Canon Law Conference on pedophilia.

The crisis with pedophile priests is not over, according to Mark Chopko, Esq. who opened the 42nd annual convention of the Canadian Canon Law Society, meeting in Niagara Fails, October 15-18, 2007.

Between 2002 and 2003, over 700 Catholic priests had been removed from ministry in the United States and a further large number between 2004 and 2007 (www.usccb.org/ocyp). This does not include the many who left the ministry between 1950 and 2002, for various reasons including misconduct. So there are somewhere over 4000 priests in the U.S. responsible for the liability incurred, which is now over two billion dollars.

Some dioceses have declared bankruptcy. In other words, according to available data, with over 45,000 priests in the United States, 90% of them are functioning in accordance with the grace of their Ordination. Names of accused clergy are being posted on websites, but most of what is being posted is not the result of dispassionate investigation, According to Chopko, some victims are considering going after the Vatican for recompense.

For over 20 years, Chopko acted as general counsel to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, in their dealings with clergy misconduct. He is therefore well qualified to discuss the challenges associated with public disclosure of accused clergy, and with the imposition of a "life of prayer and penance" as a canonical penalty on clergy offenders.

Comparison with Canada

Chopko compared the situation in the U.S. to that in Canada, noting that while the 2005 Canadian working document which critiqued From Pain to Hope rejected a broad policy of disclosing names of the accused, the underlying 1992 document itself does recommend limited disclosures especially if re-integration to ministry is being considered. Chopko suggested that naming the offenders in the public domain requires bishops to balance the canonical right to a good reputation with the public's right to know. Disclosures must be accurate, and should be tied to an overall child protection policy.

Of growing concern is that some clerics might sue their own bishops, alleging harm to reputation; but Chopko believes that those cases are constitutionally barred under US law; and, in any event, would fail because truth is a defence. If no final action has occurred, the accused is presumed to be innocent. If payment was made, an admission of guilt is implied. In the past, there was an effort on the part of bishops or superiors to place sensitive files in secret archives. According to Chopko this attitude is not defensible. There is a duty to report a crime.

Failure to report can result in a jail term. Bishops and superiors should be discussing cases among themselves, to arrive at the most judicious solution. What Chopko did not say is that some offenders have been sent to study Canon Law, and others are working in marriage tribunals as well as in other offices in the Church, as if their previous problem would make them good arbiters in these difficult positions.

Chopko continued: the accused is presumed to be innocent, even if he is removed from office. There must be follow-up, and the results of final discipline made known. Credible removal promotes trust.

Penalties

The Vatican recommends a penalty of a life of prayer and penance (as was imposed on the founder of the Legionaries of Christ). This was also endorsed in the Charter For the Protection of Children and Young People, approved by the U.S. bishops in their historic 2002 meeting in Dallas, Texas. This category for disciplinary action was reserved for priests who are aged or infirm, for whom other canonical penalties might be too severe. "However, because it is new to Church law," according to Chopko, "practical experience has outpaced the ability of Church leaders to give this category meaningful content." Practical problems for dioceses where this penalty is implemented include where to house pedophile clerics, and how they are to live their lives. How does one monitor and supervise removed offenders? "Some," according to Chopko, "are living only 10 minutes from the candy store."

Molesters are homosexuals

Although Chopko does not mention it, according to Father Stephen Rossetti, in an article in the Catalyst, October 2003, and reported by Bishop Emeritus John Sherlock of London, Ont., at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Canon Law Society, "91% of cases of priestly sexual abuse involve male on male sex ... (suggesting) that most of the molesters are gay."

Dr. Gladys Sweeney, Ph.D., president and dean of the Institute for Psychological Sciences, concurs: "At the root or the present scandal is not pedophilia, but homosexuality.... Summarizing, I believe that at the core or the Church's scandal is a problem of homosexuality, which although not any longer considered a psychiatric diagnosis by the American Psychiatric and Psychological Associations, has been linked to other major diagnoses. It may be the end product of influential psycho-social events, in some cases interacting with genetic predispositions." (Zenit, June 6, 2002)

In spite of sporadic reports in the literature to the contrary, there is no scientific basis for attributing homosexuality to a genetic predisposition. (www.trueorigin.org/gaygene01.asp)

Because of the nature of the disorder, and the recalcitrance of those involved, and their tendency to try to entrap the innocent, perhaps the Church should revert to an older type of discipline; for example, isolation of the offender (as happened to Galileo, but not in such opulent surroundings. The murderer of St. Maria Goretti voluntarily confined himself to a monastery to repent and do penance.). Pedophiles might also be given the option of doing time in a monastery to pray and do penance--the duration to vary with the severity and frequency of the offence. The alternative would be a return to the lay state, with no pension and no benefits to which, obviously, pedophiles have forfeited their right. In this way, their bishops' credibility might be restored, and justice seen to be served in the Church. We might do well to remember canon 1752: the supreme law of the Church is the salvation of souls, even those of pedophiles.

Other topics

On another note, in his discussion of Recent Documents out of Rome, Father Brian Dunn of St. Peter's Seminary spent much of his allotted time on the history of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) dating back to 1969. Most of the remaining time was used to comment on the changes in the GIRM published in 2002, for which the official English translation has apparently just been received.

Briefly alluding to the recent (June 2007) Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum (re the 1962 Missal)issued by the Holy Father as a motu proprio, Father Dunn commented: "This document doesn't exist in Canada." The reason? We have not yet received an official translation. Our American brothers seem to have no problem; apparently: there are at least 80 American dioceses that have reintroduced the 1962 Missal.

Dr. M. Jean Ferrari, MD, JCL 

Dr. M. J. Ferrari is a Medical Doctor and a Canonist.