My first experience of living in Chicago was in 1976. I had a summer job at Roosevelt University Library and boarded with some people who lived near Wilson and Western. That meant taking the Brown Line (then known as the Ravenswood) to work and back each day. When I entered the Western Avenue station in the morning, the first thing I encountered was the news vendor. Newspaper salesmen did a huge business in the morning, because just about everyone heading for the Loop would buy a Tribune or a Sun-Times to read on the train. I usually bought the Sun-Times because often there were no seats left on the train, and the compact size of the Sun-Times made it easier to read standing up and hanging on to a pole. I admired the people who could manage to fold and unfold the various sections of the Tribune while standing up and hanging on to a pole. These were real Chicagoans, who had been practicing their art for years, not some kid from Memphis trying to adjust to a foreign culture. Even then, radio and television had taken a large bite out of the news coverage. The afternoon paper, The Chicago Daily News, would expire in 1978. Still, in the 1970’s newspapers were the lifeblood of Chicago. Both the Tribune and the Sun-Times had their own impressive headquarters buildings at the center of downtown.
From time to time, I have had reason to ride the Brown line at rush hour in recent years. Everyone is still busy reading, but their eyes are focused on tiny screens. Anyone with a print edition of a newspaper looks out of place, like someone in a flannel shirt at a formal dinner. These same small screens also take pictures and make video recordings, and that means that anyone anywhere can be a reporter. Through the decades newspapers have struggled to adapt and have tried to reinvent themselves for the little screens. The size of the paper has shrunk; they have downsized and downsized; and have moved several times into smaller and smaller quarters; but the Tribune and the Sun-Times still here. They still have dedicated reporters, columnists, and editors doing the best job they can.
Some of you saw the article in Sunday’s Sun-Times or read the online version of a story about the Servite Friars. It is another chapter in the long troubling account of priests and brothers who abused minors. Although there were some minor errors in the article, the substance of what was written was accurate and, I thought, very fair. We have much to be embarrassed about and much to atone for. Most of the anger that people have felt toward clergy misconduct has been directed not so much at the perpetrators as toward the superiors who did nothing to stop it. The misconduct described in the article dates back many decades before everyone was a reporter and everyone could get their story out online and secrets could be more easily kept. What allowed abusive priest to continue to abuse? It was a combination of ignorance, naivete, and arrogance. The desire to protect the institution took precedence over the desire to protect victims. Often it was thought that a change of assignment would remove the temptation. This is called “the geographical solution” and it does not work with alcoholics, shopaholics, drug addicts, or porn addicts either, though it has often been tried by members of all those groups. When lawyers started suing and victims started speaking openly to reporters, the Church had to pay attention.
Over the last thirty years, lots of rules and guidelines have been put in place. There are continuing education requirements for clergy in all denominations. There is also an organization that does a regular audit of the personnel files of dioceses and religious orders. In Australia clergy must install certain filters on their computers. Some of this is burdensome, but it is necessary to make sure that the priority is protecting children and vulnerable adults. As a newly ordained priest in 1984, I was assigned to a parish in New Jersey. There, among my duties, was working with the high school youth group and a vocation club. Some of the things I did back then were considered perfectly normal but would be forbidden today—like taking teenagers to the Shore or to a movie. This is not allowed today unless other adults present the whole time.
In Hollywood there is an old expression, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” The idea is that if people are talking about you for whatever reason, it will help you stand out from the crowd and be considered for movie roles in future. Most everywhere outside of Hollywood, there is such a thing as bad publicity. We got it, and we deserved it.
Fr. Joe
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