A culture of denial with respect to sexual abuse

Below is a comment sent to this blog in reply to the post of Wednesday, September 11. The title of the blogpost was: Toxic silence, anonymity, obsessive secrecy.

It is a pity the comment is anonymous.

It is appearing here as today’s post because it might easily be missed by readers. It also appears as a comment under the post of September 11.

"Archbishop Farrell spoke on this topic recently and said, amongst other things, "It is possible to go further, and speak even of a ‘culture of denial’ with respect to sexual abuse”. 

The bishops are part of that ongoing culture of denial. There has been zero acknowledgement of how the seminary system, the lack of psychological formation, and the systematic negativity about human sexuality (all of which still persist today) have played a role, with the bishops as the cheer leaders and enabler, front and centre.

 
There has been no acknowledgement of how dehumanizing enforced celibacy has been for many clergy, with mental health issues, psycho-sexual issues, alcoholism, gambling and other addictions a common experience for many. The bishops seem to have been far more interested in having sacrament provision via ordained men than in furthering the gospel.

The consistent erasure of women, particularly lay women, form the face of the church, still reinforced today by most bishops, has been the model and exemplar for how many of the clergy treated women, as objects of little use and no worth.

There has been no apology from the bishops collectively about how they have treated gay Catholics over the years.

 
There has been no apology from the bishops collectively about how they have treated gay seminarians and clergy over the years, often dismissing them in the dead of night with no future prospects, no dignity, and no rights, without provision for income or education (so much respect for the provisions of canon law). 

There has been no apology from the bishops collectively about how they have treated married couples, burdening them morally, economically, and mentally by saying that recourse to contraception was seriously sinful.

Perhaps the bishops should seek to become reacquainted with Matthew 7:3-5. 

Perhaps a collective apology for their overbearing haughtiness, abuse of power, and utter callousness in the face of so much suffering might be a good place to start.

Perhaps they might just admit that they have been the true progenitors of the culture of denial, not just about child abuse, but also about the considerable damage they have done to good women, men, and children across the church. When that acknowledgement has been made, then perhaps society might heed the call to follow suit. 

What are the chances? "