A query to Monsignors -- Mistoqsija lill-Monsinjuri

'Monsignor' is a title that Catholic clergy can be given as an acknowledgement for their special service to the church, when the Pope accepts a proposal to that effect from the local bishop.  Two years ago, the current Pope Francis decided to abolish this, or limit to whom this title can be given1, with the intention of the church being viewed as more modest.  Those already having the title are unaffected.

 

I am here not necessarily taking the formal definition of the title, but addressing those who are also referred to in the same way in an honorary capacity or out of respect.

 

This respect is diminishing by the day, as more and more slime is discovered in the disgusting story of child sex abuse in Australia by priests or members of religious orders.  This abuse, I hasten to add, is not limited to the Catholic Church, and neither to the Christian religion, nevertheless here I will talk about the Catholic Church, as that is the religion I was born to in the land of my birth Malta, and to which I consider myself a member still today in Australia.

 

At the start of February 2017, from the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse, we learnt that between 1950 and 2010, 7% of Catholic clergy were accused of this crime.2  In three orders - the Salesians, Christian Brothers and Marist Brothers, this figure rose to 20% and in another, St John of God Brothers, it rose further, incredibly, to 40%.  In other words, almost one in two brothers of this latter order one might have encountered, today has been accused of sexual abuse.

 

A fortnight later, another news snippet, from testimony to the same Commission, that until 2015, the Catholic Church had paid $276 million in compensation, treatment and other costs related to sexual abuse.  This is not a typo - $276 million, more than a quarter of a billion Australian dollars, a number that leaves you breathless, coming from an organisation which claims to speak with authority in the name of God.

 

There was also the detail that the highest number of calls for compensation from a single facility came from a residential facility in Queensland run by the De La Salle Brothers.3  This was quite a shock for me, as I had spent 10 years as a student in a De La Salle College in Malta.

 

I would like to ask the church Monsignors, from your experience of special service within the church, and the bishops who proposed them:

 

• •why is the incidence of clergy accused of child sex abuse, 7%, so high, even higher than other estimates of paedofilia in the general population (1-5%)4?  What is there in the conditions of life for those ordained to be contributing to this? 

• •how many of these cases of abuse could have been avoided if the administration of religious orders, officials and bishops concerned did not play merry-go-round, with incompetence second to none, by shifting some of those accused of this abuse from one place to the next?  When this happened, do you think there should be some consequence to those taking such decisions? 

• •How many of these $276 million paid until two years back came, directly or indirectly, from contributions of the faithful during Mass on Sunday and other days, and are still contributing today?  Do you think that those involved in this abuse, whether by commission (guilty of performing the abuse) or omission (which were supposed to do something but didn't, or took a foolish decision), should contribute their share? 

• •how can the Church expect Christians to autonomously go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to admit their sins and ask for forgiveness, when the Church itself had to be dragged in front of a lay commission for the truly astronomical scale of the problem to be revealed, and for us to finally start hearing some admission of the systematic cover-up by the Church of what was going on and the shoddy treatment of victims?  Do you still think it's sufficient to have a Bible and the social teachings of the Church for moral guidance of humanity in daily life, or in fact there are circumstances in which Christians have much to learn from other traditions, not only religious but also lay institutions? 

 

It will be interesting to see if I am deemed worthy of a response to these queries, or whether it is thought that my place is not to ask questions but just to recite the Creed at the appropriate time during Mass and say “Amen” when my puppet strings are pulled.

 

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'Monsinjur' huwa titlu li membri tal-kleru fil-knisja Kattolika jista' jingħatalhom bħala rikonoxximent għal xogħol ta' servizz speċjali tal-knisja, meta l-Papa tal-ġurnata jaċċetta proposta li tkun saritlu mill-isqof tal-lokal.  Minn sentejn ilu 'l hawn, il-Papa preżenti Franġisku ddeċieda li jabolixxi dan, jew li jillimita lil min dan it-titlu jingħata1, bl-għan li t-tmexxija tal-knisja tidher iktar modesta.  Min diġà għandu dan it-titlu mhux affettwat.

 

Jien hawnhekk m'iniex neċessarjament qed nieħu l-veduta formali tat-titlu, imma nindirizza wkoll lil dawk li normalment jiġu msejħin hekk b'mod onorarju jew b'rispett.

 

Dan ir-rispett qiegħed jonqos bil-ġurnata, hekk kif jinkixef iktar ħmieġ fl-istorja diżgustanti tal-abbuż sesswali ta' minorenni fl-Awstralja minn membru tal-kleru jew ordnijiet reliġjużi.  Dan l-abbuż, ngħaġġel biex inżid, mhux limitat għall-knisja Kattolika, u lanqas għar-reliġjon nisranija, madankollu hawn se nitkellem fuq diak Kattolikau, għax dik hija r-reliġjon li twelidt fiha f'art twelidi Malta, u li għadni nqisni membru tagħha llum fl-Awstralja.

 

Fil-bidu ta' Frar 2017, mill-Kummissjoni Rjali fuq l-Abbuż Sesswali tal-Minorenni, sirna nafu li bejn l-1950 u l-2010, 7% tal-qassisin Kattoliċi kienu akkużati b'dan l-abbuż.2  Fi tliet ordnijiet, is-Salesjani, il-Christian Brothers u l-Marist Brothers, din il-figura telgħet għal 20%, u f'ieħor (St John of God Brothers) kienet, inkredibbilment, 40%.  Fi kliem ieħor, kważi wieħed minn kull żewġ fratelli ta' din l-ordni li wieħed seta' jiltaqa' miegħu, illum hija akkużata b'abbuż sesswali.

 

Ħmistax wara, kellna aħbar oħra, minn xhieda fl-istess Kummissjoni, li sal-2015 il-knisja Kattolika kienet ħallset $276 miljun f'kumpens, trattament u spejjeż oħra marbutin mal-abbuż sesswali.  Dan mhux żball - $276 miljun, iktar minn kwart ta' biljun dollaru Awstraljan, figura li taqtagħlek nifsek, ġejja minn organizzazzjoni li tgħid li titkellem b'awtorità f'isem Alla.

 

Ħareġ ukoll id-dettall li l-iktar ammont ta' sejħiet għal kumpens minn faċilità waħda kienet minn post ta' kura residenzjali fi Queensland mħaddma mill-Brothers ta' De La Salle.3  Din kienet pjuttost ta' xokk għalija, għax jien għamilt għaxar snin student f'kulleġġ ta' De La Salle f'Malta.

 

Jien nixtieq nistaqsi lill-monsinjuri tal-knisja, mill-esperjenza ta' servizz speċjali fi ħdan il-knisja, u 'l-isqfijiet li pproponewhom:

 

• •għaliex l-inċidenza ta' kleru akkużat b'abbuż sesswali kontra l-minorenni, 7%, huwa daqshekk għoli, iktar għoli minn stimi oħra ta' pedofili fil-popolazzjoni ġenerali (1-5%)4?  Hemm xi ħaġa fil-kundizzjonijiet tal-għajxien ta' min huwa ordnat li qed jikkontribwixxu għal dan? 

• •kemm minn dawn il-każijiet ta' abbuż seta' ġie evitat kieku l-amministraturi tal-ordnijiet reliġjużi, l-uffiċjali u l-isqfijiet konċernati ma qagħdux jilagħbu dawra durella, b'inkompetenza liema bħalha, billi jċaqilqu minn post għall-ieħor lil uħud minn dawk akkużati b'dan l-abbuż?  Meta jkun sar dan, taħsbu li għandu jkun hemm xi konsegwenza fuq min ħa d-deċiżjoni? 

• •Kemm minn dawk il-$276 miljun li tħallsu sa sentejn ilu ġew, direttament jew indirettament, mill-kontribuzzjonijiet ta' dawk li jattendu l-quddies ta' nhar ta' Ħadd u ġranet oħra, u għadhom jikkontribwixxu sal-lum?  Taħsbu li dawk li kienu involuti fl-abbuż, kemm dawk li għamlu kummissjoni (ħatja li wettqu l-abbuż), jew li għamlu omissjoni (li suppost għamlu ħaġa imma m'għamluhiex, jew li ħadu deċiżjoni bażwija), għandhom jikkontribwixxu sehemhom? 

• •Kif tista' l-knisja tippretendi lil l-insara li waħedhom jersqu għas-sagrament tal-qrar biex jammettu d-dnubiet tagħhom u jitolbu maħfra, meta l-knisja stess kellha bżonn li titressaq quddiem kummissjoni lajka biex joħroġ ċar l-iskala astronomika tal-problema u biex fl-aħħar nibdew nisimgħu ammissjonijiet tal-ħabi sistematiku mill-knisja tal-aġir li sar u t-trattament ħażin tal-vittmi?  Għadkom taħsbu li hu biżżejjed li wieħed jieħuikollu l-Bibbja u t-tagħlim soċjali tal-knisja biex jiggwida moralment l-azzjonijiet tal-bniedem fil-ħajja ta' kuljum, jew li fil fatt hemm ċerti ċirkustanzi li fihom l-Insara għandhom ħafna x'jitgħallmu kif għandhom iġibu ruħhom minn tradizzjonijiet oħra, mhux biss reliġjużi imma wkoll istituzzjonijiet lajċi? 

 

Se jkun interessanti nara jekk niġix meqjus denju li nirċievi tweġiba għal dawn il-mistoqsijiet, jew jekk jinħasibx li posti mhux li nistaqsi imma biss li ngħid il-Kredu fil-ħin il-propizju waqt il-quddies u “Amen” x'ħin tinġibidli l-ispaga.

 

1https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/report-pope-abolishes-monsignor-honor-most-priests, retrieved 20/2/2017

2http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/02/05/catholic-church-under-royal-commission-spotlight/, retrieved 20/2/2017

3http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-16/catholic-church-paid-almost-300m-to-victims-survivors-rc-hears/8276104, retrieved 20/2/2017

4http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28526106, retrieved 20/2/2017

1https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/report-pope-abolishes-monsignor-honor-most-priests, retrieved 20/2/2017

2http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/02/05/catholic-church-under-royal-commission-spotlight/, retrieved 20/2/2017

3http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-16/catholic-church-paid-almost-300m-to-victims-survivors-rc-hears/8276104, retrieved 20/2/2017

4http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28526106, retrieved 20/2/2017