5/12/02

On Mother’s Day, we say things that are always in our hearts but which too often remain unsaid. We tell our mothers how grateful we are to them, how much we love them, how much they mean to us. I would like to say how very grateful I am to mothers who, through teaching their children how to pray, nurture the divine life in those to whom they gave natural life or who are now given to their care.

For many years, my mother, who died in 1983, belonged to a prayer group of Chicago women, each of whom had a son who was a priest. They gathered every month to pray for their sons and for all priests, and I took great comfort from their prayers no matter where I was stationed as a priest. As I find myself now speaking too often about actions that bring shame on the priesthood, I also find myself wondering what my mother would say to all of this. She was not so unrealistic as to assume that priests are without sin. Like most believing Catholics, she knew that the priesthood is a spiritually dangerous calling. That’s why she and so many other mothers of priests prayed regularly for their sons. But she would probably have been hurt by the kind of public discussion that now dominates our days. My father would have shared her dismay at the discussion, but he had a working man’s conviction that some priests (and bishops) lead lives too soft for their own good.

If I were speaking to my parents now about priests and accusations of sexual misconduct with minors, what would I say? I could say that in Chicago the protocols set up ten years ago have worked to protect children, to offer care to victims and to deal with those priests guilty of a crime, even if the civil authorities are unable to act. I could also say that, unfortunately, all of that is no longer enough. To deal with the new situation, Archdiocesan officials have gone back over all records, as was done ten years ago, and are working with the State’s Attorney’s office to be sure all allegations have been properly addressed. When that review is completed, another report, similar to what was done ten years ago, will be made public.

I could say to my parents this Mothers’ Day that the U.S. bishops will be discussing national policies in June and that there are going to be, in the next several weeks, public forums in the Archdiocese on our present protocols and on the laity’s ideas for national norms (See story, Page 5). In these discussions, it seems to me, the key point has become what the media call “zero tolerance.” This usually means that any priest with any incident of sexual misconduct with minors at any time in his life should be dismissed from the priesthood itself, no matter his age or any other consideration.

What would my parents say to me about “zero tolerance” ? I know that, unlike many, they would understand the difference between being restricted or removed from ministry (like being fired from a job) and being dismissed from the priesthood (like being divorced from a spouse). They might understand why a priest perpetrator, provided he were properly monitored, could be judged “safe” for ministry, as the Chicago protocols permit; but I think they would also understand why many believe the priesthood should be purged of anyone who has ever sinned in this matter, even if he has reformed his life.

If my parents were taking part in hearings to arrive at national protocols, then, I’m not entirely sure what they would say. Neither was uncritical of priests, but they never had to talk to me about anything as shameful as what has now become the topic of conversation at breakfast tables and at evening gatherings, in taxicabs and sports bars. They would, I believe, distinguish in the discussion between the absolute need to protect children and adolescents, on the one hand, and the question about the appropriate punishment of priests on the other. They would also be skeptical about slogans that seem to respond to a crisis but only make things worse in the long run. They were very young when this country entered a “war to end all wars,” and they often commented that we have seen nothing but war ever since. They lived through the great governmental prohibition of all alcoholic beverages and knew it was a failure. Americans like to have neat solutions which assure us that we’ve solved problems like racism, hunger, poverty, governmental corruption or the sexual abuse of minors. I believe my parents would at least think twice about a slogan like “zero tolerance.”

I know my parents would ask me, as many have asked since the meeting of the U.S. Cardinals with members of the Roman Curia, “How’s the Pope?” I would probably tell them first about the meeting itself and talk to them about the Pope also being dismayed and his determination to see us through this scandal. They would not be surprised at the Holy Father’s reaction. I would say a word or two about the problem of bringing canon law and civil law together on the treatment of priest offenders and about the need for us to do penance and work to restore trust. They would agree with all that but come back to the question: “How’s the Holy Father?” I would say that his body has become a burden to him and that he can hardly walk. But I would also say that on my last day in Rome, after our meetings, I sat down at breakfast next to a young priest from Bulgaria, where the Pope will soon travel on an apostolic pilgrimage. When I asked the Bulgarian priest why he had come to Rome, he answered, “I’ve come to teach the Pope the Bulgarian language.” So, how’s the Pope? With all his anxieties and his concerns for the church in this country and the world, he’s finding some time to learn Bulgarian. It’s part of his pastoral duties.

A last word this Mother’s Day about what my parents told me about the Church. They said to me what their parents told them: the Church is our mother. In this, they were only saying what all generations of Catholics have said and believed for 2,000 years, for it is the Church that gives us, like a mother, the life of grace and brings us to salvation in Christ. The Church today is thought of by comparison to all kinds of other realities: a historical organization, an institution, a corporation, a personal club, a state. These are all contemporary forms of human sociality, and they dominate an imagination not shaped by Catholic faith.

The Catholic understanding and emotional reaction to the Church are very different from that of Protestantism, in which the Church is more accidental to individual salvation, a reaction to God’s grace rather than its cause. The Catholic sense of the Church is even more different from the viewpoint of secularists, who regard the Church as an interference in public life and as corrupt in her own life. Your mother is always your mother; and the current crisis surrounding those who are “fathers” in the Church cannot weaken the attachment of her true children to our holy mother, the Church. The Church remains as the creed describes her: one, holy, catholic and apostolic. She is fully visible in the communion of all those who gather with and under the Bishop of Rome. Finally, with repentance for sin and purified for mission, her children will continue to rejoice in her.

To all of you, a blessed Mother’s Day. You are in my prayers; please keep me in yours.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Archbishop of Chicago

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