Vatican prosecutor says Cardinal Ratzinger
showed 'frustration and anger' over abuse cases
by Greg Burke
Rome Correspondent for
August 23, 2010
In an extensive interview with Fox News, the chief Vatican prosecutor for clerical sex abuse cases, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, said he watched Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s “compassion, anger and frustration” as the future Pope reviewed hundreds of cases between 2002-2005.
When asked if those three years fundamentally changed Ratzinger’s view of the abuse scandal, Scicluna said the experience would change anybody.
“I think it was an eye-opener to the gravity of the situation and to the great sadness of priestly betrayal and priestly failure,” he said. “I think that anybody who has to review so many cases will certainly change his perspective on things, on human failings, but also on the great suffering they create.”
While Benedict has been accused of mishandling abuse cases, as an Archbishop in Germany, and also as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, Scicluna rejected those charges.
The priest, who grew up on the island of Malta, said those who worked with the future Pope in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith were full of admiration for him and his “courage and determination” in dealing with the crisis.
“I am a direct witness to the compassion, the frustration and the anger that these cases instilled in Cardinal Ratzinger, the man, Joseph Ratzinger,” Scicluna said.
While Scicluna seems determined to avoid using the term “crisis,” he insists on calling sin by its name, and crime as well.
“People call this a crisis,” he said. “It is certainly a challenge to the Church, but it is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to call sin sin in its face, and do something about it. It is an opportunity for the church to show itself determined in its fight against sin, against crime.”
While the sexual abuse of minors clearly does not take place only in Church circles, Fox asked Scicluna if he thought the Catholic Church should be held to a higher standard.
“I think so,” Scicluna responded. “Because we do stand for a very clear message which should be a light to the world. So we do complain about the headlines sometimes, but
the headlines are a reflection that the world takes what we say very seriously, and is scandalized when what we do does not correspond to what we say.”
Scicluna, whose official title is Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said a priest who abuses makes a “mockery” of his vocation.
“There is a sacred trust which has been violated,” he said. “The priest has been ordained to be an icon, a living image of Jesus Christ. He is another Christ at the altar, when he preaches. Now when he abuses, he shatters that icon.”
He said the Church has to face up to the truth, even if it’s not very nice: “There’s no other way out of this situation, except facing the truth of the matter.”
Scicluna said the Church has to be severe with offenders, as Christ was: “He had words of fire against people who would scandalize the young. And if we stick to his words and are loyal to his teaching, we are on very good ground. We are not alone.”
8/24/10
P.S. I have been trying to find a full transcript of Burke's interview but it's not to be found anywhere. Then, of all places, the Italian service of Vatican Radio amplifies on Burke's own report by publishing trasnlations of more excerpts from the interview - whereas the English service does not even report the interview at all! Here is a re-translation to English of Scicluna's words as reported by Vatican Radio.
Addendum
Translated from the Italian service of
August 23, 2010
More about the attitude of Cardinal Ratzinger/Benedict XVI to the issue of sexual offenses by priests:
I was a direct witness of what Cardinal Ratzinger did beteen 2002-2005 when he reviewed hundreds of cases of sexual abuse by priests. I was a direct witness of the piety, the sense of frustration and annger that these cases aroused in the cardinal - the man who became Benedict XVI on April 19, 2005.
I can say that on May 6, 2005, not long after his election, met with Mons. Angelo Amato, who was then still the secretary of the CDF (there was no prefect yet, as Mons. Levada would not be appointed until later). The new Pope reviewed with him the decisions that John Paul II had made on some of the sexual abuse cases and he said, "I confirm them'. Since 2003, he himself had asked John Paul II to give priority to these cases. And now, these were among the first decisions he confirmed as Pope.
[After Mons. Levada was named], Benedict XVI met with him to verify the most serious cases that required priority attention. The Pope always studied the most serious cases with great care and attention...
We know how determined he is to set a very clear example and a very high standard in this field. Anyone who doubts his intentions should simply read his letter to the Catholics of Ireland.
It is a very beautiful letter - written by a Pope to the Catholic community of a noble nation that has a great Christian tradition, now wounded by the sins of some of her priests.
The Pope speaks from the heart. He addresses the victims as well as their offenders telling them: "You must admit your sins, humbly, and with great humility, you must subject yourself to their consequences, and you must repent - you must ask forgiveness and the grace to be able to lead a life of prayer and penitence for what you have done". [Which was the forumla with which, in 2006, he sanctioned Fr. Marcial Maciel of the Legionaries of Christ.]
Mons. Scicluna speaks about his own touching experiences with victims of pedophile priests, which he describes as 'an extremely sad experience':
At times you cry with them, because the pain is raw when they have to revisit the trauma suddenly... It is a very important experience - these victims need to be heard by the Church.
Whenever I become personally involved in a case and I meet the victims, I realize that I myself am a priest, and that a priest is someone who brings comfort, and so obviously, it makes me very sad that a priest could have done such things... It is not easy, but it is even less so for them, and as for me, it is something I must do....and that it is important that I do.
For Scicluna, what makes the sexual abuse committed by priests even more serious is that "it is a double betrayal":
Because young people have trust in those who then abuse them. The first effect of abuse is to destroy that trust. And when the offender is a priest, it is not merely human trust that is violated, but also a sacred trust. A priest is ordained to be an icon, a living image if possible, of Jesus Christ... (and when he sins), it is a tragedy for himself, for his victim and for the Church...
Victims demand justice and they have a right to demand it, and to this within a generous period of time, but we also need to respect individual rights, those of the victim as well as the offender.
Respecting the right of the offender does not mean ignoring the victim, but justice must follow the course of the law for both sides. So we continue to follow the initiatives of then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, and the CDF can offer fast procedures to deal with the most serious cases that bishops refer to us.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/08/2010 10:49]