For Christ's Sake. Bishop Geoffrey Robinson
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Bishop Geoffrey Robinson
FOR CHRIST’S SAKE
End Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church … for Good.
Published in Australia by
Garratt Publishing
32 Glenvale Crescent
Mulgrave, Vic. 3170
Copyright © Geoffrey Robinson 2013
All rights reserved.
Except as provided by the Australian copyright law, no part of this book may be reproduced in any way without permission in writing from the publisher.
Design and typesetting by Cristina Neri, Canary Graphic Design
Images: thinkstock.com
Printed in China by Tingleman
Scripture quotations are drawn from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.
Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
Book ISBN: 9781922152602
eBook ISBN: 9781922152886
Cataloguing in Publication information for this title is available from the National Library of Australia. www.nla.gov.au
The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge the permission granted to reproduce the copyright material in this book. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.
Garratt Publishing has included on its website a page for special notices in relation to this and our other publications. Please visit www.garrattpublishing.com.au
CONTENTS
PART ONE
Factors Contributing to Abuse
CHAPTER ONE
Moving From a Religion of Fear to a Religion of Love
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
The Mystique of the Priesthood
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
PART TWO
Factors Contributing to the Poor Response
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
Papal Infallibility and Prestige
PART THREE
Enabling a Healthy Response
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Sensus Fidei of the Whole Church
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A New Council for a New Church
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Voice of the People of God Petition for a Council
APPENDIX
INTRODUCTION
If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.
(MARK 9:42)
And yet, despite these words, thousands of priests and religious brothers worldwide have sexually abused minors, causing massive and lifelong harm.
When they first entered the seminary or novitiate, most of them were idealists, filled with enthusiasm for the message of Jesus and a desire to make the world a better place. Instead they have ended up violating every precept of Jesus, every teaching of the Church they profess to love, and every criterion of the most basic human decency.
There is an ancient saying: corruptio optimi pessima or, ‘the corruption of the best is the worst’. If those who start out with the highest ideals fall, there is no limit to the depths they can fall to.
When so many people act this badly, we can no longer limit our blame to the individuals, but must also look for factors within the very culture of the Church that have contributed. And when so many authorities in the Church have attempted to conceal the abuse, or treated victims of abuse as though they were an enemy of the Church, we must again look for systemic factors behind such behaviour, factors that are part of the very culture of the Church.
Recently, a group of experts in advertising and public relations was asked what steps it might suggest to present the religion of Islam in the best light. Among the ideas suggested were: encouraging the bulk of moderate Muslims to speak up and dissociate themselves from the terrorists and fundamentalists, using women wherever possible as spokespersons, and identifying the one or two central ethical values at the heart of Islam and showing how ordinary Muslims live