Vugt: Shame can be a gift from God – according to Pope Francis

POPE Francis knows that the gospel message of mercy is ultimately a source of powerful healing and of grace… even for those who are guilty of heinous crimes.

On July 7, 2014, the Pope met some priests and bishops who sexually abused minors, violated their innocence and their own priestly vocation… He said: “I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness …”

“There is no place in the Church’s ministry for those who commit these abuses,” he told them. “May God give us the grace to be ashamed.”

We had never thought of shame as a gift or a “grace.” We were told that in the Christian life there is no place for shame, only for repentance and conversion. But having met scores of survivors, we have come to understand how shame can be a gift from God.

Maybe it is only through shame that church leaders will make good on their promise to have zero tolerance for those guilty of child sexual abuse.

What is most perplexing is that Pope Francis is dressing up allowing abusers to remain in the priesthood in terms of God’s mercy and compassion. Of course – and here the Christian message can sting and disrupt our complacency – there is no “them” and “us” when it comes to bring sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. But compassion should not be confused with an inconsistent approach to the laicization of convicted abusers.

The hard lesson that we have learned is that there can be no exception made in the way cases of abuse are dealt with, even when the offender is considered no longer a risk to children, or is safely housed in a retirement home.

There are many reasons why the abuse of children by priests has flourished in the Catholic Church. But part of the problem has been a lack of consistently applied penalties for criminal behavior. In some countries and some dioceses protocols and procedures are being followed without exception.

Every person accused of an offence is entitled to natural justice. But when a priest has admitted to a serious crime or, when all his appeals have been exhausted and he is still found guilty, then justice and compassion for victims, survivors and for the wider Church demands that he must be dismissed from holding office.

May God give us the grace to be ashamed.

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