A four-day summit convened by Pope Francis to address the sexual abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church is due to be concluded in Rome today. It is the most significant response to the issue that the church has up to now made. The heads of all the conferences of bishops across the world were expected to be in attendance.

Pope Francis himself is seeking to repair the damage to his credibility following his mishandling last year of the sexual abuse scandal in Chile. In an unprecedented step, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, whom he appointed to head the Papal Commission for the Protection of Minors, publicly took issue with comments he had made which were interpreted as questioning the credibility of victims of sexual abuse. The pope later apologised for his remarks and graciously expressed appreciation for Cardinal O’Malley’s intervention.

The annual report of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States, released in May of last year, indicates that between 2014 and 2017 there were 3,573 allegations of sexual abuse of minors involving priests and deacons. Of these, 2,076 were determined to be credible, and US$385 million was paid out in settlement to victims.

Earlier this month, the pope acknowledged that nuns within the church were victims of sexual abuse “by priests and even bishops”, and that some had even been used as sex slaves. “I think it is still going on because something does not stop just because you have become aware of it” he was quoted as saying, as he returned from a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Many persons had long been of the view that the issue of sexual abuse in the church, especially of minors, was largely a problem affecting the Roman Catholic Church. Some attributed it to the vow of celibacy that its priests are required to obey. What has come to light in recent years indicates that its motivations are far more diverse and its incidence far more widespread.

Sexual abuse in churches is widespread

Last year, the Church of England disclosed that up to 2016 it had recorded over 3,300 allegations of sexual abuse, approximately 600 of which involved members of the clergy and other church officials. The archbishop of Canterbury expressed his profound sense of shame at the extent of abuse and the flawed response from the church.

In 2015, the Methodist Church of the United Kingdom issued a public apology, after an investigation that it had commissioned uncovered almost 1,000 cases of sexual abuse among its congregation that had occurred over several decades — more than 300 of which involved members of the clergy and lay preachers.

There are several reports of sexual abuse in other denominations but none of them has conducted investigations and made public disclosures in the way that the Anglicans and Methodists in the United Kingdom and the Roman Catholics in the United States have done.

A Royal Commission established by the Australian Government in 2012 to investigate the incidence of institution-based sexual abuse of children reported in 2017 that 1,000 of the 7,725 cases identified had to do with churches across several denominations.

The British Government has established a similar but more broad-based commission that began conducting hearings last month. It has scheduled specific hearing dates later this year to investigate the incidence of sexual abuse of children involving the Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Church, as well as parliamentarians.

The Southern Baptist Convention — the largest Protestant denomination in the United States with a membership of over 15 million — is now in the throes of its own sexual abuse scandal, following an exposé by Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News earlier this month which implicated almost 400 of its church leaders.

It is highly likely that the number of cases that have come to light so far is a small fraction of what has taken place. Sexual abuse is a traumatic experience. Many victims bear their pain in embarrassment and silence, not even disclosing it to close family members. Coming forward carries the real risk of being stigmatised for the rest of their lives.

The emergence of the #MeToo Movement is likely to see more victims coming out. That has its own hazards. The current orthodoxy is that the victim is to be believed and the accused is presumed guilty until he proves his innocence. Scant regard is paid to the possibility of mischief and fabricated allegations. Accused clergymen whose innocence is eventually proven suffer irreparable damage to their reputation even after they are exonerated and reinstated.

No one knows the extent of the problem affecting churches here in Jamaica. Only a few cases that ended up in the criminal courts have come to public attention, but it would be naive to think that we are immune from what appears to be a pervasive and worldwide phenomenon.

The real source of the crisis

The crisis bedevilling the Church is not the incidence of sexual abuse itself, even of children — reprehensible though that is. Clergymen and church officials, like the rest of us, are mortals and will sin and fall short of God’s glory. Rather, it is the Church’s lack of reprehension and the ambivalence and complicity of those in authority that have led to the crisis. Were there in place adequate mechanisms to treat compassionately with complaints and ensure credible investigation and appropriate sanctions, trust would have been maintained, fewer incidents would have occurred, and no crisis would have arisen.

The investigations conducted so far have revealed a systemic pattern of ignoring, trivialising, and shamelessly covering up these actions — whether out of fear of reputational damage to the Church or fraternal loyalty to the perpetrators. In many instances, those who should have taken appropriate action are themselves compromised.

Some church leaders prefer not to know about it and, if they do, hope that, with time, it will go away. Others are inclined to simply accept the perpetrator’s promise not to do it anymore and to God be the glory. Here in Jamaica we prefer not to talk about it or do so in hushed tones, and this article will, no doubt, incur the wrath of some church adherents.

A church leader with whom I discussed the issue at great length said, with seeming sincerity, that his responsibility is to help the victim to heal and help the perpetrator to seek forgiveness. Judgement, he argued, is the prerogative of the Lord.

Many persons are sceptical as to whether much will come out of the Roman Catholic summit, especially after the pope, although repeatedly declaring zero tolerance for sexual abuse of children, cautioned against having too high expectations of the outcome of the conference. “The problem of abuse will continue because it is a human problem and it is everywhere,” he is reported as saying. It is questionable whether the Church could withstand the exorcism that an all-out war on sexual abuse would entail.

Defining moment for the Christian Church

The Christian Church is at a defining moment in time. The sexual abuse scandal has thrown into sharp focus its role as the custodian of Christ’s mission, and the moral anchor of an increasingly turbulent mankind. It speaks to the internal order of the Church itself and whether it believes and upholds its own doctrines.

The Church is not alone. Sexual abuse can be found in many organisations and institutions. The Royal Commission in Australia found that there were twice as many instances of sexual abuse of children in schools as in churches. The Church, however, bears a heavier burden of moral rectitude and righteousness.

The Church has had to wrestle with intensely contentious moral issues such as the death penalty, birth control, abortion, organ donation and transplanting, stem cell research possibilities, homosexuality, transsexuality and same-sex marriage.

It has struggled with a cultural revolution that is overturning traditional values, redefining what is right and wrong, and isolating personal behaviour from the teachings so forcefully delivered from its pulpits. It appears at times to be intimidated by accusations of excessive moralism and being detached from the real world.

Ever since Martin Luther’s reformation movement cemented the separation of Church and State, the Church’s leadership and influence have relied on its ability to attract and retain believers through the power of its message and its ability to tame the onslaught of an increasingly secular culture.

How will the Christian Church respond to these mounting moral and spiritual challenges?

One option is to reaffirm its traditional interpretation of the Scriptures and its application to contemporary life. The renowned theologian Karl Barth, although tutored in liberal theology, urged the Church, in his Epistle to the Romans published just over a century ago, to resist the urge to manipulate the word of God in order to keep up with human inclinations.

But in taking a traditionalist approach to the interpretation of the Scriptures, the Church runs the risk of becoming increasingly marginalised and irrelevant in the face of the changing cultural norms. Surveys continue to show a steady decline in the proportion of believers throughout the world.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Church may take a revisionist approach, reinterpreting — some would say rewriting — the teachings of the Bible to accommodate today’s reality. The danger here is that the Church’s footing would no longer be embedded in St Peter’s rock. It would become a floating anchor or a “follower from in front”.

An ecumenical approach

The path forward may lie in-between these two extremes. Determining where along that spectrum the Church positions itself is its greatest challenge. That position cannot be found by each denomination trying to deal with its own internal crisis and conflicts. If ever there was a time for an ecumenical approach to reassert the mission of Jesus Christ, it is now.

This will certainly ignite a theological battle or, more accurately, pour fuel on its fire. I am appalled sometimes when listening to some preachers, especially televangelists, at the contempt they display toward other Christian faiths. A bishop once said to me “If you think political tribalism is bad, check the Church”.

That battle cannot be avoided. It is a battle that must be waged deliberately, thoughtfully and constructively, for it is through the fire of debate and contention that enduring truth will emerge.

I remember as a child, growing up in church, singing the hymn “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord… Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth”.

In his first Epistle to the Corinthians, St Paul admonished the Church “that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no division among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought”. That mission has eluded the Christian Church for more than 2,000 years.

The sexual abuse scandal is more than an issue to be resolved; it is a symptom of a much deeper crisis. It must become a catalyst for deep reflection, introspection, reaffirmation and reassertion — a call to action.