Catholic Reading Wednesday

With many thanks to our awesome curator, Karen Celano, you can delve into a faith-related news article each Wednesday! Karen writes:

Last week, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a report chastising the Vatican for policies it claims enabled priests to engage in the sexual abuse of children by encouraging a “code of silence” in order to protect its own reputation. The panel expressed concern that measures taken by the Vatican to address child abuse cases are not adequate, and dismissed the Vatican’s argument that it does not and cannot claim secular legal jurisdiction over priests and bishops residing outside the Vatican.

But the report went further: the Committee urged the Vatican to change Church teaching on abortion, contraception, and homosexual lifestyles. These recommendations roused the criticism of Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, who said that the Committee went “beyond their competence and interfered in the doctrinal and moral positions of the Catholic Church.” The New York Times published an op-ed lamenting that the Committee’s doctrinal recommendations will only serve to detract attention from the more important goal of ensuring that abusers are properly prosecuted and that future abuse does not take place.

On the other hand, a journalist for Slate argues that the U.N. Committee was not “biased against the Vatican” but rather “biased in favor of children.” The author says: “When Catholic doctrine comes into conflict with human rights, it is the U.N.’s job to prioritize human rights.” Apparently she is unaware that religious freedom itself is a key human right, not to mention that in 1990, "the Vatican became one of the first countries to ratify the children’s rights treaty because of the Church’s historic commitment to the good of children.  Not recognising all that the Church has done for centuries through its schools, hospitals and charitable agencies is to ignore reality" (Lombardi article).

Although "religious freedom" should never be used as an excuse for abuse or violence, the line between protecting religious freedom and defending human rights is more complicated than this author is willing to acknowledge. And, for my part, I don’t see how the Slate article’s recommendations cannot come within the scope of existing Church teaching. Affirming the dignity of all children, including children raised by gay couples, and providing age-appropriate sex education (especially curricula that uphold the very real rewards of chastity and provide an introduction to the Theology of the Body) are all things that Catholic teaching can and should support.

In December Pope Francis called for the creation of a commission on abuse, and last month he spoke forcefully of the “scandal” and the “shame” of the Church. Let us pray for the Pope and for our Church, that they can fight to root out this shame from the Church, while maintaining the courage to stand up to those who would use this shame to bully the Church into violating its own truth.