Article Analysis Essay on Child Sex Abuse

A Brief Synopsis of Article’s Main Points

The article was published on the ninth of October 2018 on CNN's website. The Californian Catholic Church's Diocese of San Bernadino released a list of 34 priests facing charges of sexual child abuse going back to the 1960s. The diocese was forced to conduct investigations after in August the Grand Jury report in Pennsylvania came with a staggering statistic of child sexual abuse victims numbering at 1,000. Of the 34 named priests, 14 are deceased, one left 25 years prior and his whereabouts are unknown, another 14 received a lifetime ban from the diocese, and another five were excommunicated from the church. The diocese appealed to their more than 1.6 million parishioners to make a report if they had been in any way abused by their priests. Bishop Michael Barber was very apologetic and very committed to honoring public accountability.

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Issues Presented in the Article

In my opinion, the issue of contention in the article is very disturbing. That the priests could have taken advantage of these children for all these years going back fifty or so years, shows gross negligence by the Roman Catholic Church and previous bishops. Bishop Michael Barber has shown great initiative, leading by example even if it means opening the doors of the church for scrutiny by the media and the general public. However, looking at the list, I highly doubt if justice will be served, first because 14 of the accused are already dead. The rest, five are excommunicated one whereabouts unknown and fourteen banned from the church. They could easily go into hiding. Priests take a lifetime vow of celibacy; it is appalling that they can take advantage of their high-standing position to sexually abuse children. More policing is needed for priests to ensure children in the parish are safe from sexual predators.

Concept/Term #1: Child Abuse

The nature of the abuse in the San Bernadino diocese was sexual. Older men (priests) took advantage of the children's faith. Also, the children must have felt that the priests were above the law and could perhaps only be judged by God. Children learn by imitating and watching the adults. In my opinion, the priests also emotionally abused the children. The issue of priests abusing children has long been an open secret. Reports are usually quelled from within the Catholic Church for the simple reason of protecting repute. However, seeing that the priests who actually commit these crimes are the minority, the church should strive to separate the wheat from the chaff especially at the priesthood level.

Concept/Term #2: Child Exploitation

Child exploitation is different from abuse in that exploitation is mainly psychological. I can only imagine the lies that the priests had to tell the children to keep quiet. The fact that they are priests, and supposed to provide a good example by being role models is a big exploitation factor. Reports from San Bernadino accusing priests can be dated to instances in 1992 when eighteen priests were reported to the police. Still, not much action was taken. One priest was punished by the Vatican, but the rest kept operating. A priest exploiting children shows signs of sociopathy and psychopathy, and perhaps a report investigating the same is overdue. The structure of the Church where priests are venerated too much is also a contributing factor in child exploitation. Maybe priests' dealings with children should be overseen by the community or even recorded on camera so that the priests do not operate behind the secrecies of the Church.

References

Article Retrieved From https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/09/us/san-bernardino-diocese-priests-accused-of-child-sex-abuse/index.html