Ellen Roof, Culture & Thought Editor

Earlier this week Dr. Kathleen McChesney spoke in McKenna Hall on the important issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.  Sexual abuse scandals have haunted the Catholic Church for quite some time, bringing negative media attention and somewhat tarnishing the Church’s reputation.  McChesney had the chance to help the Church establish clearer policies about the prevention of sexual abuse and outreach to victims of past abuse.

Protecting the vulnerable has been an issue close to McChesney’s heart since the beginning of her career.  McChesney has been a strong leader in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, acting as a Special Agent and heading field offices in Chicago and Portland.  She was appointed Executive Director of the Office of Child Protection for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) following her thirty-two years in law enforcement.

McChesney began her talk by stressing that sexual abuse of children is not exclusively a problem in the Catholic Church.  The nature and scope of this issue is widespread.  Sadly, most cases occur within families.  Children who suffer from sexual abuse are most often abused by trusted adults, whether these adults are parents, counselors, or even priests.

McChesney discussed the extensive suffering victims of this sexual abuse from clergy experience.  “There is a physical harm, a psychological harm, and a spiritual harm.  For victims, there is a connection between the Church, God, and the abuse.”  McChesney noted that victims react differently to the abuse.  Some use their faith to overcome the tragedy, while others lose their faith in God and their trust in humans.  “This terrible secondary tragedy, losing one’s faith, is what makes this issue even more terrible,” McChesney stated.

In recent years, the Church has put forth great effort to help the victims of abuse and to prevent any future abuse.  Initially, the bishops’ idea of fixing the problem was to settle, treat and transfer.  First, the bishops would apologize extensively to the victims and his or her family, promising nothing like this would happen again.  Next, the accused clergy member would be sent for treatment.  It was once believed that sexual abusers could be “cured,” which we now know is not the case.  Treatment centers can remove some of the contributing behaviors that lead to abuse, such as alcoholism, but cannot truly cure the offenders.  After the treatment, the accused clergy members were generally transferred to other dioceses, where they were once again in the position to potentially abuse once again.

The USCCB has commissioned further investigations into the nature and scope of sexual abuse and the causes and context of the abuse, learning a great deal about how to better prevent these crimes from happening.  Since 2002 there has been great progress in reaching out to prior victims of abuse, offering them counseling and help in any way possible.  The Church has also completed background checks of over two million clergy, educators, and volunteers.  Additionally, over two million adults and five million children have been trained in age-appropriate courses dealing with sexual abuse—how to recognize it and what to do about it.

McChesney praises the great strides the Church has made in fixing this problem, but emphasizes that any number of sexual abuse cases – no matter how low – is still too high.  She challenged all those involved in research to look into what causes people to sexually abuse others in order to end these crimes once and for all.  “People ask me whether the Catholic Church is a safe environment for children, and I truly believe it is,” McChesney stated.  “For the Church to continue nourishing children, however, we must continue to protect them from any potential harm.”

Ellen Roof is a sophomore majoring in psychology and marketing.  Email her at eroof@nd.edu to complain about the recent freezing temperatures and reminisce about being tan.