Pray Tell

Sexual abuse by clergy is nothing new; the economic sanctions imposed by the courts in favor of those who, as children, were subjected to such misconduct are most certainly a modern development. The Catholic Church has borne the brunt of the lawsuits and the settlements that have resulted, but since each diocese is a separate entity, the cost of these legal sanctions has been directed at the local level, resulting in bankruptcies and profound economic cost carried only by the local offending dioceses. The Catholic Church has admitted the problem at the highest levels, but really seems to have minimized the gravity of the accusations: “In a statement read out by Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi in September 2009, the Holy See stated ‘We know now that in the last 50 years somewhere between 1.5% and 5% of the Catholic clergy has been involved in sexual abuse cases,’ adding that this figure was comparable with that of other groups and denominations.” Wikipedia

Back in 2004, “[A] John Jay Report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ... was based on surveys completed by the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States… [The Report] was based on a study of 10,667 allegations against 4,392 priests accused of engaging in sexual abuse of a minor between 1950 and 2002…

· Around 81 percent of these victims were male.

· 22.6% were age 10 or younger, 51% were between the ages of 11 and 14, and 27% were between the ages to 15 to 17 years.

· A substantial number (almost 2000) of very young children were victimized by priests during this time period.

· 9,281 victim surveys had information about an investigation. In 6,696 (72%) cases, an investigation of the allegation was carried out. Of these, 4,570 (80%) were substantiated; 1,028 (18%) were unsubstantiated; 83 (1.5%) were found to be false. In 56 cases, priests were reported to deny the allegation s…

“By 2009, U.S. dioceses have paid more than US$2.6 billion in abuse-related costs since 1950… The number and size of these settlements made it necessary for the dioceses to reduce their ordinary operating expenses by closing churches and schools in order to raise the funds to make these payments. Several dioceses chose to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a way to litigate settlements while protecting some church assets to ensure it continues to operate... In many instances, dioceses were forced to declare bankruptcy as a result of the settlements. At least six U.S. dioceses sought bankruptcy protection. In some cases, the dioceses filed bankruptcy just before civil suits against them were about to go to trial. This had the effect of mandating that pending and future lawsuits be settled in bankruptcy court.” Wikipedia.

Some priests were defrocked, more than a few were shipped away to other diocese, some had passed away by the time charges were files and a handful faced criminal charges. No one was happy. The church faced constant negative exposure in the press, billions of dollars in reparations were paid, and children’s lives were completely decimated in this horrendous violation of personal and spiritual trust. But there is one additional consequence from these financial sanctions that has been imposed on one of the most successful charitable acts by the Catholic Church, particularly in the United States: primary and secondary education. “Over the last half-century, the number of Catholic schools has fallen to 7,000 from about 13,000, and their enrollment to barely two million children from more than five million. A disproportionate share of the damage has c ome in big cities.” New York Times, June 3^rd.

To understand the impact of these closures, the Times looked at Harlem’s Rice High School (pictured above), a parochial school that had accomplished everything American educational policies have set as priorities for inner city schools and so much more. “With a student body that is 98 percent black or Hispanic, with 80 percent of its students requiring financial aid, virtually every graduating senior was bound for college: Penn, Cincinnati, Holy Cross, Fairfield, Iona. Four of the Rice men had received scholarships in excess of $150,000.” Times.

Short on clergy to teach and run the school, facing rising operating costs that couldn’t be passed on to students from poor families, Rice had one additional burden to deal with: “The Christian Brothers religious order, which founded and operated Rice, filed for bankruptcy in late April, collapsing under the weight of payments to victims of sexual abuse by the order’s members, particularly in the Seattle area.” Times. The May 27^th commencement ceremony, the school’s 70^th graduating class, was its last. This wildly successful Catholic school, teaching in the inner city where hope is scarce and success elusive, closed its doors. There is no small irony that children who were wrongfully hurt were compensated in a way that wound up hurting other children.

I’m Peter Dekom, and anything that hurts the American educational system lessens each and every one of us.