Priests Begin Public Penance in O.C.

In the first public penance by Roman Catholic priests since the church’s national sex scandal broke 11 months ago, 16 clerics in Santa Ana began Wednesday to perform acts of contrition suggested by molestation victims.

Under the glare of television lights and before a crowd of reporters from as far away as Boston, the priests met at a homeless shelter to decide how to show they are sorry for what some of their brethren have done. Many undertook their penances right away; one read stories to children in the shelter, and others did without their cars for the day. Today, Father Steve Sallot plans to work as a janitor’s assistant at his parish’s parochial school in Dana Point.

One participant, Father Leo Celano, acknowledged that some may see the gesture as a publicity stunt. “People will think that we’re grandstanding,” he said. But no matter what, “we’re responsible for apologizing” for the actions of some in the clergy.

“This is the beginning of a [national] grass-roots movement by local priests, which is very moving,” said Father Joseph Palacios, a Georgetown University professor who said he attended the meeting as both a cleric and a sociologist studying the movement.

Palacios said the event, held at a homeless shelter run by the independent Catholic Worker organization, was the first public spiritual response taken by U.S. priests to reach out to victims of sexual abuse.

“The American priesthood is in crisis on many levels,” said Palacios, adding that clerics and others tend to blame something impersonal: “It’s the Vatican. It’s the bishops. It’s celibacy. These priests here are showing a deeper level of our own responsibility at the parish level.”

Despite the public penances performed or promised by priests who attended, the single victim of sexual abuse who showed up at the meeting said it was the two words spoken by Celano that meant the most.

Ending an awkward silence that developed as a dozen priests met with Mary Ferrell, a 54-year-old nurse from Lakewood, Celano told her: “We apologize.” Tears immediately flooded her eyes. “It was what I came to hear,” said Ferrell after the meeting. She alleged that a now-dead priest from a San Pedro parish had molested her beginning at age 7. “I don’t understand why the rest [of the church] doesn’t get it.”

Celano is a Norbertine priest from St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado Canyon in south Orange County. His penance for Wednesday was to give up his car and use only public transportation, causing him to wonder if bus service ran out to his abbey. “It’s going to be a dreadful price if we don’t do this,” he said. “We don’t have a choice.”

The idea for the public penances came from two Orange County priests, John McAndrew and Bill Barman, who said they had grown tired of blaming others for the church’s sexual abuse scandal. Last month, they decided to dig out a centuries-old spiritual tool, the public penance, in hopes of showing victims and others that some in the clergy understand the depth of the wounds inflicted on victims by the church. Their hope was for the public penances to be performed throughout the country in the coming months.

“Long after this scandal recedes in memory and all the lawsuits are settled, the wound to the Body of Christ will remain,” McAndrew said. “We who are called to minister as priests recommit ourselves to this ministry of reconciliation.”

Initial publicity seeking penance suggestions resulted in about 100 calls, one from as far away as Alaska, to a makeshift hotline at the Catholic Worker. Many were from people who said they were victims of sexual abuse by priests.

“I really felt on holy ground every time I answered the phone,” said Leia Smith, who took many of the calls.

After an initial media briefing Wednesday, the priests met privately to sing a hymn, pray and then consider their acts of contrition.

Among the suggestions displayed on slips of paper on a wood table that also held a lighted candle and Bible: Forgo alcohol for one year, since in many of the abuse cases, alcohol was a factor. Wear clerical attire to a shopping mall where the priests may encounter hostile stares and comments. Get clothes from a Catholic charity to wear for a day and give your favorite clothes to charity.

Jaime Soto, auxiliary bishop for the Orange diocese, said he vowed two penances: One, to pray the rosary each Friday with the victims in mind. And two, to lead question-and-answer sessions about the sexual-abuse scandal at all Orange County Catholic high schools.

Soto said he and the others often faced this question from parishioners: Why didn’t you know?

“The pain of what our brother priests have done, and the pain of our negligence or blindness is very palpable here,” Soto said.

Father James Reis of St. Irenaeus Church in Cypress said he took part in the public penance in hopes of making parishes once again places of refuge.

“I want to make the church safe again,” he said. “If someone’s home or neighborhood isn’t safe, the church has always been. People need a safe place to go.”

Handed out to the priests at the meeting was a card carrying the words of St. Francis of Assisi: “We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has broken apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.”