BOOK
REVIEWS
Clerical
Culture: Contradiction and Transformation by Michael
L. Papesh
Reviewed by Frances G. Hofmeister of VOTF Cincinnati, OH
This
is an important and interesting book and one that every VOTF
member should read. For members of VOTF, it pertains to our
third goal, changing the structure of the Church from within.
The author, himself a victim of clergy sexual abuse, believes
that the clerical culture has perpetuated these abuses and
wants us to understand this culture as it exists in the United
States. He gives us an inside view of the life of the priest
whom he sees as living a contradictory life—called to simplicity
but living in privilege; being a moral authority in public
but privately wearing blinders.
Much
is said about the time a priest spends preparing weekday
and Sunday homilies, but this sounds more like the life of
a Protestant minister than of a Catholic priest, judging
from the quality of the homilies in many churches today.
He agrees with many parishioners who see the priest as living
on the fringe of life, experiencing the life of the ordinary
person only vicariously, if at all.
In
order to bring about change the author states that priest
and people alike must confront the “elephants in the living
room.” These are the Vatican; the bishops; the seminary;
married priests; and the ordination of women. The author
sees little possibility of change with the Vatican, the bishops
or the seminary system since the bishops are chosen by the
Vatican and responsible only to it and the seminaries are
controlled by the bishops. This leaves married priests and
the ordination of women.
Father
Papesh deals extensively with the priesthood and sexual tension;
he tries hard to adhere to the party line about the value
of celibacy but one gets the impression that he really believes
that if priests were married, the clerical culture would
collapse and that would be a good thing.
Likewise,
he tries to put a positive spin on the fact that there are
many homosexually oriented men in the priesthood, Papesh
maintains that these men can lead both men and women to deeper
relationships, spiritually and otherwise, because they like
dealing with men and because there is a lack of sexual tension
in dealing with women. He seems to gloss over the experience
of many of us that straight men are not comfortable with
homosexual men and women may not be drawn to them either.
The
author believes that if there is to be change within the
larger Church, the priests must lead it, supported by the
laity. However, he also sees priests as a group, as quite
adolescent and powerless. He refers to Cardinal Law and states
that only when the priests in Boston united, did the Cardinal
resign.
The
author leaves us with important, even critical questions.
Can our priests take the lead to reform our Church? Are they
emotionally empty and too fearful of change in their lifestyle
to be advocates of change?
Survivors
of Predator Priests - edited by J. M. Handlin, Tapestry
Press, 188 pp., $15.95
Reviewed by Stephen A. Sheehan, MA VOTF
Stories
of sexual abuse are difficult to read at best. They are more
so when the victims of the abuse are children and the abusers
are members of the clergy. It becomes particularly sickening
when the children are prepubescent boys and girls.
But
the stories must be told. It is important for the victims
to come forward and relate these horrifying experiences in
order to begin their long journey on the road to healing.
It is important for us to understand the nature of the crimes
committed and the impact of these crimes on the psyches of
the victims as well as to know the physical abuse that they
suffered.
Mr.
Handlin guides us into and through the terrifyingly strange
world of the relationship that develops between predator
and victim and the dynamics that sustain that relationship.
His interest in writing this book is not academic. The story
of his own brother, Mike, is one of the entries in this collection.
Mr.
Handlin introduces us to eight victims of clergy abuse. Each
tells his story in his own words with short introductions
by the editor to set the stage for each offering. The stories
are relatively short but the impact of each is profound.
The descriptions are graphic as Handlin tries to raise the
consciousness of the reader. Unless we realize fully the
pain of the victim, we can never fully appreciate their day-to-day
realities.
Each
story is unique in its description of the events leading
to the abuse, the onset of the abuse and the details of each
experience. Each story is similar in the ways in which the
predator grooms the prospective victim to begin the abuse,
the lies told to hold the victim in a psychologically captive
state, and the cover-up that prevented the victim from coming
forward. Fear of being blamed for the crime, and not being
believed, especially in light of the fact that the abused
was a highly respected clergyman, forced the victims to live
for years in hiding.
Just
as the stories must be told, the stories must be read. The
victims exhibited great courage to bring their experiences
into the light and we need to share that experience to the
end that it compels us to take every action practicable to
ensure that the survivors can find the healing they need
and deserve and to prevent a recurrence of this great tragedy
of our generation.
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