Most Priests Say Bishops Mishandled Abuse Issue

By Larry B. Stammer

Oct. 20, 2002 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Two-thirds of the nation’s Roman Catholic priests disapprove of the way that U.S. bishops have handled sexual abuse allegations against members of the clergy, a nationwide Los Angeles Times poll of the priesthood has found.

The findings of the poll, the most extensive nationwide opinion survey of American priests since 1994, point to a pervasive and deep-seated anger among many priests. Many are upset at the nation’s bishops. They are also, in many cases, angry at the news media.

In written comments that many priests submitted with the poll responses, they said bishops delayed dealing with the crisis in the first place, then compounded the problem by adopting a “zero-tolerance” policy, the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, that denies accused clerics their rights to due process.

But the poll also found a bedrock of faith among priests, happiness in their chosen vocation and a belief that the church will come out of the crisis stronger.

Nonetheless, in their comments on the sexual abuse policy, which the U.S. bishops approved in June, priests expressed many of the same objections raised by Vatican officials. On Friday the Vatican released a letter to the U.S. bishops saying some aspects of the policy conflict with church law and need to be changed.

Seventy-five percent of poll respondents said the charter has done a “good” or “excellent” job of protecting minors from sexual abuse by priests.

“Probably at this point the safest place for any kid to be is in the church,” said Father Frank Jasper, a Franciscan priest and psychotherapist in Indianapolis who agreed to a follow-up interview.

Fifty-five percent said the charter would restore confidence in the church.

But only 34% rated the charter’s fairness to priests accused of abuse as “good” or “excellent,” with 45% calling it “fair” or “poor” in that regard.

Like many other priests, Jasper, 56, who has been ordained for 29 years, said the charter was hastily put together under intense media pressure and undermined the due-process rights of priests guaranteed by the church’s canon law.

The sexual abuse scandal has resulted in an estimated 300 priests nationwide being removed from ministry and an unprecedented official apology from the church. The furor has taken a toll on the morale of priests who have never been accused of sexual abuse, the survey found.

“I feel so badly for the innocent victims, but in a way, I feel victimized by these sexual monsters because they, in a way, stole from me some of the pride and joy I had as a priest,” said one California cleric.

More than three out of five of those surveyed said they believed that most or many of the allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests were true. More than half, 53%, said they think the church has been too lenient in disciplining those accused of misconduct.

Yet in addition to disappointment with the bishops, many priests expressed anger at how the news media have covered cases of abuse. Seventy-three percent of priests responding to the survey said the news media had been “negative” in their treatment of the church.

“I’m terribly disappointed,” Father Eugene Burns of Chicago said in a follow-up telephone interview.

“I never saw anything about us who have borne the heat of the day and have been good, faithful priests,” said Burns, 74, who has been a priest 47 years. “They threw mud at all of us. I used to enjoy our national news, as well as local, but it was getting nauseating. So I just shut it off.”

Many said they were outraged by the publication of unproven allegations, particularly in cases involving alleged molestations that occurred decades ago and in which there had been no indication of further offenses.

“Faithful laity seems to forgive our sins. The press seems to delight in our sins,” a priest from New Jersey wrote.

Although there have been polls of rank-and-file Catholics and Americans in general since the sexual abuse scandal erupted in January in Boston and spread across the U.S., this poll marks the first attempt to survey the views of priests.

Catholic institutions have done some polls of the nation’s roughly 45,000 active and retired priests in recent years, but the current survey, conducted by the Los Angeles Times Poll, is the most extensive opinion survey of U.S. priests since a similar Times poll of priests and nuns conducted in 1993 and 1994.

The latest poll surveyed 1,854 priests nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Priests were given an opportunity to add written comments along with their answers. Some also agreed to follow-up interviews with Times reporters.

The poll found that overwhelmingly priests are happy with their vocations (70% say they are “very satisfied” with their lives as priests), approve of the way their local bishops manage their own dioceses (76%), and expect that in the long run the church will emerge from the crisis stronger and healthier.

“At 85 years of age, I see the ship listing greatly but not ready to sink,” commented one person who responded to the poll. “God’s promises are too convincing for that. I’ll stay on board with God’s help.”

Another said: “I believe the church will survive this scandal, as it has for the last 2,000 years. Hopefully, it will emerge more pure, more refined and more holy. I pray for that every day.”

But the priests also agreed that the current crisis is a serious one. Asked if the sex abuse scandal was the worst crisis the church in America has faced in a century, more than two-thirds said yes.

None of the priests in their written comments sought to excuse or minimize child abuse. As have U.S. bishops and Pope John Paul II, they expressed agreement that there is no room in the priesthood for those who would sexually abuse minors.

“They should be removed from ministry, but not publicly,” Burns said. “They must know that nobody’s above the law. It’s their fault. They’re stupid. They must have known it was wrong. Certainly, God wouldn’t look the other way. They had to know what a horrible disgrace. But the power of passion!”

Others faulted the bishops for waiting so long to address the issue of sexual abuse, which they began discussing at their national meetings at least as early as 1985.

“I’m very angry that no charges have been brought against” bishops who failed to protect children from molesters, “and at the present time it seems that no charges will ever be brought against them,” wrote one Pennsylvania priest.

“Heads have to roll in the episcopacy [bishops] before people are going to be satisfied,” commented a cleric from the northern Great Plains.

Wrote one Southern California priest: “I can’t wait for a bishop or cardinal to go to jail.”

About one-third of priests identified themselves as liberals in matters of doctrine; roughly another third identified themselves as conservatives. Both groups expressed criticisms of the bishops, but liberals were more likely to criticize them than conservatives, 76% versus 59%.

Many of the same priests also said the rights of the accused, as well as victims, must be honored. Many asked if Christian forgiveness had also become a victim of the scandal, particularly in cases in which a priest may have abused once decades ago and led an abuse-free life with an effective ministry ever since.

“The Dallas charter is so broad that it places most priests at risk of an unjust accusation,” wrote a cleric from upstate New York. “An allegation is regarded as proved if it is merely credible.”

Some came to the defense of the bishops. “The church is taking aggressive action to end these scandals. Please don’t make its task more difficult by trying to dictate how it should do its duty,” wrote one priest, adding that the church’s “leaders, wisely, are looking to, and praying to, God for help.”

Others, however, commented angrily on the fact that bishops are not subject to the rule requiring abusers’ removal from ministry and the priesthood. Sixty-five percent said the charter did a fair to poor job in providing for the discipline of bishops who cover up for abusive priests.

According to church law, only the pope can discipline a bishop. Nonetheless, the anger of some priests was palpable.

“In the end, the bishops have absolved themselves and will walk away unscathed,” wrote a priest from the New York City area. “Perhaps corporate America is following the bishops’ lead.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Voices From the Priesthood

“I love God, and Jesus Christ is a personal friend and I love being a Catholic priest!”

Priest from the mid-Atlantic region

“I love being a Catholic priest. I cannot imagine a more fulfilling life. I am called to be with people at the most significant moments of their life.”

Ohio priest

“I am ending up a lonely old man who wishes he would not have been ordained and could get free from the church. But, at this age and stage, I need it for retirement and financial aid. So I feel like a hypocrite.”

Priest from the northern Great Plains

“Most bishops and priests are good men -- sinful -- but trying to do God’s work: loving the people and the church. The one thing the present crisis has given us is an opportunity for humility. All of us.”

Midwestern priest

“I grieve the loss of a certain moral voice the bishops rightly had in challenging our culture to be better. This, next to the harm inflicted on the abused children and families, is the greatest loss suffered, and some bishops have only themselves to blame.”

Iowa priest

“Basically this is ‘Reformation time’ once again. It may take hundreds of years, but the church will be better for it.”

Minnesota priest

“I’m just glad that Christ doesn’t have a zero-tolerance policy for us!”

Illinois priest

“The bishops not only perpetuated harm upon those sexually abused, but now they put at social, spiritual and physical risk those of different sexual orientation. Shame!”

Illinois priest

“I don’t trust you, and I hope you get a taste of what you dish out.”

Louisiana priest, referring to the news media

“The media has been a great blessing to the priesthood, the church and, of course, to the victims.”

Southern California priest

“People complain that bishops don’t listen to the laity. Well, I’ve got news. They don’t consult their priests either!”

Southern California priest

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Sex scandal in the church

Do you approve or disapprove of the way bishops have handled allegations of child sexual abuse against their diocesan priests?

Approve strongly -- 7%

Approve somewhat -- 25%