HOMILY FOR 6th SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR A + ROYAL COMMISSION – St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney

HOMILY FOR 6th SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR A + ROYAL COMMISSION
ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, SYDNEY, 12 FEBRUARY 2017

This past week the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began its review of the overall performance of the Catholic Church in Australia in this area. And what has been revealed has already been harrowing.

I have personally felt shaken and humiliated by the figures we have heard, as I have by other important revelations in the Royal Commission to date. The Church is sorry and I am sorry for past failures that left so many so damaged. I know that many of our priests, religious and lay faithful feel the same: as Catholics we hang our heads in shame.

We have already heard many distressing and shameful cases of sexual abuse told to the Royal Commission by courageous survivors. This week we heard these individual stories aggregated in data presented to the Commission on the proportion of priests and religious with claims of abuse made against them since 1950. And those figures were appalling.

Now the Royal Commission intends to focus on two main issues: the causes of historical child sex abuse cases in the Church and failures to respond adequately; and what the Church has done, plans to do or should do to address this by way of changes to structures, policies and culture, the discernment of priestly and religious vocations, formation and supervision of those engaged in ministry, and so on.

Some people have objected that the recent study refers to ‘claims’ and ‘alleged perpetrators’ rather than cases proven at law; indeed, the Royal Commission figures do not even distinguish between claims substantiated by some internal Church investigation and those accepted by the Church without investigation. It is now clear that the overwhelming majority of incidents occurred in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, and that alleged abuse declined very considerably thereafter. Nonetheless, even one case was infinitely too many and we now know claims have been made against some 7% of the priests ministering within the three dioceses of greater Sydney since 1950 and hundreds more around Australia. However much things have improved, we cannot be complacent when it comes to guaranteeing a child-safe environment in the Church: it is our responsibility to ensure that all measures are in place to prevent this happening again. We must also recognise that there are abuse victims who are yet to come forward and perhaps never will.

There are many pieces to the puzzle of why the Church that we all love failed so drastically in this area. The Church during this period did much of the ‘heavy lifting’ with young people – schools, especially for the poor, orphanages, boys’ clubs and the like, often in situations where the state and other groups were not providing. There was a huge influx of vocations in the lead up to the crisis and in retrospect there should have been much more by way of discernment of psychosexual maturity and other human qualities, much more thorough training in chastity, much better supervision and ongoing formation after ordination. A clericalist culture romanticised the priesthood and religious life, so that those in ministry faced insufficient scrutiny, those who complained were too often not believed, Catholic leaders and faithful were often in denial, and bishops and provincials too often responded ineffectually, self-defensively, and worse, sometimes shamefully putting offenders back where they could reoffend. Add in the sexual revolution of the ’60s and beyond, and the disorientation regarding priestly identity and religious constraints, and it was what weathermen call ‘a perfect storm’.

There was, of course, a moral and spiritual side to all this. Today’s reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus tells us that no one is doomed to sin – “to behave faithfully is within your power” under grace – nor has anyone been given permission to do so ^{(Sir 15:15-20)}. All are responsible for their acts and must be held to account, our Scriptures insist, including spiritual leaders.

In our Gospel Jesus takes us even further into the moral psychology of evil ^{(Mt 5:17-37)}. Some people think that external conformity to the law is enough. But Jesus insists on a deeper, virtuous character. It is not enough just to avoid killing: we must stamp out from our character any violence, any tendency to abuse power, any labelling of others as less than our moral equals. Likewise, it is not enough just to avoid adultery: we must eradicate from our hearts any tendency to treat others as mere means to our own gratification, as sex objects, things to be used and abused. And again, Jesus insists, it is not enough just to avoid perjury: we must eliminate from our person any inclination to lie, deceive or equivocate, any habit of playing fast and loose with the truth or living a double life.

Some people think that the problem of the clergy abuse crisis was a problem at the heart of Catholic faith and morals: but it seems to me that had people heeded teachings such as those in our Scriptures today, they would have known they had no permission to hurt and lie, to abuse their own power and other people’s bodies, innocence, trust. Outsiders have sometimes joked that Christianity is a great idea: it’s a pity no one has ever tried it. That’s too harsh, but all of us must regularly examine ourselves against the standard of God’s law and seek the assistance of divine grace and our fellow Christians in making spiritual and moral progress. All of us together as the Church, and all of us individually as Christians, are challenged at this time to root out any hypocrisy, pride, denial, excuse-making for our failures or those of members of our Church.

The next two weeks and the rest of the Royal Commission’s work will be traumatic for everyone involved, especially people who have survived abuse. Confronting as it will be, I am determined we will do all we can to assist those who have been harmed by the Church and to work towards a culture of greater transparency, accountability and safety for all children.

Much has already been done to ensure that any allegations made nowadays to our Archdiocese are dealt with promptly, justly and compassionately; that counselling and redress are made available to survivors; that we have in place ‘best practice’ structures and policies to safeguard children including our new Office for Safeguarding and Professional Integrity; that we engage in rigorous processes of discerning and forming vocations; that we train our clergy, religious, teachers and lay churchworkers in the best contemporary standards in this area and hold them to those standards; and that we are doing all we can to make every part of the Church safe for all children and vulnerable people.

I am convinced that at the end of the humiliation and purgation through which we are presently passing, we will be a humbler, purer, more aware and more compassionate Church in this area. But we are on a journey and there is still much to do: for this we are grateful for the patient study and professional guidance of the Royal Commission.

During the current hearing I will be part of a panel with other Archbishops to discuss not only what went wrong in the past but also what we can do better in the future. Together we will have the opportunity to restate the determination of Catholic leaders, parishes, schools, agencies, indeed the entire Catholic community, to eradicate this evil from our midst, and to demonstrate the good work we have done and still plan to do. Some of the media coverage ahead will no doubt be confronting. Many of you, so loyal to the Church, will feel upset or demoralised by the coverage: if so, I ask you to talk the matter through with your clergy, seek counselling from Catholic Care or contact our Archdiocesan Safeguarding Office. The contacts are on our Archdiocesan website. I strongly encourage anyone alleging sexual abuse to contact the police: they are in the best position to investigate.

Please pray for all those involved in this hearing of the Royal Commission for wisdom and compassion. Pray for the Church that she will be purified and worthy of people’s trust. Above all, please pray for the survivors and their families at this most difficult time.

Our Lady, Help of Christians and Comforter of the Afflicted, pray for us.