Bishop points to media’s anti-Catholic reporting

BY DAVID V BARRETT
A SCOTTISH BISHOP has accused the media of bias against the Catholic Church in its reporting of the sexual abuse scandals.
Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell attacked those in the media who depicted the Catholic Church as “the paedophile empire of sexual abuse against children”.
He said that “certain commentators... direct their bitterness and hostility indiscriminately at more or less all of the clergy and religious in the Catholic Church – the vast majority of whom are overwhelmingly quite innocent of such terrible violations”.
In an article in the Sunday Herald the bishop accepted the media’s right to report on sexual abuse by priests.
“The existence of even one case of sexual abuse is one too many and rightly brings disgrace and shame on our Church,” he said. But, he added, the coverage went beyond straightforward reporting. “Yet the Church has been subjected to the fiercest scrutiny and interrogation by the media, some incautiously hell-bent on depicting the Catholic Church as the paedophile empire of sexual abuse against children. Some of their more fallacious allegations betray something insidious about their agenda,” he said.
Bishop Devine said he was “thankful that what failures we have been guilty of have been exposed”. He said: “The grievous sins and perversions committed against vulnerable children by rogue priests and others in religious orders were abhorrent and inexcusable.
“As for those bishops who misused clerical powers by covering up the crimes of members of their clergy, who mistakenly believed their primary duty was to protect the Church from scandal, or who failed to recognise that their true mission and obligation, as disciples of Jesus Christ, was to act in the best interests of the molested children: they must hopefully feel the wounds of their negligence.” He said that only one in 200 of the clergy in Scotland had faced allegations of sexual abuse in the last 40 years, and that critics of the Church have “taken something minimal and made it look maximal”.
This, he said, was a deliberate attack on the Church. “Sectarianism is far from dead in this land. The Government calls it that, but it is wrong. The proper name is anti-Catholicism. It is constant all the time, and a thing like this is grist to the mill.” Bishop Devine praised the work of the Pope in repairing the harm that had been done. “Our Holy Father Pope Benedict is leading the way as pastor of a sorrowful Church. He has found eloquent voice in speaking of the shame that the Church collectively must feel and the penitence to the victims that it must show. He has spent time at a most personal level with victims of sexual abuse, emotionally sharing with them their suffering. Countless participants at these discreet gatherings have reported ‘a great weight was lifted from their hearts; the healing began; confidence and hope were reborn’.” But he hit out at those who criticised the Pope for his handling of the abuse scandal. “In spite of failed and scurrilous attempts from some quarters to smear and immerse Pope Benedict in the sex abuse scandals, His Holiness is at the forefront of introducing all necessary reforms to root out the criminals in the clergy and ensure total security for all our children throughout the Church. Even before his elevation to the papacy he had made a start on fundamental and innovative reforms. He is not an idle observer. He is certainly a penitent. But he is much more than that. He is a determined and active force for good.” The bishop said that the Church “used to have places we sent people when things went wrong”, where priests with depression or alcohol problems could get treatment. But child sex abuse was different; abusers could not be treated in the same way. “We found out to our regret they are incurable. They need to be removed from the community and laicised. They cannot be changed,” he said.
In April the bishops of England and Wales expressed a “heartfelt apology and deep sorrow to those who have suffered abuse, those who have felt ignored, disbelieved or betrayed”.
They described the “criminal offences committed by some priests and religious” as “a profound scandal”, and they recognised “the failings of some bishops and religious leaders in handling these matters”.
They said: “We commit ourselves afresh to the service of children, young people and the vulnerable in our communities. We have faith and hope in the future. The Catholic Church abounds in people, both laity, religious and clergy, of great dedication, energy and generosity.”