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December 2002 Call to Action News
CTA members, regions organize as sex abuse crisis rages on
The Catholic bishops met in Washington, D.C. Nov. 11-14, hoping to restore their credibility and bring an end to the greatest scandal in the history of the U.S. Church. Instead, they weakened policies crafted in Dallas. Among the changes, they reinstated the canonical statute of limitations, reneged on their commitment to refer all allegations to civil authorities, and underlined the merely advisory capacity of lay review boards. (Details about the revised norms are on CTA's website: www.cta-usa.org/press/weakening.html)
Then came early December's appalling revelations of Cardinal Law's personal communications with known priest-perpetrators, the report from Cleveland of over 1,000 victims of sexual abuse, and the California bishops' preparations for at least 400 new civil suits. It becomes increasingly obvious that the hierarchy cannot be trusted to solve this problem. Their record of protecting priest-perpetrators at the expense of children's safety is conclusive. Major financial contributors, reform groups, victim-survivors, and the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People are all now on record demanding disclosure and accountability from the bishops on their handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations. Commentators and active Catholics, conservatives as well as progressives, are approaching a consensus: the laity must rise up and take responsibility for reforming the Church.
Conference stirs activism
CTA members are at work. Drawing on their long history of prayer and protest, hundreds of CTAers from over 80 dioceses have volunteered to work on CTA's campaign for full disclosure. Following up on the work of CTA regional leadership, more than 70 people gathered for a three-hour workshop on campaign organizing at the national conference. They heard personal testimony by Barbara Blaine, founder and president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and analysis by Tom Doyle, OP, the canon lawyer whose 1985 warning about the crisis was roundly ignored by the U.S. bishops. Participants then worked in small groups planning local actions for full disclosure. During the plenary session Sunday, Mary Ann Mueninghoff, OP, CTA president, announced that letters were being mailed from the conference to every U.S. bishop, demanding full disclosure of each diocese's experience of clergy sexual abuse of minors . In response, hundreds more signed up to support the campaign in their home dioceses.
Already, CTA organizers in Buffalo, Belleville, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Omaha, and San Diego have attracted media attention. "Until bishops show a willingness to engage in a full dialogue with the laity regarding values and appropriate processes of democracy (including openly sharing information and accepting responsibility), the basic problems will not be solved," wrote CTA Nebraska chair, Patty Hawk, in an Omaha World Herald op-ed.
Meetings with local bishops
In addition, Belleville, Indianapolis, Erie and San Diego members have secured meetings with their respective bishops. CTA San Diego chair, Janet Mansfield, told the New York Times, "Now is a good time for lay organizing because there's a vulnerability there on the part of the bishops, and they're a little more open." CTA leaders in Chicago and Boston are working with kindred organizations and parish-based groups to secure episcopal accountability.
Calls from the laity, the press, and state's attorneys are yielding some results. The bishops of Baltimore, Phoenix, Louisville, Belleville, Cleveland and Louisville have all made some level of disclosure. But CTA urges more action from its members. "We must have a full accounting of the scope of this scandal in every diocese," said Claire Noonan, campaign coordinator. "The laity will not go back to a passive acceptance of the bishop's word. We will take responsibility for ensuring that our children are protected, to determine that our money is spent justly and wisely, and to insist that our leaders are open with us."