Public Comment

Pope Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI (formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) died at age 95. He was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. 

Benedict’s death is an opportunity to reexamine the policies and practices of the Vatican and high-level officials of the Catholic Church that have covered up and enabled the heinous crimes of pedophilia among the Roman Catholic clergy. Some observers have estimated that the number of victims of sexual violence by Church clergy that occurred over the past three decades is 330,000 . 

Since 1981, when then Cardinal Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he had primary responsibility for dealing with the clergy's sex crimes. His refusal to decisively address the epidemic – and discipline Church officials who protected predator priests – was exacerbated when he became Pope. He failed to enforce a zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse. About 4% of priests in ministry from the study period (1950-2002) were accused of sexual abuse. Pope Francis has been quoted as saying about 1 in 50 pedophile Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals are still active in the Church. 

And we hear very little about the victims of these pedophile priests. Pedophile priests acted criminally by taking advantage of the intimate trust of their youngest and most vulnerable parishioners. But it is also apparent that the Catholic Church itself, rather than acting decisively to end the victimizations and facilitate prosecutions, had engaged in a systematic effort to shield predator priests dating back several decades. Childhood sexual abuse can lead to long-term consequences including higher levels of depression, guilt, shame, self-blame, eating disorders, somatic concerns, anxiety, dissociative patterns, repression, denial, sexual problems, and relationship problems. 

The heinous nature of pedophilia among Roman Catholic priest was brought home to me in the two-part Canadian docudrama based on real events, "The Boys of St. Vincent." The first part of the docudrama is set In the 1970s, where boys at St. Vincent's, a Roman Catholic orphanage in St. John's, Newfoundland, are repeatedly victimized emotionally and physically by the brutal superintendent, Brother Lavin, as well as by other members of the clergy. Eventually the orphanage's secrets are laid bare, but the church seeks to cover up the scandal. 

The second part is set fifteen years later when the various boys are brought in to testify against the brothers, who are now finally standing trial for assaulting them when they were children. The former head of the orphanage, Peter Lavin, has been married for several years at this point, has two children, and is living in Montreal when he is placed under arrest and brought to stand trial. While he maintains his innocence, the boy he favored during those years, are faced with revisiting the abuse and trauma they sustained as children. 

At Benedict's resignation and self-imposed exile, the reputation of the Catholic Church was left in tatters. There continues to be speculation whether Benedict was forced to resign or did so of his own accord.