The revelation of multiple scandals of sexual abuse in the Church produces the effect of an earthquake and heralds the beginning of a serious crisis. To the cases of pedocriminality, the extent of which is being measured more and more clearly is added the revelation of homosexual relations within the clergy, to the highest level, and, more recently, that of the abuses of which nuns have been victims. from priests, some of whom were considered spiritual references. We discover with amazement a mixture of criminal behavior, perversions, lies, complicities, and denials.
It is not only a matter of isolated cases, localized phenomena, black sheep against which measures must be taken, but of a systemic crisis which calls into question the way of functioning of an institution, in contradiction with the message of which she calls herself a carrier. This contradiction is flagrant with the attitude of Jesus, as the Gospels describe it and confirmed by the work of historians. It is the credibility of the word of the Church that is at stake.
In the many surveys that can be read, one is struck by the convergence of cases of sexual abuse with cases of money and power. Thus Sodoma (Robert Laffont, 2019), Frédéric Martel’s inquiry into the high percentage of homosexuals among the prelates within the Vatican, underlines the perversions of a clerical power built on lies and dissimulation. in the state of partial truths, and was heard as gossip, is now revealed of a systemic scale that calls for reform.
“No more carnival! It would exclaim Pope Francis, and we understand better, in the light of this vast investigation, his repeated attacks on a clergy which he denounced certain traits: “spiritual Alzheimer’s”, “hypocrisy »,« The gossip »,« the culture of the between-self and the secret », to end up aiming at the heart of the evil, what he calls« clericalism ». We must consider other ways of doing Church and out of a pyramidal model that sanctifies the power of the cleric, against the gospel that places the child in the center and not the man of power (Mark 9, 33–37). Thus, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, the pope appeals to the “people of God”, to the recognition of a “common priesthood” of all the baptized, that is to say, a personal relationship to Christ. The Holy Spirit (divine inspiration) is present throughout the ecclesial body. It is important that this expression of the Apostle Peter (the “holy priestly community”, 1 Peter 2: 5) does not remain a “pious” formula, but translates concretely into the functioning of the Church.
The cleric is distinguished from the laity because of a ministerial priesthood that sets him apart. This ministry, originally understood as a service, has translated into history in terms of superiority. The category of “power” (to perform “sacred functions”, such as the administration of the sacraments) has become so central that it lends itself to abuse and abuse. The laity is not immune to the evil of clericalism, as they have a disproportionate consideration and expectation of the cleric, because of his function as “a father” and not primarily as “a brother” (“Never call any father, you have but one Father in heaven”, Matthew 23,9). Clericalization is in the minds: it contaminates them, perverts them, makes them docile and blind to abuse. How many dysfunctions in the Church are masked by a duty of infantilizing obedience! The relationship of deference to ecclesial authority is such that some people find it difficult to get out of a relationship of influence and prefer to remain silent.
In Sodoma, Martel takes care to distinguish homosexuality from pedophilia. But if there is no connection between the two, the author says, and this is one of the interesting theses of his book, that the hidden homosexuality of some prelates is not unrelated to the concealment of pedophile crimes. The culture of lies suits all those who have an interest in hiding a forbidden sexuality behind the sacred clothes of chaste celibacy. Whatever may be the excesses of Martel’s statement, we can no longer ignore the question of the sexuality of priests, because it is an integral part of a humanization of sexuality. How to take care of their humanity, if we continue to hide their sexuality and emotional loneliness? Celibacy is a state of life that can make others more available. Is it suitable for everyone? It would be dangerous to idealize it by considering it as a superior way because, unfortunately, it is sometimes the opposite that is observed: a facade rigidity which makes the reception of others difficult, especially if it is accompanied homophobic and misogynistic speeches. The idealization of an angelic model is dangerous. It generates multiple perversions. Informed moralists like Pascal or Nietzsche have kept on reminding him.
These questions are delicate. They do not only concern Catholics, let alone clerics, who can no longer be content to wash their dirty clothes with their families. The highlighting of the dysfunctions of the Church is often the act of actors outside the Church hierarchy, or even the Catholic community. We think of the victims’ associations that helped to “free the word”, the work of journalists and judicial authorities. In the movie Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2016), it is the Jewish journalist, outside the Catholic community of Boston, which highlights the systemic problem of pedophilia of priests. Some investigations are untenable, but we understand that they prove to be beneficial for the Church because they force us to leave a culture that confuses the necessary discretion with the concealment that hides the abuses and destroys the victims.
The possibility of criticism and fraternal correction is vital for a community. If the latter can not tolerate this foreign gaze and the possibilities of transformation that it brings, it lives in a self-referential defense of its survival. She scleroses herself and eventually dies. In this context, the establishment of independent and pluralistic commissions, such as the “Sauvé commission” to assess the extent of sexual abuse in the Church, is a salutary first initiative. The clerical syndrome thrives in closed societies (and here, only male), which think they have their own resources in themselves and believe themselves above the law.
