Persevering in Faithfulness to Christ’s Church During Ecclesial Uncertainty, by Paul Senz
February 18, 2025Fr. Jerry Pokorsky: The Crown of Human Perfection
February 18, 2025
By Bill Crane Jr., Daily Record, February 17, 2025
I am a survivor of childhood clergy sexual abuse from two priests in New Jersey. In 2002, I attended the bishops’ conference in Dallas, Texas at which hundreds of Catholic officials — facing massive public and parishioner pressure due to a flood of abuse and cover-up cases — grudgingly adopted some “reforms.”
They enacted the so-called Dallas Charter, which pledged to dramatically change how the church handled these widespread and devastating crimes.
The document, affirmed by virtually every U.S. bishop, is chock full of encouraging phrases and sweeping promises, like “disciplining offenders,” “cooperating with civil authorities,” “creating a safe environment for children and young people,” “providing for accountability” and more.
My initial reaction was hopeful. I recall thinking, “Now at last we have some guidelines and bylaws to hold those in authority accountable.”
Unfortunately, my optimism was soon shattered, as New Jersey bishops Ted McCarrick, Frank Rodimer, John Myers, Joseph Tobin, Joseph Galante and Dennis Sullivan repeatedly violated both the letter and the spirit of the Charter.
Through the aid of shrewd and ruthless lawyers, church officials continued (and continue to this day) to be as secretive as possible, endangering vulnerable children and intimidating wounded victims, sometimes to the breaking point. (In my experience, being sodomized by a priest was actually less awful than being cross-examined by church attorneys like Michael Critchley, who use the same logic as Nazi war criminals in the Nuremberg trials, who proclaimed, “I was just doing my job.”)
So what looked like a very belated step in the right direction, towards ‘openness and transparency’ and children’s safety, turned out to be a band aid on a deep, infected and still oozing wound. The Charter was a savvy public relations maneuver, designed NOT to bring reform, but to deceive the flock into believing that this rigid, centuries old, all male monarchy was willing and able to really change.
Many others I’ve spoken with — victims, Catholics, parents — feel just as betrayed as I do.
