The end is nowhere in sight. Last month’s sexual-assault conviction of defrocked priest John Geoghan unearthed a decades-long cover-up that is prompting Roman Catholics–and members of other faiths–to take a harder look at their safeguards for protecting children. Geoghan, who faces a second criminal trial this month and more than 80 civil suits, is alleged to have molested more than 100 children over three decades. The archdiocese now admits it had known of Geoghan’s pedophilia for years, and in recent weeks has given authorities the names of more than 80 priests accused of sexual misconduct dating back 40 years. The scandal has provoked calls for Law’s resignation and highlighted troubles across the country. An Arizona diocese recently settled a case against four priests. And last Friday the Diocese of Manchester, N.H., gave prosecutors the names of 14 priests accused of child abuse, one of whom was still in active ministry. The church has reportedly paid more than $10 million in settlements so far in the Geoghan case alone. And mounting lawsuits in Boston and nationwide, lawyers speculate, could total hundreds of millions more.
Cardinal Law has vowed not to step down, but rather to improve church systems. “A bishop is not a corporate executive, is not a politician,” he told anguished Catholics on the Sunday before the start of the penitential season of Lent. “When there are problems… you don’t walk away. You work them out together, with God’s help.” Among his proposals for change: a panel of university presidents, theologians and doctors to advise the archdiocese on identifying pedophiles and counseling victims.
Critics say Law’s proposal is a PR ploy that doesn’t address the broader problem of secrecy within the church. Until recently priests in Massachusetts were exempt from laws requiring teachers and doctors to report suspected child abuse. Last May the Vatican issued guidelines for investigating sex-abuse charges and ensuring priests due process. But the directive was issued in Latin only and was designated a “pontifical secret” to be handled only at the highest levels. “They don’t understand that Americans hear this and think cover-up,” says Boston College theologian Thomas Groome.
To rebuild faith in church leadership, priests and parishioners say, Law will have to take bolder steps. The oversight panel, some suggest, should be appointed not by the cardinal but by an outside figure. And many are calling for greater lay participation in reform panels that would take on a host of contentious issues like the role of women in the church and celibacy. Some outraged Catholics are urging people to halt donations to the archdiocese until the cardinal can prove the money is not going to fund legal defense or settlements for abusers.
At a recent mass at St. James the Great Church in Wellesley, a female lay leader voiced the anguish and hopes of many Catholics when she prayed: “For those with power, that they will work for justice for all and not advantage for the few. We pray to the Lord.” The congregation responded loudly, “Lord hear our prayer.”
