OKC Catholic archbishop, priests respond to pope’s letter
When the doors opened, the Rev. Rick Stansberry stepped into the hospital elevator and noticed a man and a young boy were already inside.
As the two prepared to get out, the boy asked the man why they were getting off on a floor that wasn’t where they were originally headed.
“Because it’s not safe with him in here,” the man said, glancing at Stansberry who wore the clerical collar readily identifying him as a Catholic priest.
The memory of that 2002-2003 encounter recently came bubbling to the surface when Stansberry learned about a grand jury report sharing sordid details about alleged clergy sex abuse in several Pennsylvania dioceses and the decades-long efforts to cover it up.
“We had that back in 2002. We thought we closed the book on that, and then here we go again,” Stansberry, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Nichols Hills, said Monday.
“I am as angry, frustrated, hurt and depressed as anybody else. It’s my vocation that’s being put on the line because of the actions and inactions of a few.”
On Monday, Pope Francis released a letter to Catholics around the world expressing his condemnation of the “crimes” of priestly sexual abuse and their concealment by leaders in the Church.
He demanded accountability and also begged forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims.
The pope said lay Catholics must be involved in the effort to root out abuse and cover-up.
He criticized the clerical culture that has been blamed for the crisis, with church leaders more concerned for
their reputation than the safety of children.
“With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives,” Francis wrote.
“We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”
The Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, emphasized the pope’s point that such moral lapses effect the entire Church.
“Pope Francis rightfully states that ‘if one member suffers, all suffer together with it,’” he said.
“We are heartbroken and angered by the recent revelations of horrific abuse suffered by innocent children at the hands of priests and bishops who they should have been able to trust. These crimes make us even more resolute that we are clear about expectations of a safe environment for children in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.”
Stansberry said he was glad to see the pope’s response to the Pennsylvania controversy. He said he talked about the Pennsylvania report during his homily on Sunday and, in speaking to his parishioners afterward, realized that, like him, many of them were angry about the way clergy leaders allegedly brushed the allegations and documented abuse aside.
Along those lines, Stansberry said he didn’t think the pope addressed the cover up as much as he hoped he would.
“It’s a crisis of leadership from the top down,” he said. “I’ve been a priest for 26 years now and I never thought that I would be talking about something like this. There’s no playbook for that.”
Meanwhile, the Rev. Brian Buettner, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Lawton, said he thought
the pope’s letter as the Church’s “principal shepherd” was beautiful.
Buettner said he, too, discussed the ramifications of the Pennsylvania report during his homily Sunday. He said he felt “righteous anger” about members of the clergy who “used their positions as shepherd to basically destroy souls.”
Buettner, who has been a priest for five years, said he has always worn
his cleric’s collar with pride but he has felt more self-conscious about it in the past few days.
“I don’t know if people are seeing me as one of those priests,” he said. “It’s just so contrary to who I am as a priest.
“It just makes me sick and so sad.”
The Rev. Stephen Bird, pastor of Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church, said he prayed about what to say to his congregation about the recent news stories.
“The reports were disturbing to me and I’m sure disturbing to many of our parishioners,” he said.
Bird said during weekend Masses, he read Coakley’s statement on the issue and spoke briefly about his parish’s monthly safeenvironment training which is required before anyone can become a volunteer or a paid member of the staff.
The priest said he also asked his parishioners to pray for all those who were abused. Stansberry said he continues to have hope for the Church.
“I think good will come out of it because we will be a holier Church, but it’s painful to go through the purification process.”