Justice for All

On behalf of the bishops of the California Catholic Conference I wish to respond to the article in America by Marci A. Hamilton (9/25), who is both an attorney for plaintiffs suing the Catholic Church and a professor at Yeshiva University Law School. The full response to her article can be found at www.cacatholic.org.

Under the guise of presenting lessons from the crisis of sexual abuse of minors, America has provided one of the most vociferous and bitter critics of the Catholic Church with a forum to publish a new plaintiffs’ brief. In federal court, she has argued the case against the Diocese of San Diego in its challenge to the California law that repealed the statute of limitations for the duration of 2003. She has opposed the church in several major legal issues, including the Archdiocese of Portland bankruptcy action. To describe Professor Hamilton merely as having represented numerous survivors of sexual abuse by members of the clergy of various denominations on constitutional matters is not transparent and certainly not full disclosure for the readers of America.

Professor Hamilton completely ignored the findings of the John Jay Report. The directors of that Report describe it as one of the most extensive collections about sexual abuse of minors and one of a very small number not based on forensic content. As such, it is a very valuable source of knowledge about sexual offending (John Jay 2006 Supplementary Report).

Her book God vs. the Gavel (2005) makes extravagant claims about abuse in the 1990’s that are not sustained by evidence. She has defended California’s targeting of the Catholic Church, and she promoted the same cause in Colorado. However, the John Jay Report shows that after 1985, as society became more familiar with the evil of sexual abuse of minors, church authorities dealt with it vigorously, and that it declined precipitously in subsequent years.

We agree with Professor Hamilton that the protection of children must be an absolute priority. However, we note that her priority extends only to children abused in private institutions. Sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is a terrible tragedy, but it represents a small fraction of one percent of the whole unfortunate problem of sexual abuse of minors. Clearly the extension of the civil statute of limitations in California targeted the Catholic Church. That is how it was drawn up, and that is how it operated. In fact, the thousands of children Professor Hamilton claims were abused in churches during the 1990’s were more likely abused in public institutions, but she closes out the possibility of suits against those institutions.

The Catholic bishops of California reaffirm their absolute commitment to keeping the church safe for all, particularly children. They hope that the lessons learned and the evidence provided regarding sexual abuse will be of universal assistance in dealing with this terrible problem. Our society must go beyond identifying sexual abuse as a Catholic issue. It must treat all victims equally and not just focus on those whom trial lawyers can select to make a great deal of money for themselves. Justice must include all children.

(Most Rev.) Stephen E. Blaire

Effective Preaching

Camille D’Arienzo, R.S.M., (Preaching: A Ministry [Still] in Distress 9/18) has it exactly right. The church needs better preaching. This seemed especially urgent after hearing Walter Burghardt, S.J., on several occasions and recognizing the impact of great preaching. I agree as well that the restriction on nonordained preaching at Mass has diminished the effectiveness of our spreading the word.

Two experiences came to mind, both related particularly to women preaching. The first occurred in 1995 at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Providence, where because of the illness of their priest the sisters conducted Communion services. Two of the three women who preached were extraordinary; both had earned Ph.D. degrees.

Then in 1996 I heard Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P., at evening prayer at the opening of the Cardinal Suenens Symposium at John Carroll University. It was May 31 and she preached on the Gospel of the day, the Visitation story. I doubt that any man could have done it as well, and it occurred to me then that only a pregnant woman could have been seen as perhaps more empathetic. The following day in the presentations of charisms, Sister Hilkert presented The Charism of the Exegete: Unleashing the Power of the Word, as well as a talk entitled, Anointed and Sent: Preaching the Prophetic Word. She was to me the most charismatic of the speakers (preachers) of the symposium.

It is high time we consider anointing persons to preach and sending them out, because the people are indeed searching for effective preaching. And if commissioning is necessary, let’s begin anointing more preachers.

William J. Duhigg, M.D.