A priest who had been accused of molesting two teenage boys
over 30 years ago, committed suicide at a Catholic psychiatric
institute in Maryland on May 17th. We can speculate whether he
was guilty or innocent but we’ll never really know the truth
about Father Alfred Bietighofer. Was he a homosexual priest who
broke his priestly vows and then killed himself when his sins
were revealed or was he an innocent man unable to deal with the
false allegations and the resulting scandal? We’ll never
know but when I read about men like that priest, I understand why
the Vatican is issuing statements disapproving the precipitous
response of American Bishops to the abuse scandal.
An influential canon lawyer, Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, wrote in a
Jesuit magazine Civita Cattolica, that the bishops should not so
quick to turn over allegations or records of sexual abuse by
priests to the authorities. Archbishop Herranz, president of the
Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts
said in a recent statement, the American Bishops are responding
to, “ an emotional wave of public clamor.”
Everything in America seems to move at triple speed but in the
Holy City in Rome, snails rule the roost and the world is
watching these two worlds in the Roman Catholic Church collide.
Let me end the suspense right now. The Vatican will win. It
always has and it always will.
Somehow I get the feeling that the scandalmongers in the
mainstream Press are finding out a lot more about the Catholic
Church than it bargained for and the more they learn, the less
they understand. They are also finding out that the American
church is not the ultimate authority over Catholics when it comes
to issues of faith and morality. In our free and open society, it
is sometimes hard to understand an entity so cloaked in mystery
and secrecy.
To the unenlightened, the Vatican and the hierarchy of the church
are filled with old men in long black dresses who don’t
understand what life is like in the real world. They cover their
misdeeds through secrecy like the NYPD allegedly erects its blue
wall of silence to protect the brotherhood, so when this scandal
erupted it confirmed these worst suspicions.
Yes, the church has deep, dark secrets but who can blame it. It
has to deal with a most formidable and cunning enemy and Evil can
take many forms. The Church has survived these two thousands
years because it never loses sight of the big picture. We, on the
other hand, are being asked to do that nearly every day this
scandal endures.
The importance of privacy has been sacrosanct in the church’s
history since its days in the catacombs. Even today, in other
parts of the world, Christians are being persecuted for their
faith and while here in America, bishops may feel trusting of
civil authorities, the precedent of sharing secret documents with
them would be suicidal in others. The Vatican is warning the
American bishops not to be so hasty unless one is absolutely sure
a crime has been committed. The church does not play by the same
rules when it comes to secrets especially those revealed in a
confessional.
Not every confession is as closely guarded. A writer to the
advice column Dear Abby who confessed to sexual fantasies about
his underage stepchild was subsequently reported to the police.
Likewise under certain circumstances, some admissions to
professionals like attorneys and psychiatrists can sometimes be
revealed through legal provisions in the law.
One of the strictest forms of confidentiality occurs with the
Catholic Sacrament of Penance and is called the seal of
confession. Confession to a priest with the intention of
receiving absolution warrants the seal . This seal can never be
broken and is protected in the statutes of all the states in
varying degrees. In New York State (S.833) it is enacted that a
“ clergyman or other minister of any religion shall not be
allowed to disclose a confession made to him in his professional
character in the course of discipline enjoined by the rules or
practice of the religious body to which he belongs”.
While many religions do allow their clergy to reveal a confession
in certain circumstances, the Catholic Church forbids it
explicitly. Even under the threat of imprisonment, scandal and
even death, priests are forbidden to ever break the seal. After
the celebration of the Sacrament, the priest regards any
information that was communicated as never having occurred.
Unless waived by the penitent, the confession is sealed. This is
an awesome responsibility for any man so it is not very strange
that the Vatican recognizes that a priest has certain rights that
need protection as well. It is also not inconceivable that
deviant pedophile priests would take advantage of this by
confessing their sins to their superior thereby ensuring his
silence.
Imagine this scenario. You are a bishop and a woman comes to you
with an allegation that a parish priest is molesting her
10-year-old child. Well, that’s simple, because pedophilia
is a crime and should be reported to the police. In fact, the
woman should go straight to the police but that is not what is
happening today. There may indeed be isolated instances where
that is occurring but the overwhelming cases that are in today’s
headlines involve allegations from 10 to 50 years past. A priest
who has been performing his pastoral duties diligently from his
superior’s point of view deserves to have allegations
against his case treated by the church with caution and
deference.
Essentially, the Vatican is telling the American Bishops to treat
the priests with more respect than what has been accorded them by
the New York Times.