Will Mahony successor press for real priest abuse reform?

Richard Sipe, a retired Catholic priest living in La Jolla, had this to say at a gathering of Catholic clergy abuse victims in 1992: “The current revelations of abuse are the tip of an iceberg; and if the problem is traced to its foundations the path will lead to the highest halls of the Vatican.”

That’s right, I said 1992. Sipe told me on Monday that he felt pretty lonely out there, 18 years ago, when he began warning of the systemic molestation and cover-up scandal that would spread from parish to parish, country to country.

The latest news, of course, is that Pope Benedict XVI earlier in his career approved the transfer of an abusive priest in Germany and did not act to defrock a child-molesting priest in Wisconsin.

“We still don’t have the whole story out there. There will be more and more people, and more and more corruption,” said Sipe, who believes the church’s claims of reform are exaggerated, and that things might have to get worse before they get better.

Maybe, Sipe said, some bishops or cardinals will have to go to jail to rally the masses, and he believes some of them should. Sipe has been a fierce critic of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, whose archdiocese has been the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into the questionable handling of molestation by priests, including the transfer of abusive clergy on Mahony’s watch. 

Let's hope Mahony's successor, Jose Gomez, doesn't make the same mistakes. Let's hope Gomez -- currently the archbishop of San Antonio -- continues real reform and cares more about protecting children than his PR image. [Updated at 11:40 a.m.: Already, Gomez was questioned at his introductory press conference this morning about his handling of the abuse scandal.]

Sipe said he thinks reform of the greater church can happen if major donors stop bankrolling the Church, and if a few brave insiders speak out. Eventually, Sipe said, the Church will be forced to lift the ban on clergy celibacy, allow clergy to marry and women to be priests, and a true reformation will be under way.

Pardon me, but shouldn’t all that have happened long ago?

Readers have defensively argued in the past that the Church is defined by the faith of its people, not the misdeeds of its hierarchy.

That’s a rationalization.

When the hierarchy protects abusers rather than their underage victims, it’s time for the faithful to call the police, fight for change, or walk away.

If you’ve already left, tell me why. And if you haven’t, tell me why not.

Tell Steve Lopez what you think below. 

RELATED:

Photos: Archbishop Jose Gomez

Pope selects Latino bishop from Texas to succeed Mahony

Mexico-born archbishop to lead Los Angeles Catholics

Comments

[My opinon means nothing]

Well, Mr. Lopez, as I tried to post on the original artical that delt with this newbe, I wonder if the Catholic Church is playing hide the Cardinal. What did he cover up in San Antonio to warrent getting the L.A. gig. (When I pressed the "Post" button, I got the message "Post does not belong to blog".)

[MC]

"Tell Steve Lopez what you think below."

I think Steve Lopez will never get tired of bashing the Church. Steve Lopez probably hopes there will be more child abuse so that he can keep on writing columns about it. That's what I think, Steve Lopez.

[Johnathon Sable]

The goal of this article is very clearly presented in the following quote.
"Eventually, Sipe said, the Church will be forced to lift the ban on clergy celibacy, allow clergy to marry and women to be priests, and a true reformation will be under way."
Basically, the argument given is that unless this happens, true reform has not happened. This tells me that the agenda of the author is to change the foundation of the Catholic Church and is using the child abuse scandal as a means to this end. Does this mean that the author thinks that all celibate people are child molestors?

My girlfriend was abused by a school teacher sexually. I guess since many school teachers are sexually abusing children, then the school district hierarchy must be thought of as protecting these teachers, it is logical but usually the criminal justice system intervenes. How has the Catholic Church thwarted the criminal justice system? Do you have any evidence of this? When crime have taken place and are documented, that is when a victim comes forward, do you have criminal evidence that the criminal was protected and the victims claims were ignored by the Church? If so, why did the victim not go to the criminal justice system with the claim? please write a follow up article answering this question. also listing all those priests that were charged as criminals and were then protected by the Church and somehow hidden from the criminal justice system. When I get a speeding ticket, the law chases me, how is it that convicted priests avoided punishment? I am not talking about alleged misdeeds, since you never write that these are alleged but that they are real criminals. I could say for example that you sexually abused me, it means nothing , only an allegation unless it is brought before a court of law. Until you document that the Catholic Church took convicted felon priests (sexual abusers) and hid them from the justice system escaping punishment, your arguments have no basis in fact. And, also please print a list of all criminals that the Church has protected, no matter the crime in order to give these statistics context.
I think unless you do these things, you are pretty clearly having an agenda to attack the Church.

[jsch0602]

I wonder what it is about the current immigration laws that Mr. Gomez does not like. What sort of reform do they require? Is it that fact that the U.S. (unlike Mexico, I assume) has immigration laws?

[KM]

I was an active practicing Catholic until the abuse scandal revelations. My son went to Catholic school. With the abuse and coverup scandals, I went on strike against the Church. My son was taken out of Catholic school. I no longer go to mass. I cannot see how ANY parent with a backbone can entrust their children to the Church until this scandal is repaired. Until that day, I will remain on strike. It is the ONLY thing any good Catholic, in good conscience can do, in my opinion.

[Brian]

This is an old story. The church reformed its sex abuse policies in this country 8 years ago. There is a problem in Europe which is in the process of being corrected. Big Media has done everything they could to keep the story alive even though there were an estimated 291,000 incidents of sex abuse in the public schools from 1990 to 2000--a story they have never even breathed a word about

However, folks like Lopez and professional dissidents like Sipes want to use this to reform the church to their liking. It won't happen. This has been largely a media generated story for the left wing to get at their favorite enemy: the Catholic church. I know hundreds of Catholics and have not bought in to the media hysteria and it would not even begin to dawn on them to leave the church.

[Homer J.]

The Catholic church is was one of the most powerful organizations in the world. They do not respond to the criminal justice system or any inquiries seeking truth. As in the past, the Church only protects its own and not the followers. Those handing out money to the church are suckers whose funds are used to allow the Church to continue their misdeeds.

[susie]

I was raised catholic and left the church, that is going regularly to a catholic service, in the 80's. I'm sorry it has taken so long for people to wake up and listen to the stories of the many young boys who's lives were ruined by pedophile priests who's families allowed a priest into their homes and lives. My wish is for the entire catholic hierachy to be exposed and punished by the very members who serve them from the pope on down to the lay people who support them. Less to no money in the basket at church services should serve as a wake up call cause we all know money talks!

[ReleaseTheKraken]

The Catholic Church is, along with the Latter Day Saints and Church of Scientology, nothing more than a cult. Perhaps the oldest of them all, but a cult nonetheless. When you preach that the way to heaven is through the Pope (a flawed human being) or that God might grand absolution for one's sins by way of any Catholic priest, it is absolutely ridiculous. And you don't want to get me started on their encouragement of people seeing manifestations of the various saints cropping up on tree stumps, kaiser rolls and dirty windows all over the globe. It's a joke. The Vatican has been corrupt at the very top since its inception and there's no reason to expect that to change in the foreseeable future. They're like Ford Motors and the exploding Pinto. It's cheaper just to pay off those who make the most noise rather than to actually fix the problem at the root and the few lives destroyed along the way are considered acceptable losses.

[jose]

How can you speak about reform of the Catholic Church when you are not even a member.

[Parker Drake]

I'm not some internet 'troll' with nothing but too much time on my hands. So here goes:

ANY church, and I mean ANY CHURCH that has, and continues to evade any true and real reform, let alone the addressing of this most egregious of crimes (that of taking a child’s innocence and faith away by means of such abhorrent behavior) needs to be dealt with both in Civil as well as Criminal Court.

The appalling suggestion, made by the Vatican (at Easter no less) that these well documented offenses are simply ‘petty gossip’ is, not to mention that the ‘hurling of accusations’ should remind us of the persecution that the Jews felt is even more arrogant!

Need anyone remind others that there is real evidence, and real admissions to countless crimes against children by the Catholic Church?

As for what should happen to Cardinal Mahoney (a man who should have been arrested years ago – First, for his participation in knowingly hiding offenders and then placing them in new, unsuspecting communities, and secondly for his continued refusal to cooperate with the authorities!), well. If I were advising him legally, I’d tell him to go seek refuge and protection from extradition from the Vatican. Perhaps he can keep Cardinal Law company.

The Church should be ashamed of itself. And ask their God for his understanding and forgiveness, and move to end this plague against the innocent.

[Sergio]

@Johnathon-

There is plenty of evidence that the Catholic Church has institutionally covered up the systematic abuse/molestation that continues to victimize helpless children, and has done so apparently for decades AT LEAST. If you aren't aware of this evidence you haven't been paying attention. The fact that there are documented instances of priests being transferred in response to allegations of child abuse, instead of being turned over to law enforcement is appalling. And this has been proven to happen at even the highest levels of the church. And as far as you question about why the victims do not come forward, it has been shown time and time again that victims of sexual abuse more often than not do NOT come forward, much less when the victim is a CHILD, and the abuser is their PRIEST! Do NOT blame the victims in order to protect corruption! We should be demanding these criminals be thrown in prison not getting mad at a journalist who is seeking to expose the TRUTH about this!

[Alex Owen]

I enjoy leaving late comments. While I do not in any way support, admire, or hold any good will towards the Catholic Church, I do believe that the comments about schools and their abuses are relevant. While ending celebacy and male-only priesthood will probably result in beneficial changes, it won't erradicate the problem, not by a long shot.
Pedophiles enter into these positions: school teachers, priests, police officers, etc., with the subconscious or conscious motive of being in a position that satisfies their chemical imbalance. There have also been theories of redemption complexes. The bottom line is simple: sex starved people don't rape little children, sick people do.
If the Church wants to do some good for the world and their parishioners they should stop "hiding behind stained glass" and do what is right: turn criminals over to police. Other than that I don't really care about their policies or their dogmatic ways.

[Helen Fay]

Tsk! Tsk! "lift the ban on clergy celibacy" - I don't think you meant to say that!
Isn't it "lift the ban on clergy sexual activity" maybe?
Loved your articles when you were in Philly! Read your books and read your articles at the LA Times!

[Mike C]

There can not be enough emphasis placed on the second crime committed in all of these priest related abuse cases. The bishops and other priest administrators acted as enablers to the pedophile priest. Their relationship is more analogous to a pimp and a prostitute. At least that has the redeeming quality of consenting adults.

How is that when priest commits a crime there's even an option not to call the police? Is this part of the separation of church and state thinking? I'd like to think that some priest are better than this, but where are the whistle blowers? Until the bishops and cardinals are held responsible and jailed, nothing has changed. It's naive to think the Catholic Church can police themselves or has changed one iota. Other than words, not much has different.