BISHOPS ABUSING POWER AND INVOLVED IN ABUSE AND COVER UP

 #METOO, YOUR EXCELLENCY, ITS TIME FOR THE CHURCH WORLDWIDE TO FACE UP TO ABUSE OF POWER BY BISHOPS

Phylis Zagona

Can we face the heartbreaking facts? It is time for #MeToo in the Catholic Church. There is too much abusive behavior by — or ignored by — Catholic bishops.

Washington, D.C.'s former archbishop, Cardinal Theodore ("Uncle Ted") McCarrick, reportedly was overly fond of his seminarians, and was finally punished for abusing a minor 47 years ago. Everybody knew. Nobody did anything.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar (near the border with Pakistan) is accused of rape. Accused by a woman religious. There seem to be 18 other sisters with similar stories about Mulakkal and a lawsuit against the cardinal who did not respond to the allegations. Why?

Moreover, who's next?

It's time for the church worldwide to face up to abuse of power by bishops, especially but not only the physical and emotional abuse whispered about in seminaries, chanceries and gay bars. In the U.S., the famous (infamous?) 2002 "Dallas Charter" is all about priests, deacons and minors. Bishops are not under the charter’s jurisdiction. Yet the root of this problem is at the top, not the bottom.

The problem is endemic, and the problem is real.

The website BishopAccountability.org lists some 60 secular and religious bishops accused of sexual abuse of minors and 28 more of abusing adults. They are from every country you can think of, from Argentina to Wales. Some are dead, some are laicized. Some may be innocent. Few are in jail or ever have been.

The worst part? It's not only sex abuse.

Begin with priests and bishops. Just about any priest will tell you the Roman collar is a dog collar that bishops can and often will use as a choker. Do what he says or get lost. Be nice, bend to his will, and suddenly you are a monsignor heading a rich parish. Sometimes it's about talent; sometimes it's about cooperating and being a team player; sometimes it is pure abuse of power. In too many cases, warped sexual dynamics are in play.

When actual sex is involved, the bishop's playboy becomes his secretary, or lives in the household, or is otherwise somehow always around. These are Catholic bishops we are talking about. Archbishops. Cardinals.

Yet no one wants to talk about it. No one wants to say anything because they fear the bishop's power. And it's not just clerics whose cries are muffled. It's the lay chancery employees and religious sisters who need their jobs to support families or communities. Bishops can ruin your life and many have done so, in more ways than one.

Complaints too often go nowhere.

The people free to complain do not depend on the church, but even so, when they bring their case against Father Problem, no matter how detailed and accurate, their letters still end up in chancery wastebaskets. So, they close their checkbooks and leave. Soon, another parish merger — "due to falling membership" — moves the problem along toward his diocesan-funded retirement.

It's not just sexual misbehavior. Bishops around the world oversee abusive pastors and priests and ignore the realities of the situations. Whether it is a do-nothing narcissist administrator, a chair-throwing priest with anger management issues, or a spendthrift pastor whose favorite indoor sport is emptying the bank account, bishops ignore complaints, especially from women.

I rather do not know what to say. The rot at the top has sealed this simmering volcano long enough. Abuse of power has both nothing and everything to do with the Gospel. There are plenty of diocesan swamps and more than enough alligators to go around. Someone needs to bring to task the bishops who abuse their positions and people by ignoring complaints and/or preying on those within their power.

Only then can the whole people of God — laypeople, clerics and future clerics — know they belong to a wholesome church. Only then.

Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Her books include Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future and Holy Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church.] 

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ARMAGH DIOCESAN CHANGES

V Rev Bobby McKenna, PE, AP, Lower Killeavy, to retire, remaining in residence at the Parochial House, Camlough.

Rev Bernard King, SM, CC, Glassdrummond (Upper Creggan), to retire and return to his Marist Congregation.

V Rev Stephen Duffy, PE, Adm, VF, Termonfechin, to be PP, Lordship.

V Rev John McGoldrick, Adm, Aghaloo, to go on loan to the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida.

V Rev Pádraig Murphy, PP, Lordship, to be Pastor Emeritus and Priest in Residence, Jenkinstown, and Diocesan Archivist / Curator.

V Rev Paul Clayton-Lea, PP, Tallanstown, to be Pastor Emeritus and Priest in Residence, Termonfechin assisting in local parishes.

V Rev Aidan Murphy, PP, Termonfechin, on return from sabbatical studies, to be PE, AP, VF, Coalisland (Ballyclog and Donaghenry).

V Rev Seán McCartan, PP, Ardboe, to be Chaplain to the Irish Defence Forces, based at Aiken Barracks, Dundalk, and Gormanstown Army Camp.

Rev Shajan Panachickal Michael, Eparchy of Kothamangalam, India, to be CC Holy Redeemer Parish, Dundalk, and serve the Syro-Malabar Community.

V Rev Paul Byrne, PP, VF, Coalisland (Ballyclog and Donaghenry), to be PP, VF, Termonfechin.

V Rev Phelim McKeown, PP, Kilsaran, to be Pastor Emeritus and Priest in Residence, Caledon (Aghaloo), assisting in local parishes.

V Rev Michael Sheehan, Adm, Kilsaran, to be Adm, Holy Redeemer Parish, Dundalk.

Rev Neil O’Donoghue, Vice-Rector, Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary, Dundalk, to join the Theology Faculty, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

Rev Eugene O’Neill, CC, Coalisland (Ballyclog and Donaghenry), to be PP, Coalisland (Ballyclog and Donaghenry).

V Rev Paul Montague, Adm, Holy Redeemer Parish, Dundalk, to be PP, Tallanstown.

Rev Anselm Emechebe, MSP, CC, Ardee and Collon, to be PP, Kilsaran.

V Rev Mark O’Hagan, Adm, VF, St Patrick’s Parish, Dundalk, to be PP, VF, St Patrick’s Parish, Dundalk.

Rev Radoslaw Szymoniak, SChr, CC, Dungannon, to return to his Society of Christ Congregation for a new assignment.

Rev Linos Dube, currently assisting in the Parish of Lordship, to be CC, St Peter’s Parish, Drogheda

Rev Leonard Okoli, MSP, on sabbatical, to be CC, Keady and Derrynoose.

Rev Maciej Zacharek, CC, St Peter’s Parish, Drogheda, to be CC, St Patrick’s Parish, Dundalk, and Director of Studies at Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary, Dundalk.

Rev Seán McGuigan, CC, Holy Redeemer Parish, Dundalk, to be PP, Ardboe.

Rev Brian Slater, CC, St Patrick’s Parish, Dundalk, to be CC, Ardee and Collon.

Rev Deacon Paul O’Reilly, newly-ordained, to serve in St Patrick’s Parish, Dundalk, and Holy Redeemer Parish, Dundalk.

PAT SAYS:

Generally speaking an uninteresting set of changes.

No sign of John Gates or McCamley.

*****EAMON MARTIN IS SITTING ON SOME HUGE SCANDALS - AND WHEN THEY BREAK IT WILL BE DEBRIS EVERYWHERE.

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COWBOY HUGH CONNOLLY BACK IN MAYNOOTH

Hugh Connolly was spotted this week walking around the grounds of Maynooth. He must be on his summer holiday from Gay Paris.

He is revisiting the scene of the 2016 scandal that he presided over.

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