By Verghese V Joseph –
Vatican: Opening the second day of the summit on the “Protection of Minors” on Friday in Rome, Archbishop of Bombay, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, said the sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and the subsequent failure to address it in an open, accountable, and effective way has caused a multifaceted crisis that has gripped and wounded the Church, not to speak of those who have been abused.
Speaking on the theme “Accountability in a Collegial and Synodal Church,” the Cardinal stressed that the church must summon courage and fortitude to address sexual abuse. “Although the experience of abuse seems dramatically present in certain parts of the world, it is not a limited phenomenon. Indeed, the entire Church must take an honest look, undertake rigorous discernment, and then act decisively to prevent abuse from occurring in the future and to do whatever possible to foster healing for victims,” the cardinal remarked.
The importance and universal scope of this challenge has prompted Pope Francis to summon this meeting, underscoring his commitment and the Church’s commitment to addressing this crisis. Even more, by inviting the presidents of national conferences of bishops, he signalled how the Church must address this crisis.
The Cardinal explained how synodality can be achieved, by incorporating all decisions and the resulting measures at national, regional, diocesan and even parochial levels in the Church. “For our Holy Father and for those of us gathered with him, it will be the path of collegiality and synodality. That way of being the Church will then—with God’s help—shape and define how the whole Church at the regional, national, local-diocesan, and even parochial levels will take up the task of addressing sexual abuse in the Church. Thus, synodality can truly be lived, by incorporating all decisions and the resulting measures at all these different levels – on a binding basis,” the cardinal stated.
Elaborating further the cardinal emphasised that, “This includes the involvement of lay people, both men and women. In doing so, we should remain honest, and ask ourselves: do we really want this? Practically, this means that as we address the scourge of sexual abuse together, that is, collegially, we must do so with a singular and unified vision as well as with the flexibility and adaptiveness that stems from the diversity of people and situations in our universal care.”
In his view, the cardinal felt that the church leaders must also ask themselves fundamentally whether they adequately live what is meant by the concepts of collegiality and synodality. “Collegiality and synodality must not only remain theoretical concepts, which are extensively described but not put into practice. In this regard, I still see plenty of scope for further developments.”
Healing Path
In addition to standing for justice, a collegial Church stands for healing. Certainly, that healing must reach out to the victims of abuse. It must also extend to others who are affected including the communities whose trust was betrayed or severely tested.
Speaking on effective healing , he felt that there must be clear, transparent, and consistent communication from a collegial Church to victims, members of the Church, and society at large. “As we face the tragedy of sexual abuse in the Church, as we encounter the suffering of victims, we are never more conscious of our status as the pilgrim people of God. We know that we have not yet arrived at our destination. We are aware that our journey has not been along a straight path,” he added.
“To be the pilgrim people of God means that we are a community that is called to continuous repentance and continuous discernment. We must repent—and do so together, collegially— because along the way we have failed. We need to seek pardon. We must also be in a process of continuous discernment. In other words, together or collegially, we need to watch, wait, observe, and discover the direction that God is giving us in the circumstances of our lives. There is more ahead of us. As the abuse crisis has unfolded, we have come to know that there is no easy or quick solution. We are summoned to move forward step by step and together. That requires discernment,” he observed.
The Next Steps
In order for the church to move forward with a clear sense of accountability and responsibility in a context of collegiality, there are—as the cardinal sees—at least four requisites which he offered for consideration.
To take up collegiality in order to address our accountability and responsibility, the church must:
• Claim, or better reclaim, its identity in the apostolic college united with
Peter’s successor, and must do so with humility and openness;
• Summon courage and fortitude, because the path ahead is not mapped out
with great detail and clear-cut precision;
• Embrace the path of practical discernment, because the church wants to fulfil what God wants its leaders in the concrete circumstances of their lives;
• Be willing to pay the price of following God’s will in uncertain and painful circumstances.
“If we do these things, we will be able to move forward collegially on a path of accountability and responsibility. But notice that all these actions are not simply our actions, they are the work of the Holy Spirit: to claim identity or to know who we are, to live with courage and fortitude, to be discerning, and to be generous in service. So, let the last word be Veni, Sancte Spiritus, veni,” the Cardinal added.