Prayer of Ordination of a Priest

As so many of us take part in Ordinations to the Priesthood these days, we are presented a wonderful opportunity to listen carefully to the Prayer of Ordination which the Bishop prays over the ordinand after the imposition of hands.  The prayer offers a wonderful summary of who this new Priest is and what he will do.  This reflection on the Prayer of Ordination is largely taken from my book, The Mass Explained (Catholic Book, 2009).

The Prayer of Ordination is based largely upon one found in the Gelasian Sacramentary and may well date to sometime in the late fifth century.  The prayer begins with a sense of urgency:

Draw near, O Lord, holy Father,

almighty and eternal God,

author of human dignity:

it is you who apportion all graces.

through you everything progresses;

through you all things are made to stand firm.  

Adesto (Draw near!) is an unusual word in Roman Catholic euchology.  It is used only when the Church wants God to change something: Draw near and change this oil into Sacred Chrism, this bread and wine into the Body and Blood of your Son, this man into a Priest!

We beg God with such urgency to draw near precisely because we know he can change things.  He is the creator: almighty and eternal.  God our Father is the one who apportions all graces: nothing has meaning or value without him.  It is only through him that things get better and only through him that things can remain the same, for he “fills the earth with goodness,” and it is “by the Lord's word the heavens were made…” (Psalm 32: 5, 6)

Thus he is the author of human dignity.  He caused us to be made in his own image and likeness and has made us “a little less than the angels.” (Hebrews 2:7)

To form a priestly people 

you appoint ministers of Christ your Son

by the power of the Holy Spirit, 

arranging them in different orders.

After the opening of the prayer establishes God’s power, the next paragraph describes what he has done in the past.  He formed a Priestly People.  This early reference to the “common priesthood” is important.  For no ecclesial ministry is ever a good in itself.  Rather, God appoints ministers for the sustenance and support of a priestly people. (Revelation 1:6)

This was the problem Saint Paul had with the Corinthians and charismatic gifts.  As individuals bragged that they had a better gift than anyone else, Paul admonishes them that unless the gift is for the up building of the Church, it has no value. (1 Corinthians 14)

So, it is for the sake of this priestly people that God appoints ministers of Christ his Son. He arranges them in different orders (different gifts) by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Cf. Romand 15:14)  Saint Paul, once again, struggles with the primordial challenge of ministry referenced here.  As soon as God creates different orders, rivalries and resentments grow up.  He responds, like this prayer, by reminding us that there are many gifts, but the same spirit, and that all the gifts are equal: each given for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Even in our own day, the battles over the ordination of women are born of the idea that ordained ministry is the “better” part, and by not ordaining women they have been relegated to a second class.  As the prayer suggests, however, these “different orders” are the will of God and are created by the Holy Spirit who “produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.” (1 Corinthians 12:11)

God is the source of all ministries, for he is the author of the priestly people whom they are made to serve.

Already in the earlier covenant

there grew up offices, established through mystical rites:

when you set Moses and Aaron over your people

to govern and sanctify them,

you chose men next in rank and dignity

to accompany them and assist them in their task.

Now begins a description of how God created precursors to the ministry of Priest in the Old Testament.  In both instances, these offices were established to choose helpers (“men next in rank and dignity”) to assist Moses and Aaron

Both precursing ministries were established by “mystical rites,” (sacramentis mysticis).  These rites, however, are, as the Fathers of the Church would insist, mere shadows of the Sacraments of the New Covenant in Christ’s Blood.  Nonetheless, they are willed by God for the care of his people and, in some way reflect the rites of the heavenly liturgy, somehow shared with Israel in the tabernacle. (Cf. Exodus 25-30) As such, these rites are “mystical,” characterized by mystery and awe. 

The first type of the Priesthood is found in the seventy wise men who were given a part of the spirit of Moses to help rule the people.

So too in the desert  

you implanted the spirit of Moses

in the hearts of seventy wise men;

and with their help he ruled your people with greater ease.

The story comes from Numbers 11: 10-17, 24-30.  Moses is beside himself with the demands of the Israelites in the desert.  He hears “family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents…” How many times does the parish priest feel the same way?  But what does he do?  Does he withdraw from God, pouting like a petulant child?  Or does he go to God in prayer with the confidence and the intimacy of Moses?

"Why do you treat your servant so badly?" Moses asked the LORD. "Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people? Was it I who conceived all this people? or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? Where can I get meat to give to all this people? For they are crying to me, 'Give us meat for our food.' I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress."

Often, priests like spouses, are afraid they can only bring good news to their most beloved.  But like the father of the prodigal, God our Father is ever waiting for is to pour out our hearts to him.  Christ, who became like us in all things but sin, knows the fear and trembling, the ache and the agony of the human heart.  Christ, who chose you, Father, to share in his Priesthood, wants you to succeed.  And so, God waits for us.

Some problems can only be solved by God and the solution God has for Moses is to give him some helpers.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, men you know for true elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the meeting tent. When they are in place beside you, I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will bestow it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself. 

So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. Gathering seventy elders of the people, he had them stand around the tent. The LORD then came down in the cloud and spoke to him. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied. 

Sometimes when we refuse to bring our deepest pains to God, the devil plants a sneaking suspicion in our minds that God won’t or can’t do anything about it.  We are tempted to believe that the one who made us, loved us, and chose us doesn’t or can’t care enough to help us.

Yet Moses’ agony in the desert with his ungovernable people concludes with a final lesson in the omnipotence of God.  For two of the seventy never showed up for the ordination at the tabernacle.

Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; yet the spirit came to rest on them also, and they prophesied in the camp. So, when a young man quickly told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp," Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses' aide, said, "Moses, my lord, stop them." But Moses answered him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!" Then Moses retired to the camp, along with the elders of Israel. 

Moses sounds tired at the end of a very long day.  But he knew that God could do anything he wanted, even to the point of ordaining the ones who were late for their own ordination!

The second type provided for the Priesthood is in the sons of Aaron, whose ordination is found in Numbers 3:2-3:  “The sons of Aaron were Nadab his first-born, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.  These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests who were ordained to exercise the priesthood.”

So also upon the sons of Aaron

you poured an abundant share of their father's plenty,

that the number of the priests prescribed by the Law

might be sufficient for the sacrifices of the tabernacle,

which were a shadow of the good things to come. 

If the seventy helpers to Moses were ordained for governance, the three sons of Aaron were to assure that the sacrifices of the Tabernacle would be offered.  Quoting from Hebrews 10:1, the final line of this strophe, describes the sacrifices of the tabernacle as shadows of the Sacraments of the New Covenant, “the good things to come.”

It is important to note that in both instances, these prefiguring shadows of the priesthood concern the appointment of helpers to Moses and Aaron, just as the priest is a helper to the Bishop.  In addition, neither of the types possesses the role of the other.  The seventy share in the munera of governance, while the sons of Aaron share in the sanctification of the tabernacle and prophesying.

The Priest of the New Covenant, however, shares in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, who is our one High Priest: the chief shepherd, teacher, and sanctifier.  These mystical sacraments are an incomplete shadow of the true sacraments of the New Covenant.

But in these last days, holy Father, 

you sent your Son into the world, 

Jesus, who is Apostle and High Priest of our confession. 

Through the Holy Spirit

he offered himself to you as a spotless victim;

and he made his Apostles, consecrated in the truth, 

sharers in his mission. 

You provided them also with companions

to proclaim and carry out the work of salvation

throughout the whole world.

The shadows of the Old Testament are fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah (cf. John 17:18) in these last days, (2 Timothy 3: 1-5) the fullness of time. Christ is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. (Hebrews 3: 1-6)  Moses and his sons shared one of the three munera of a priest: they governed God’s people for him.  Aaron and his sons shared two of the munera: they offered sacrifice and prophesied.  In Jesus, however, the fullness of the High priesthood resides: he possesses the triplex munera: to teach, to sanctify and to govern.

He offered himself to the Father as a spotless victim through the Holy Spirit.  He is not only the priest, but the sacrifice, the giver and the gift.

Christ establishes the Apostolic priesthood to which he ordains his Apostles. (cf. Hebrews 3:14)  The Father then provides companions to proclaim and carry out the great work of salvation throughout the world.  In his homily, the Bishop expands on this notion:

For Christ was sent by the Father and he in turn sent the Apostles into the world, so that through them and their successors, the Bishops, he might continue to exercise his office of Teacher, Priest, and Shepherd. Indeed, priests are established co-workers of the Order of Bishops, with whom they are joined in the priestly office and with whom they are called to the service of the people of God. (From the Homily from the Ordination of Priests)

And now we beseech you, Lord, in our weakness, 

to grant us these helpers that we need

to exercise the priesthood that comes from the Apostles.

Just as Moses and Aaron were given helpers by God, so the successor of the Apostles now ordaining asks that these helpers: be given a share in “the Priesthood that comes from the Apostles.”

The Bishop stands before God, like Moses, because he cannot possibly govern the people of this diocese alone.  He stands weak like Aaron, because he cannot possibly offer all these sacrifices in his diocese alone.  So, like Moses going to God, he says: ‘I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me.”  The Bishop goes to God in his weakness and asks him, “grant us these helpers that we need!”

Then the Bishop comes to the heart of the prayer:

Almighty Father,

Grant to these servants of yours

the dignity of the priesthood. 

Renew within them the Spirit of holiness.

As a co-worker with the order of bishops

may they be faithful to the ministry

that they receive from you, Lord God,

and be to other a model of right conduct.

May they be worthy coworkers with our Order,

so that by their preaching

and through the grace of the Holy Spirit

the words of the Gospel may bear fruit in human hearts

and reach even to the ends of the earth.

This section is, in fact, a summary of the entire rest of the Prayer of Ordination.  God is addressed as the Almighty Father, who is asked to grant “the dignity of the priesthood to these servants of yours.”  A remarkable intimacy is here implied between God, the Bishop, and the newly ordained priest.  These newly ordained priests are presumed by this prayer to be God’s servants already.  What they will now become is “co-workers with our order.”  By the use of the phrase “our order” the Bishop not only describes the relationship between the priest and God, but establishes a new relationship in Christ between himself the man to be ordained.

The Bishop asks God for four things: that God bestow the dignity of the priesthood upon the ordinandi, that he renew within him the spirit of holiness, that he grant him fidelity in his new ministry, and that the new priest be a model of right conduct.

Saint Paul writes to the young Bishop Timothy about the importance of the ordained serving as a model of right conduct. (1 Timothy 1: 2-14)  The Apostle to the Gentiles recalls how he “was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man,” but now, having experienced God’s mercy, God’s grace and the faith and love found in Christ Jesus empower him to live a virtuous life.  So too, the newly ordained will have to rely on the grace which comes from Christ to conform himself to the Lord’s faith and love that the holiness of his life to be “a delightful fragrance to Christ's faithful.” (Homily from the Ordination of Priests)

The Bishop then asks that the new priest share in his ministry of sanctification.

Together with us,

may they be faithful stewards of your mysteries,

so that your people may be renewed in the waters of rebirth

and nourished from your altar;

so that sinners may be reconciled

and the sick raised up.

Just as God the Creator of the world dispenses all good things, so the priest dispenses the sacraments which care for the Church. Here the Bishop asks that they, joined to him, be given the power to celebrate the Sacraments.  The sacraments listed are Baptism (your people…renewed in the waters of rebirth), Eucharist (nourished from your altar), Penance (sinners may be reconciled), and Anointing (the sick raised up).  Confirmation and Holy Orders are not listed as primarily Episcopal sacraments.  Marriage is omitted, as well since the couple confect the Sacrament which the priest witnesses.  The same list of four sacraments is found in the homily for ordination to the priesthood.

Finally, the Bishop prays that the newly ordained, joined with him, to intercede for “the people entrusted to his care” and all the world.

May they be joined with us, Lord,

in imploring your mercy

for the people entrusted to their care

and for all the world.

An essential part of the priest’s ministry of sanctification is interceding for the “the people entrusted to his care and for all the world.  Indeed, one of the questions he is asked before his ordination is whether he is resolved “to implore with us God's mercy upon the people entrusted to your care by observing the command to pray without ceasing?” (From Promises to the Elect, Ordination of Priests)

Like Christ the High Priest, the newly ordained is called upon to ever intercede for his people. (Hebrews 7: 24-25) So important is this obligation that in the former covenant the priest Samuel saw the failure to pray for the people as a sin. (1 Samuel 12: 23) Nor should the priest, as father and shepherd, forget the example of Job, who after his sons and daughters had returned from a night of revelry would rise early in the morning and “sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’” (Job 1: 4-5)

Finally, it is important to note that this intercession is always carried out in union with the Bishop.  For it is only in union with the Bishop that the priest may carry out his ministry of priestly sanctification.  On a practical note, the Bishop himself bears a special responsibility to see that the priest is not so burdened by other tasks that he is unable to make intercession for those under his care.  In a general audience address, Pope John Paul II reminded the entire Church that such intercession is the priest’s privilege and responsibility, “for he has been ordained to represent his people before the Lord and to intercede on their behalf before the throne of grace. (cf. General Audience, 2 June 1993, no. 5)

The prayer comes to a conclusion by envisioning the final act of Christ the High Priest at the end of time: the offering of God’s people to the Father on the last day.

  

And so may the full number of the nations, 

gathered together in Christ,

be transformed into your one people

and made perfect in your Kingdom.

The prayer is inspired by the heavenly vision of Revelation 7: 13-17:

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows." He said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." 

Every priestly act, then, is a participation in the great work of Christ the High Priest to make all things one in himself in the fullness of time. (cf. Ephesians 1: 9-10)  Whether in her ecumenical work or in the reconciliation of parish groups or family members, the Church constantly seeks “to gather all people and all things into Christ, so as to be for all an 'inseparable sacrament of unity”  The Priest, then, acts in the person of Christ, ever seeking “to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (John 11: 51-52)

The priestly work of the pastor is so often like that described by the Prophet Ezekiel, who through the breaking and rejoining o two sticks “expressed the divine will to ‘gather from all sides’ the members of his scattered people.” (Ezekiel 37: 16-28)

This is also why the Priest imitates Christ the Good Shepherd “who came not to be served but to serve, and who came to seek out and save what was lost.” (Homily, from the Ordination of a Priest)

Then follows the concluding doxology:

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God forever and ever.

Upcoming Ordinations...

O God, who willed to provide shepherds for your people, 
pour out in your Church a spirit of piety and fortitude,
to raise up worthy ministers for your altars
and make them ardent yet gentle heralds of your Gospel. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, for ever and ever.       (Roman Missal)

This year thirteen men will be ordained to the Priesthood from Saint John's Seminary, with the first ordinations taking place this morning for the Archdioceses of Boston and Hartford.

In the coming weeks, three men will be ordained for the Diocese of Providence:  

Deacon Battey

Deacon Brice

Deacon Morris

Two will be ordained for the Diocese of Manchester:

Deacon Shultz

Deacon Harris

One for the Diocese of Springfield:

Deacon Pease

One for the Diocese of Burlington:

Deacon Sanderson

And one fourth year seminarian will be ordained to the Diaconate for the Diocese of Portland with Priesthood to be celebrated next year:

Seminarian Patrick Finn

A New Priest for Hartford

Our own Father Glen Jerzy Dmytryszyn was ordained by Archbishop Blair for service to the Archdiocese of Hartford this morning. Father Romanus Cessario, O.P. and Father Joseph Briody represented the prayers of the entire Saint John's Seminary community.

Father Dmytryszyn's First Mass

SJS seminarians Robert Little, Eric Silva and Michael Niemazyck with Father Dmytryszyn.

Eight new Boston Priests

This morning I was honored, once again, to recommend the men to be ordained as Priests at the Ordinations here in Boston.  The Ordination actually took place at the beautiful Immaculate Conception Parish in Lowell (Holy Cross Cathedral is undergoing renovations) before a packed Church.  After the Deacons were called:

Jason Rinaldo Giombetti
Pablo Gomis
Kevin Paul Leaver
Godfrey Musabe
Wellington Oliveira
Joel Americo Santos
William Paro Joseph Sexton
Michael Louis Zimmerman

I addressed Cardinal O’Malley: “Most Eminent Father, holy mother Church asks you to ordain these, our brothers, to the responsibility of the priesthood.”

Following the formulae of the rite, he responded with the question: “Do you know them to be worthy?”

To which I responded: “After inquiry among the Christian people and upon the recommendation of those responsible, I testify that they have been found worthy.”

Then the Cardinal declared: “Relying on the help of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, we choose these, our brothers, for the Order of the priesthood” and the entire assembled congregation responded with a resounding applause.

The rest of the Ordination, from the Litany to the Imposition of Hands to Consecratory Prayers, to Vesting, Anointing and Presentation of the prepared Chalice and Paten followed the Ordination ritual, concluding with “the fraternal kiss” by which all the priests who were present welcome the newly ordained to the Presbyteral Order.

Father Sexton

Father Oliveira

Father Giombetti

Father Leaver

Father Gomis

Father Santos

Father Zimmerman

Father Musabe

Dinner with Vietnamese Seminarians

The Faculty had dinner with our newest Vietnamese seminarians last night in the Faculty dining room.  A wonderful evening of conversation and celebration was had by all!  I even learned two say "Tôi thích tôm" = "I like shrimp!"

Be Careful out There...

Today is the last day of the semester as seminarians head to their homes Dioceses for ordinations, work in the parishes and some well deserved rest.  After the final exams this morning we celebrated the final Mass of the Seminary year, at which I preached the following homily.  That was followed by the "Eschatological Cookout" and the annual Bocci Tournament.  Please keep us all in your generous prayers!

***

Soon, very soon, most of you will walk out those doors and return to family, friends, diocese and Parish. Some will be off to the wilds of Omaha and others to the hills of Rome and beyond.

And after the last hot dog has been consumed and the last eschatological bocci ball thrown, the words of today’s Gospel will echo in our hearts: “Remain in my love….keep my commandments…that your joy may be complete.”

That. after all, is what the last year in this holy house has been all about. Just trying to discern his will and love. It’s all the summer will be about. And its all the rest of our lives, each day, each hour each breath is for. Remain in his love.

So, as the year draws to a close, I want to thank you for all the chances we have had to keep his commandments and remain in his love. I give thanks for the graces and all the joys and the laughter and even the tears we have shared. Just as I ask your forgiveness for whatever I may have done or failed to do to lead you closer to God, as your pastor and older brother.

I thank the faculty for their love of you, their example to us all and their patience with me. I thank the staff for their dedication to this holy work. And I thank Dr. Hunt for leading us, morning by evening, in the sung praise of God.

One of the first cop shows on TV, decades ago, was called Hill Street Blues, and it always began with the morning briefing of the police officers before they began their work. This morning I feel a bit like that gristled old Police Captain, who would conclude each briefing with the words, “Be careful out there.”

But, “be careful out there.”

Be careful of your fears, for, believe me, God has made you so much better at this than you could ever dream. Have faith in yourself.

Be careful of the temptations, by which Satan’s siren songs can divert you from a focus on Christ alone, which is the one indispensable thing.

Be careful of the desire to judge your pastor when, deep down, you are afraid to admit he knows so much more than you do.

Be careful, but rejoice! Because God has chosen you to bring his love to people you haven’t even met yet! They are waiting for you. Get out there and teach them, love them and be their shepherd in his name!

Child Protection and Professional Standards

This month’s Rector’s Conference was on Child Protection and Professional Standards.  It is a difficult, but essential topic for seminaries to address in every year of formation, just as each of us must pray for victims and work for justice.  I began by praying the USCCB Prayer for Healing of the Victims of Abuse.

God of endless love,
ever caring, ever strong,
always present, always just:
You gave your only Son
to save us by the blood of his cross.

Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace,
join to your own suffering
the pain of all who have been hurt
in body, mind, and spirit
by those who betrayed the trust placed in them.

Hear our cries as we agonize
over the harm done to our brothers and sisters.
Breathe wisdom into our prayers,
soothe restless hearts with hope,
steady shaken spirits with faith:
Show us the way to justice and wholeness,
enlightened by truth and enfolded in your mercy.

Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts,
heal your people’s wounds
and transform our brokenness.
Grant us courage and wisdom, humility and grace,
so that we may act with justice
and find peace in you.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

They were little and he was big.  They were a kid and he was a priest.  They were ashamed and he told them not to tell.  They were frightened, violated and all alone.

The sexual abuse of a child is a sin.  The sexual abuse of a child is a crime.  And it happened to thousands of victims at the hands of Catholic Priests.

It is the scandal of our lifetime and will effect our ministry until the day we die. But it’s not about the headlines or the money or the policies, as much as it is about the victims.  It’s about the victims.  They know best what happened.

[At this point I played a video of survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy telling their stories.]

If there had been but one victim and one priest, that would have been too many and it still would have been a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.  The Lord told us himself about what happens to the disciple who leads one of these little ones astray.

But there was more than one victim and more than one perpetrator.  How many?  Thanks to the USCCB’s determination to uncover the truth, the John Jay School of Criminal Justice was commissioned to examine the records, conduct interviews and publish a forensic report entitled “The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, 1950-2002.”  That report tried to provide some answers, 

The red line on this chart indicates the number of incidents of abuse reported for a given year.  So, the number of cases reported to have occurred in the United States in 1960 was 50.  In 1980 it was 800.  And in 2012 it was back down to 50.

John Jay also gathered statistics on the percentage of those ordained as a diocesan priest who became credibly accused abusers in any given year.   So, in the ordination class of 1960, around 6% of those ordained became abusers.   Almost 12% of those ordained in 1970 went on to abuse a child.   By 1980 the number dropped to 6% and by the millennium the number is somewhere under a tenth of one percent.  By the way, on average, 5% of U.S. Catholic Priests ordained between 1950 and 2001 were credibly accused.

The total credible accusations through 2010 was 14,041, involving just over 4,000 priests.

Remarkably, almost three quarters of the reported abuse occurred between 1960 and 1984.  After that the numbers drop substantially and have remained low.  How low? The 2016 audit of U.S. Dioceses conducted by the USCCB has recently reported that between July 2014 and June 2015 there were 314 credible accusations, but the vast majority date back as far as the 1920’s. Only four of these credible allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors occurred during the audit of 2014-2015.

The next logical question is why did it happen?  In an effort to get an answer to this question, the USCCB commissioned a second study by the John  Jay Institute, which was completed four years ago: "The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010."  

This 143 page report addresses many causative factors, first among which is the failure of seminaries to provide the formation required for priests ordained between 1960 and 1984, who would minister in an increasingly individualistic society and a resultant climate of permissiveness, deviance and danger to vulnerable people.  Likewise, this period predates the sharp increase in understanding of the harms experienced by the victims of this climate, especially in the realm of the sexual abuse of minors.

Now, I want to emphasize that the answer to the question “Why Did it Happen” is more complex than this one observation.  But it is the most significant causative factor identified by the report.

What then was the response of the Church to the sexual abuse of children by Priests?  There were two waves of response.  The first was in 1992, when the number of reported cases had begun to significantly increase.  At that point, the Conference to recommended to Bishops five principles for the addressing the crisis in their own dioceses.

The second wave began with the adoption of the “Charter for the Protection of Young People” and “Complimentary Norms” which grew out of the USCCB meeting in Dallas in 2002.

As a result of the Charter, each Diocese adopted norms, both canonical and practical, to meet the needs of victims and to assure that this would not happen again.

Perhaps the best way to introduce the Charter is by reviewing the Diocesan Codes of Conduct which you are subject to as you enter into pastoral ministry this summer.

Each of our sending Dioceses have Codes of Conduct for Clergy and Lay Personnel, and I have redacted a copy of all of them which you will find at your places.  I urge you to read your own Diocesan Code carefully so that you might follow the directives your Bishop has adopted for the Church in your area.

All of the Codes are a variation on the Virtus Model, which is found in the appendix of the document before you.  The Virtus Code was developed in consultation with the USCCB Office of Child Protection.

While each of the codes differ, sometimes even in title, there are some common elements that run throughout in regard to: 

Screening and Training 

Working with Children

Respecting the Dignity of Every Child

Alcohol and Drugs

Reporting Abuse

Screening and Training

Criminal background checks - conducted once every three years

Commonly called CORI checks (Criminal Offender Record Information), these searches of Court records look for arrests or convictions in State and Federal jurisdictions.

Safe environment training – conducted once every three years

The VIRTUS program is used in almost all Dioceses in the United States  and (in the words of Virtus) “assists the Church in being a safe haven for children and a messenger for preventing child sexual abuse within the Church and society in general.  We seek to achieve this lofty goal through our child sexual abuse program: Protecting God’s Children.  Virtus continues:

“Child abusers seek to operate and abuse their power within nurturing, child-friendly environments where it is assumed that nobody would want to harm a child. Religious organizations of all faiths are an easy target. The Protecting God's Children program implements safety mechanisms that send a message to all abusers and potential abusers:

Child abuse is not tolerated,

Children are vigilantly protected,

Victims are listened to, heard, and shielded from further abuse

Offenders are identified and punished.

By utilizing best practices for training and loss prevention, the Protecting God's Children program helps make churches safe for all people—especially children.”

Working with Children and Youth - Five Basic Rules

1. Be a positive Catholic Christian role model.

Children learn by imitation.  Parents and caregivers are the most influential, but other relatives, teachers and peers and even celebrities, such as athletes and entertainers, and characters from books, TV, movies and video games can provide hints as to how to deal with life and living.

Each time a child goes to Church he is told to sit quietly with his parents and respectfully listen to what the Priest says about God and about life and about what is right and wrong.  They look at him with pride when he shakes the priest’s hand on the front steps.  It is no wonder that younger children look to the priest with a trustful and almost worshipful gaze.  The two or three year old Church-going child is likely to believe not only that you work for God, but that you are God.

The identification of the Priest with the presence of the Church was brought home to me years ago when, making the round of First Communion parties, I walked into one communicant’s home.  She was in the front years playing with her friends.  When she saw me, she ran inside the house and announced “The Church is here!  The Church is here!”

Now just imagine what that’s like for a child who is abused by the Priest she thinks is God.  Or the Priest who thinks is the Church.  That single act of abuse has not only broken the soul of the child, but her ability to trust in the Church and even in God, perhaps for the rest of her life.

2. Establish and maintain clear boundaries.

Remember that meaning is in the mind of the perceiver, and the mind of a child is a marginal world where the boundaries between play and life, fantasy and reality are easily blurred.

The child is not your friend.  The adolescent cannot be your companion.  A child is, by definition, vulnerable, easily confused and easily broken.  The unconditional love which is the right of every child means that purity, trust and mature and unselfish love must move the shepherd’s heart.

3. Use discretion concerning settings.

The Church steps, the classroom, the parish office, and the Children’s choir rehearsal are appropriate settings for your interactions with children.  Your office with the door closed, the Rectory, a school basement or anywhere else where you are alone with a child is not an appropriate setting.

Three ingredients are needed to make the abuse of a child possible: a vulnerable victim, a motivated perpetrator and the opportunity to commit the abuse.  By removing the opportunity, the potential for abuse is eliminated.  Likewise, the possibility of false accusations is greatly diminished.

4. Use discretion concerning physical contact.

You’re standing on the front steps of the Church and a kid runs up and hugs you.  What do you do?  You hug him, as Jesus would have.  In front of his parents and friends and the whole parish.

Standing on the front steps of the Church I am asked to bless a child.  I place my hand on his head and pray for him. In front of his parents and friends and the whole parish.

Beyond that, I need to always recall that physical expressions are replete with a variety of meanings, each of which are conditioned by the mind of the perceiver.  The very needy middle aged woman in a marriage falling apart whom you are counseling may want you to hug her because she feels alone and afraid and is desperate for affection.  But she may be looking for an expression of something different than you should be willing to give.

Like spoken language, physical expressions of affection or solidarity are interpreted by different folks in different ways, and just because you mean one thing, does not mean it is perceived by everyone in the same way.

This includes onlookers.  Don’t be surprised when your nephew, a junior in High School, runs up to you and hugs you that you get scowls and suspicious looks.  The abuse committed by some of our brothers has greatly compromised our ability to work with children and youth and we need to be cautious, very very cautious about what we say in word and in gesture.

5. Be self-aware and use prudent behavior.

Know yourself.  And to your own self be true.  You are a seminarian or a priest.  Act like it.  Wherever you are, with whomever you are.  Never act on impulse or out of the fulfillment of some unfelt need.  Be prudent and through your constant work with your spiritual director and counselors, be self-aware about what your needs are and how you are appropriately meeting them.

Respecting the dignity of every child

It’s obvious, or at least it should be:

Never strike, shake or slap a child. 

Never intimidate or harass, physically, verbally, in writing, psychologically, socially or electronically

Never give a gift to a young person without prior approval from your pastor or a parent/ guardian.

Never meet privately with a young person Never be alone with a young person in a residence, sleeping facility, locker room, rest room, dressing facility or other closed room or isolated area.

Never drive alone with a young person without explicit parental or guardian consent, and even then, always take two adults along.

Alcohol and Drugs

Never provide alcohol, controlled substances or pornographic materials to young people.  Now that may seem obvious, but remember that even the showing of a single pornographic image to a minor can bring harm to a vulnerable child and will end your active ministry for the rest of your life.

Never consume alcohol or controlled substances while participating in a youth activity.  No alcoholic beverages will be accessible or served during events which are designed specifically for children and/or youth. A very high percentage of priest perpetrators report that they were under the influence of alcohol each time they committed an act of abuse.

Reporting Abuse

Always report abuse or inappropriate activities involving a minor to civil and ecclesial authorities, unless your knowledge is bound by the Seal of Confession. The abuse of a child is a crime and you are a mandated reporter in all the states which send seminarians to this Seminary.  Which means that you are subject to criminal penalties if you suspect abuse and do not report it.

And it goes with out saying that you always cooperate fully with Diocesan and/or law enforcement personnel in any investigation of abuse of children and/or youth.  They are there to protect children and to seek justice, and that should be your constant goal as well.

CONCLUSION

So, why am I telling you all this, and why now? Well, first, because originally when this happened it was because the seminaries dropped the ball.  And that’s why every year before you go out to parishes for the summer and next Fall for an intensive day, we will continue to explore these issues and learn how we can, in the word of Saint John Paul II be “bridges to Christ and not obstacles.”

Second, because I have met men and women who have been victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Priests, and the crimes which they have suffered, the sins which have scarred them are preventable.  And future potential victims are my responsibility as your Rector.  It is an enormous responsibility which I take with the greatest seriousness and you should too.

As Pope Francis believed with his whole heart and soul when he appointed Cardinal O’Malley to direct and intensify the  Church’s efforts to protect children.  The same Pope Francis who said this:

[The talk concluded with a video of Pope Francis speaking the following words:]

Here is what causes me distress and pain: the fact that some priests and bishops violated [children's] innocence and their own priestly vocation by sexually abusing minors.  

It is something more than a despicable action.  It is like a sacrilegious cult because these boys and girls have been entrusted to the priestly charism in order to be brought to God.  And those people sacrificed them to the idol of their own concupiscence.   

Today the heart of the Church looks into the eyes of Jesus in these boys and girls and wants to weep; she asks for the grace to weep before the execrable acts of abuse of minors.  
Before God and his people I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse against you and I humbly ask forgiveness.  

I beg your forgiveness, too for the sins of omission on the part of Church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse.  I beg forgiveness of the abuse victims themselves.   

There is no place in the Church’s ministry for those who commit these abuses.  I commit myself to not tolerating harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not.  All bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors and they will be held accountable.