Hope and prayers after clergy abuse settlement

The settlement between the Diocese of Rockville Centre and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy should occasion, first and foremost, hope and prayers that those survivors might at long last experience at least some sense of justice.

Of course, that is tempered by the realization that the abusers themselves, and those who enabled them, are not the ones now paying the price. But hopefully, knowing that the institution within which they were abused is being held to account will impart some measure of healing, even as there can probably never be full closure for what has been for some a lifetime of damage — physical, emotional, familial, spiritual.

There can also never be full closure for the Church — and shouldn’t be, as Church leaders and Catholic faithful must be ever vigilant in assuring that survivors are treated justly, and that reforms instituted in the wake of this scandal are effectively and continuously implemented.

Yet the Church’s vital mission must continue. That includes its temporal works, upon which so many vulnerable populations depend, from social outreach, to education, health care, family services, prison ministries, and more, as well as its spiritual mission — bringing souls to Christ by teaching the faith, providing the liturgy and sacraments to the faithful, and evangelizing the Gospel to a world that so needs it.

This is why the diocese had to strive to balance just settlements for survivors with preservation of resources needed to carry forth its vital ministries. There was also the need, in the wake of the endless "look-back" provision in New York’s Child Victims Act, to guard against the potential for false accusations by any who might try to exploit the suffering of abuse survivors for their own gain.

Our prayers should also go out for all the good priests of our diocese — the overwhelming majority — who so selflessly devote their lives to serving God and His people, and yet have been unfairly stigmatized by the scandalous behavior of a comparative few, for the most part now several decades ago.

The situation was even worse for any priests falsely accused. As there is no more heinous, repugnant crime than to sexually abuse a minor, so there is nothing more horrific of which to be falsely accused and — whether found guilty or not — tainted with for the rest of one’s life. After years of enabling unconscionable abuse of children by failing to act, the Church must now take care not to enable unconscionable slander of innocent men by acting rashly against them.

It is also important to credit reform efforts undertaken in the scandal’s aftermath — often by Church leaders who, as in this diocese, were not the same leadership that was in place when the abuse was being committed. Once the scandal broke, our diocese responded swiftly and firmly to institute policies designed to protect children, by removing abusive priests, improving the process of screening and training of candidates for the priesthood, and training church workers and volunteers to identify and immediately report signs of abuse.

Finally, I urge Catholics whose faith has been shaken by this scandal to remember that Christ in the Eucharist — not fallible human beings in the Church — is the center of our faith. I pray that Catholics driven away by the scandal will reflect on this, and return to Mass and the sacraments.

This guest essay reflects the views of Rick Hinshaw, former editor of The Long Island Catholic newspaper.