Opinion: loyalty can cause people to act in a way that is ultimately destructive for the institution they want to protect
A recent report by a grand jury in Pennsylvania details allegations and supporting evidence that implicates over 300 priests in the abuse of over 1,000 children. Now, the US Justice Department has decided open an investigation into the charges. The incident is far from the first case of widespread sexual abuse by the clergy. There have been credible reports of large-scale sexual abuse minors by members of the clergy in Australia (where both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were compelled to issue public apologies), Ireland, Northern Ireland, Germany and numerous other locations.
While tales of sexual abuse by clergy members get a great deal of attention in the press, it is important to keep in mind that sexual abuse is not a problem that is in any way unique to the clergy. Sexual abuse rates by Catholic clergy are not higher than clergy from other religions, are lower than comparable abuse rates for teachers and are lower than comparable abuse rates for the population in general.
But there is one thing that is potentially unique about reports of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, and that it the response of the Church. Despite occasional efforts to respond constructively to allegations of sexual abuse by the clergy, the common response of the Church, which is noted in the Pennsylvania report, is to engage in a variety of activities designed to minimise and cover up the abuse.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland, Christopher Lamb from The Tablet on the decision by the U.S. Justice Department to open a federal investigation into Catholic Church child abuse
These include transferring predator priests from parish to parish - or even country to country - and paying "hush money" to victims, ensuring their silence with restrictive nondisclosure agreements. As an organisation, the Catholic Church has been highly aggressive in covering up numerous instances of sexual abuse, and it is only the dogged actions of grand juries, newspapers (the Spotlight film tells the story of the efforts of the Boston Globe to investigate and publicise abuse) and commissions (the Catholic Church Commission on Child Sexual Abuse, also known as the Hussey Commission) that have bought forth detailed and credible information about sexual abuse by the clergy.
The perpetrators of child sexual abuse are sometimes deeply troubled individuals, many of whom are themselves victims of childhood sexual abuse and/or suffer from a variety of serious mental problems. This is not a way of excusing their actions, but it is notable to contrast the priests and other clergy who commit these vile acts with the clergy who have worked to minimise and cover up these horrible offences for so many years.
There is little evidence that these senior officials of the Church are mentally deficient or victims of some sort. Rather, they are generally smart and talented individuals who engage in a variety of truly noble acts, but who have also been a willing part of a machinery of corruption and deceit that undermines the gravely undermines the moral authority of the Church. The question is why such good people consistently engage in such bad behaviour.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio One's Drivetime, Melissa Darmody, clinical director of the Towards Healing helpline, on an increase of call from victims of abuse
First, it is important to keep in mind how common and widespread the instinct to cover up appears to be. Efforts by the Church as an institution to minimise and cover up sexual abuse have occurred across the globe and over a period of many years. This suggests that the causes of this behaviour are systemic and are not merely the result of moral shortcomings of a few flawed individuals. In studies of misbehaviour in organisations, a distinction is often made between bad apples (flawed individuals) and bad barrels (flawed organisations). Here, the problem appears to be a shortcoming of the organisation rather than shortcomings of the individual bishops, cardinals and the like.
In many ways, scandals in the Church resemble scandals in many police forces and departments. They involve two key patterns of thinking: (a) an "us vs. them" orientation and (b) a strong level of commitment to the organisation. Being a member of the clergy is different from being an employee of some company or corporation. Clergy members are set apart from the rest of society in a number of ways (such as the use of distinctive titles and attire) and they think of the Church as a critical part of their identity, not simply as the place where they happen to work.
The cover-up is very often the act of people in authority who mistakenly believe they are acting for the best to protect an institution that is at the core of their identity
This high level of distinctiveness, identify and even devotion is a tremendous asset in many ways, but it can also be a genuine problem when there is a threat to the organisation. When an institution of this sort is threatened, there is a strong tendency for members to "circle the wagons" and protect the institution at all costs. It is precisely because the Church is so much a part of the identity of so many of the clergy that they will be willing to do things that seem so counter to the morality that the Church preaches, such a shuffling priests from parish to parish so that their misdeeds do not catch up with them. One of the priests accused of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania was allegedly moved out of the priesthood into a job at Walt Disney World at the recommendation of the diocese.
It is often said that the cover up is worse than the crime. It is unlikely in this case that this is entirely true because the crime itself if so horrible. However, it is important to understand that the cover-up is quite different from the crime. Sexual abuse is often the act of an individual who may feel compelled to behave in this way and who may be influenced by his own experiences of abuse. This is not always the case; there are almost certainly many abusers who are cold, rational and calculating in their abuse of children under their supervision and care.
However, the cover-up is very often the act of people in authority who mistakenly believe they are acting for the best to protect an institution that is at the core of their identity. Loyalty and identification are usually thought to be important and valuable traits. But loyalty to the institution can pull people in the direction of misbehaviour that is ultimately quite destructive of the institution they so cherish.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
