Xt3

In early April 2010, the Vatican released guidelines clarifying the procedures it follows when a priest is accused of sexual abuse. To find out more about these documents, see Zenit’s article here. Pope Benedict XVI has also prepared efficient new measures to prevent sex abuse in the Church, and is expected to present them mid-2010. For more information, see this report from Rome Reports here.

Pope Benedict XVI has openly and sincerely apologised to victims of sexual abuse.
Ireland
United States of America
Canada
Australia

One such case is that of the American priest Fr Lawrence Murphy, who was found to be abusing deaf children. Here is a clarification of the facts:

• During the 1970s, some of the victims of Fr Murphy’s abuse made a complaint to civil authorities. A civil investigation followed, and was eventually dropped. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) was not informed of this case for another 20-years.
• In the mid-1990s, the CDF was presented with Fr Murphy’s case for the first time. The CDF was informed of the case as it involved solicitation in the confessional, which is a violation of the Sacrament of Penance outlined in the 1962 document Crimen sollicitationis. This inquiry was unrelated to any civil or criminal proceedings against Fr Murphy, but involved a specific canonical question.
• Fr Thomas T. Brundage, Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee during the Fr Lawrence Murphy case, has evidence that Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), was not involved in handling this scandal. Though widely, and occasionally incorrectly, quoted, he was not once contacted by journalists to verify events related to the case that he presided over. You can see Fr Brundage’s column here.
• The accusations claiming that Cardinal Ratzinger knew of the case of Fr Lawrence were based on an Italian document containing the records of a meeting, which upon translation, was shown to have been conducted by the then Secretary of the CDF, Archbishop Bertone - Cardinal Ratzinger was not even present at that meeting. See this article here.

Recently there have been reports of a letter signed by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1985, in which he supposedly dismissed a request to laicize a Father Stephen Kiesle, a California priest who had been accused of molesting boys. However, upon looking at the facts behind this case it is clear that:

• The letter was part of a long correspondence and has been taken out of context. The full story behind the Pope’s involvement with the 1985 letter, has been clarified in a 2-part feature by the BBC: Part 1 and Part 2.
• The letter followed a request from the priest himself for laicization, supported by the bishop. As such it was not a punishment, or part of a canonical process or the civil trial. At this stage, Father Kiesle was already dismissed from pastoral duties during the investigation, and he had no contact with any parishioners or children.
• Following Vatican II there was a huge number of such requests, which were granted. However, after the election of Pope John Paul II, these requests were not granted as frequently. Hence Cardinal Ratzinger’s response in the 1985 letter is a request to study the case well before granting the petition.
• At the time of writing this letter, Cardinal Ratzinger had no authority to impose a dismissal from the priesthood as a penalty for sex abuse. It was not until 2003, when Cardinal Ratzinger headed the CDF, that special faculties were granted to the congregation to make it easier to dismiss offenders from the priesthood.
• Father Kiesle was dismissed from the Priesthood altogether in 1987 at the completion of the investigation.

In order to clarify a lot of the misunderstandings about celibacy, Fr Michael de Stoop, parish priest and Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Sydney, chatted in depth to Xt3 about celibacy and the priesthood. The interview is available for download: Celibacy and the Priesthood - an Inside Account

Prior to 2001, allegations of sexual abuse were handled locally, at a diocesan level. The length of time it took to deal with the cases, and the increasing size of the problem led to Pope John Paul II asking Cardinal Ratzinger and the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith to take over cases of sexual abuse in 2001. Pope John Paul II also announced that the statute of limitations on delicta graviora be revoked upon requests from bishops.

When a priest is accused of sexual abuse, the bishop has the obligation to investigate. The Church now emphasises that all Bishops must cooperate with civil authorities. If the initial investigation is consistent with the charges brought against the priest, the bishop must refer the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.

Over the last few years the reported incidents of sexual abuse have drastically declined. In 2009 the US Catholic bishops’ annual audit included only 6 new allegations of clerical abuse of children younger than 18 – in a Church of over 65 million members. Worldwide, an average of 250 cases were reported.

For more detail about the role of the CDF, and the procedures undertaken, read an interview with Msgr. Charles Scicluna (current head of the CDF) here: 'Strictness of the Church in Cases of Paedophilia', and see also 'Guide to Understanding Basic CDF Procedures Concerning Sexual Abuse Allegations'.

Reasons include:

• The Catholic Church has been the only religious organisation to make data concerning sexual abuse public, including commissioning and paying for reports into incidents of sexual abuse amongst the clergy, such as 'The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons', conducted by the John Jay College.
• Sheer size: the Catholic Church is the second largest single denomination in the world. Thus, if compared to other religions in a per capita manner, rates of sexual abuse reported would be comparable.
• The Catholic Church has a high media profile: "It draws the mainstream media's ire because, in a world increasingly characterised by moral relativism, it continue to teach enduring moral rules that don’t shift with cultural fashions." (Katherine Kerston, 'The Media Fires Up Its Inquisition').

The Catholic Herald, 'The Pope and the Abuse Scandal: A Guide for Perplexed Catholics' – accusations, media response explanation

John L. Allen, 'Keeping the Record Straight on Benedict and the Crisis' – accusations, media coverage

Fr Raymond De Souza, 'A Critic Blinded By Hatred' - Christopher Hitchens, the Kiesle case.

Fr Raymond De Souza, 'The Pope and the Press' - The New York Times coverage

George Weigel, 'The Scoundrel Time(s)' – The New York Times coverage

George Weigel, 'The End of Euphemism' – Irish apology letter, Pope Benedict XVI

Sean Murphy, 'A Response to Christopher Hitchen's Article in Slate "The Great Catholic Coverup" (in full, with over 80 references)' – Christopher Hitchens, Crimen Sollicitationis

Edward Mechmann, 'Questions The Times Never Asked' - The New York Times Coverage. All blog entries are worth a look, from the Archdiocese of New York.

Jimmy Akin, 'Cardinal Ratzinger an Evil Monster?' – Milwaukee, the CDF, Fr Murphy, primary documents

Fr. Joseph Fession S.J, 'Let's Get the Story Straight: Defrocking and Divorce' – defrocking, laicization, Cardinal Ratzinger, 1985 letter

Fr Federico Lombardi, 'For Love of the Truth' – media, Vatican response

Brendan O'Neill, 'The Secular Inquisition' - atheists, secularism, Hitchens, Dawkins

Jack Valero, 'Message to the Lynch Mob: The Pope is Innocent' - resignation of Benedict XVI, Britain, atheists