Bishops get an earful from nun on sex abuse
VATICAN CITY: A Catholic nun told bishops yesterday to acknowledge the church’s hypocrisy in its handling of the sexual abuse crisis, and a cardinal admitted case files had been destroyed.
Sister Veronica Openibo, a Nigerian who has worked in Africa, Europe and the United States, spoke with a soft voice but had a strong message for the prelates sitting before her, telling them: “This storm will not pass.”
She delivered her talk at the start of the penultimate day of a Vatican summit of some 200 senior Church officials convened by Pope Francis to confront what he has called the scourge of sexual abuse by the clergy.
“We proclaim the 10 Commandments and parade ourselves as being the custodians of moral standards and values and good behaviour in society.
“Hypocrites at times? Yes! Why did we keep silent for so long?”
She told the pope, sitting near her on the dais, that she admired him because he was “humble enough to change your mind”, apologise and take action after he initially defended a Chilean bishop accused of covering up abuse. The bishop later resigned.
She spoke of her shock when she watched the 2015 Oscar-winning film Spotlight, which uncovered how Church leaders in Boston moved predator priests from parish to parish instead of defrocking them or turning them over to civil authorities.
She said Church leaders must shed their habit of hiding events for fear of making a mistake.
“Too often we want to keep silent until the storm has passed. This storm will not pass by. Our credibility is at stake,” she said, adding that the Church’s male hierarchy should allow women to be involved in fighting abuse.
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx called for more “traceability and transparency” in dealing with the issue, such as limiting pontifical secrecy in cases of abuse handled by the Vatican.
“Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created. Instead of the perpetrators, the victims were regulated and silence imposed on them,” Marx, a leading progressive, said.
“The thoughts of some abuse victims can be summarised as follows: If the Church claims to act in the name of Jesus, yet I am treated so badly by the Church or its administration, then I would also like to have nothing to do with this Jesus,” he said.