Spoils of the Kingdom by Anson Shupe

Author:Anson Shupe [Shupe, Anson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Sociology of Religion
ISBN: 9780252092404
Google: oyHqozdWyRoC
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: 2010-10-01T05:36:04+00:00

The Role of Accessories after the Fact

Strategies to shield clerical colleagues from the consequences of their actions flow both downward and upward, that is, from higher elites in hierarchical groups as well as from lesser fiduciaries in more congregational (democratic- and republican-representative style) church bodies.

Unquestionably the most notorious case example of the downward flow of containing or neutralizing scandal to protect perpetrators has involved the Roman Catholic Church, North America’s largest denomination. It is now clear that playing “musical chairs” with abusive priests—shifting them from one parish assignment to another, often without warning the new parish of the past parish’s experience—or providing them treatment sabbaticals at therapeutic centers between assignments, such as at the now-bankrupt Servants of the Paraclete retreat in Jemez Springs, was ineffective as corporate policy. This was as true of the Archdiocese of Boston as in a traditional Catholic country such as Ireland. In 2002 alone the Boston archdiocese saw mass attendance fall 14 percent as a consequence of abuse revelations, and twenty-seven errant priests were removed from active ministry (Lavole 2003a). The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and even the archbishop’s house were put up for sale for collateral to settle the victims’ lawsuits (Lavole 2003b), and Archbishop Sean O’Malley announced in May 2004 that sixty-five parishes would be closed, with the priestly sex scandal and a shortage of priests as factors contributing to the closures (Associated Press 2004a).

In early July 2004 the Portland Archdiocese even filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on account of over 130 claims of clerical abuse. By 2004 more than $53 million had been paid out in settlements; just the two plaintiffs in lawsuits involving the late Rev. Maurice Grammond were seeking more than $160 million in damages.

Meanwhile, in 2003 an Irish government–appointed commission in Dublin examined sexual abuse scandals occurring in the 1970s and 1980s within that city’s diocese, where there were already 150 lawsuits against priests and their bishop, Brendon Comiskey, was eventually forced to resign (Associated Press 2003a).

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