Absolved of Abuse: Hypocrisy & the Catholic Church

By Camila Acosta, Sports Editor

Courtesy of REUTERS

On Monday March 15, the Vatican stated that the Catholic church could not bless gay union because God “cannot bless sin.” However, the church’s sordid history has left the public confused and critical of the church and what “sin” they appear to condone taking into consideration the long history of concealing sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy.

The church’s acceptance of the LGTBQ+ community has been embraced in the eyes of many parishioners. Catholicism appeared to be moving forward when Pope Francis acknowledged that the sexuality of a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy, Juan Carlos Cruz, did not matter.

“That you are gay does not matter," Pope Francis allegedly said of Cruz. "God made you like this and loves you like this and I don’t care."

In addition to this, Cruz shocked the church and it’s more conservative counterparts when he stated his position on the LGBTQ+ community.

“If someone is gay and searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” Cruz said.

The disbelief of the Pope's recent statement comes from the church’s long history of covering up the sinful actions of its clergy.

In Boston, John J. Geoghan was shuffled from parish to parish with the church allegedly unaware of the now more than 130 cases of sexual abuse against him. There are reports of Cardinal F. Law knowing of his abuse in 1984, but still granting him access to more children. The most troubling part being a majority of his victims were in grade school, the youngest only four years old. The archdiocese itself disregarded Geoghan’s abuse of seven young boys in 1980 as not a “serious” problem. Geoghan spent months being treated in institutions that treat sexually abusive priests.

“To find out later that the Catholic Church knew he was a child molester - every day it bothers me more and more,” sexual abuse survivor Patrick McSorely said.

Cases of sexual abuse within the church are in no way confined to a sole parish or country. These acts are unfortunately immensely widespread, according to a report released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2019. That report stated that there were 4,434 allegations of clergy sexual abuse against minors from July 2018 through June 2019. In some cases, members of the Catholic Church have publicly apologized for their inaction in not reporting cases of sexual abuse but often their accountability has many times remained at just that.

The actions of these clergymen are irreversible, but at the same time preventable. A mere apology and resignation does their actions no justice.

“ I did not have to register the cases with Rome, but I could have and I should have," Archbishop of Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki said. "I did not do it, it would have been better if I had."

The Catholic Church has always stood at the opposition of what they consider “sin,” but under the same principles they claim to stand behind, this rejection of “sinful acts” should apply equally elsewhere even when it’s within its own institutions.