From Pain to Wisdom, Young Catholic Feminists Speak Out on Clergy Abuse

We, as young Catholic feminists, feel compelled to enter the conversation regarding sex crimes committed by Catholic clergy that have so dominated the U.S. media over the last months. We acknowledge the pain of sexual assault survivors, both male and female, as well as their anger and experience of injustice. We understand the perilous misuse of power that results from capitalizing on the experiences of those oppressed. However, we speak now out of a desire to raise awareness, faith, and wisdom about the complexity of these issues. We know that sexual assault occurs in epidemic proportions in our communities. In the United States a woman is sexually assaulted every 1.3 minutes. We know that the majority of perpetrators of sexual assault are heterosexual males perpetuating a patriarchal hatred against women and girls. In our church, although the media has focused on the stories of male survivors, some psychologists believe that abusive priests are more likely to sexually assault females, especially adult women. (Sacramento Bee, March 21, 2002) We live in a culture that silences survivors with disbelief, judgment and fear. This culture of silence prevents us all from healing the pain of sexual abuse as well as seeing the true face of sexual assault. Too often, sexual abuse is seen as somebody else’s problem—today we are reminded that this problem belongs to our Catholic community. It is imperative that we listen to the voices of all survivors regardless of their age, gender, or circumstance of their assault. We are concerned that only the voices of male survivors of child sexual abuse have brought about a church response—it suggests a premium on certain lives. Again, the voices of women are not heard. This is a call for the church to join in the work of ending sexual violence. As young Catholic feminists, one of the many lenses in which we view our lives is through the church’s social teachings. We experience a source of liberation through a faith that calls the world to accountability by its social teachings. We take seriously the challenges of Catholic social thought which molds who we are as young women and what we are called to do in the world. The systemic injustices of sexism and homophobia so rampant within the Catholic church continue to cause us deep sadness because they contradict the church’s long tradition of social justice. These incongruencies are becoming more apparent in our observations of the church’s response to its own crisis of clergy sexual abuse. It is time for those in decision-making positions to closely examine these sinful structures and take immediate action for radical reform. The voices of young Catholic feminists are essential to this conversation because we bring the wisdom of difference. We are diverse. We are women of color/we are white/we are lesbian/we are straight/we are converts/we are cradle Catholics/we are poor/we are wealthy/we are survivors of sexual assault. We bring possibility to the church. Raised fully in the spirit of Vatican II, we seek to integrate faith in all aspects of our life and work for the justice and liberation of all people—including the perpetrators and survivors of abuse. We use this unique and particular wisdom to challenge the structures of oppression within the church—institutional, communal, and personal—and do so as part of our faith life inspired by Jesus Christ. It is time to utilize the expertise of a radical generation of youth committed to full participation in the church. We ask the bishops, and all people of good will and faith, to reflect on how to make church structures more transparent. May our anger and despair be transformed into a wise wind that truly opens the window of reform in the church and inspires all Catholics—young, old, clergy, lay, brown or black to seek justice in every aspect of our church, society, community and personal lives. This is not just our vision for a renewed church, but the embodiment of our prayer. The Young Feminist Network is an educational and advocacy program of the Women’s Ordination Conference. It is a youth-initiated, youth-led, national network of young people working for equality in the Roman Catholic Church, including the ordination of women as Roman Catholic priests. Contact: Joy Barnes, office 703-352-1006, cell 703-307-5631 Young Feminist Network/Women’s Ordination Conference P.O. Box 2693 Fairfax, VA 22031 *Dallas, TX: Adams Mark Hotel, 214-922-8000, cell 703-307-5631