Priests’ Support Working Group

From Clare Keane:

The second goal of VOTF, supporting priests of integrity, gives rise to more discussion and questions than solutions. The Supporting Priests Working Group is currently responding to an increasingly complex array of issues facing priests. These men, who have been, throughout our lives, the visible messengers of Christ among us, now look to us for compassion and action.

Sounding boards, surveys, and priests panel discussions have made us more aware of what it is like to be a priest during the age of revelations of sexual abuse: suffering from low morale, plagued with doubts about their future, subjected to innuendo and harassment in the press and from those who were once their staunchest allies in the faith community, and seeing the numbers of worshippers decline as the scandal causes more defections. Fearing unwarranted allegations and summary dismissals, these men have become the victims of what some have called the "second wave of abuse." This abuse arises from understandably outraged but unthinking lay sources, but also from their own hierarchy. The lack of communication or compassion, indeed of any cohesive policy of fraternal outreach from bishops to priests, has produced in many of them a sense of being cast adrift. Aside from personal suffering, practical considerations have added to priests' distress: parish closings, uncertainty about future financial and professional resources, potential threats to health insurance and retirement funds.

What can we do to assure our priests of our support and actually alleviate some of this distress? First, we must spread awareness of their needs, acting as a lay voice on their behalf. Let us make no mistake – supporting priests is totally consistent with the two other goals of VOTF. In invoking fairness and justice for survivors of abuse, we advocate it for all, including priests. Justice for one is justice for all. If we hope to renew our Church through structural change, this includes putting a mechanism in place that ensures the right of priests to dialogue with their superiors, to protect their good name, to have their day in court with all due speed, and to have a say in the future of the institutional Church.

On a local level, we have learned that sometimes the simplest of gestures can be the most effective in reaching out to priests. Along with our ambitious global goal, we can support priests in the most personal of ways, simplistic though they may seem: priest pot-luck suppers, priest appreciation days, care packages, cards and notes of support.

More information about this type of grassroots activities can be found at www.priestsunday.org and www.thankyoufather.org.

As we reach out to priests, let us not forget those who served faithfully for a period of time before leaving ministry to follow the vocation of married life, and who long to be admitted to the community of the ordained to share in that brotherhood of priests they once enjoyed.

Let this be a challenge to all of us to stand with our priests against misguided hostility, fear and the isolation that keeps them from a fulfilling ministry.

Fr. James Scahill to receive VOTF Priest of Integrity Award
Submitted by Bob Morris and John Bowen

Rev. James J. Scahill has shown himself to be a Priest of Integrity in myriad ways as pastor of St Michael's Parish in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Responding to the call of parish members that he stand and work actively for truth and justice, and with the nearly unanimous support of his congregation, Father Scahill withheld from the Diocese of Springfield its share of parish collections unti1 a convicted pedophile was removed from the priesthood and the Church's financial support.

Since taking that initial stand, and facing its repercussions, Father Scahill has persevered, broadening his attempts to assist abuse victims and champion their cause, stating repeatedly that the Church cannot be made whole until the victims have received the compassion and justice they deserve.

Refusing to let myopic obedience obstruct or overcome his moral integrity, or to be cowed by fear of reprisal, Father Scahill has stood nearly alone in his diocese, an example of personal decency and spiritual conviction. He has challenged the hierarchy and cooperated with legal authorities to pursue justice and has worked with the media to spread truth. He has borne the public rebuke of his bishop and the silent rejection of his peers, drawing strength and support from lay Catholics and women religious in the parish, the diocese and beyond who share his vision of what the Church should be and must become.

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