyed the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Theresa. The two women shot were supposedly in a safe area and the second woman who was shot and killed by the sniper was rushing to the aid of the first woman (her mother).
Also, many Jewish people in this country and even Military in Israel were in total disbelief that the Israeli Palestinian border was totally unprotected for hours – allowing the Hamas attack. Hamas, by the way, was created by Netanyahu.
The Israeli media also lied about the beheading of babies, etc. in order to foment hatred toward everyone in Gaza.
Something stinks to high heaven in this whole mess.
Mary, where are you seeing the footage of this massive starvation and death of innocent children in Hamas territory? I have seen photos of some destroyed buildings but can’t tell if they are old or if the location is accurate. We live in an age of fake news so it’s hard to tell.
RomyE, I search various websites to try to find the truth because, as you say, in an age of fake news it’s hard to know for sure. I’ve found Lifesitenews.com to be very reliable. One of their latest articles from April 30 is entitled, Hell on Earth: Inside the Overlooked Plight of Christians in Gaza, which interviews the founder of the Vulnerable People Project.
Lifesite News does from time to time have news items that are of interest but “reliable” is not the way I’d describe the site as a whole & certainly not in the case of news concerning Gaza or Israel.
MrsCracker, There are many pro Israel people who don’t like Lifesite News’ reporting of the Israel-Gaza war – even though I think their reporting is fair and balanced. I’ve found several videos on the net of Jewish Rabbis, Israeli Americans and members of the Israeli press who feel the bombing of Gaza should be stopped as the majority of casualties are women and children.
The Palestinians will not see a homeland for themselves until they have earned it. Peace is not forced into existence by violence, but peace can force violence out of existence.
Peace must come first. Only when the Hamas’ of the world drop their weapons, look up to Heaven and say “Israel has as much right to exist as we do”, will the Middle East experience true peace. The root of this entire historical and all-encompassing human tragedy rests, carved in stone, within the soul and cultural collective mindset of peoples who bear within their hearts, as if deigned by heaven itself, the complete physical, spiritual and temporal annihilation of the entire worldwide Jewish population.
For the umpteenth time:
1) Hamas has stated over and over and OVER through the years that they will settle for nothing less than the complete eradication of the state of Israel.
2) Hamas started this latest version of the war last October.
3) Hamas launches rockets from within civilian-populated areas as a matter of policy.
These are NOT matters to argue over, rather they are FACTS. So, and I know I’m asking too much of college students whose parents are paying up to $90,000 per year for their little darlings to be educated to act the way they are:
4) Do the math.
I hear you Mr. Terrence but occasionally students at Columbia are paying out of pocket and locating their own funding. That’s what one of my children did for his graduate study there. All I did was help him with the fee to reserve his dorm room and i sent him care packages of food. He soon figured out he couldn’t afford living in the dorm and he rented a room from a kindly Dominican grandma.
But, yes his experience was that many of the students there were very privileged indeed and the whole thing was quite a culture shock.
I stopped listening to this interview when Father Landry said that Jesus came to heal the divisions between the classes. I thought that was a very odd thing for a priest or any Catholic to say.