Cardinal Levada Speaks - Will he Follow?

So That This Tragic Cycle Will Not Recur: Clergy Sexual Abuse

By Archbishop William Levada

"We are suffering for the sins of priests who preferred their own pleasure to the safety and protection of children entrusted to their care. And we are suffering for the mistakes of bishops and administrators who did not place the future protection of children above their desire to protect the reputation and service of priests who had proven themselves unfaithful in their duties," Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco said in his homily March 26 for the chrism Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. Some 400 priests and a congregation of nearly 2,000 were present.

In a discussion of "the tragic revelations of the priests who have betrayed the church's trust by molesting children and teen-agers," Levada examined steps needed to restore trust and bring healing. And he said, "We must achieve a new openness in speaking out against the abuse of children in our church." Three steps needed to assure "that this tragic cycle of abuse will not happen again" were discussed by Levada. First, he said that "we should make sure that present admissions policies for our priestly and diaconate formation programs do their best to screen out persons at risk for sexual misconduct with minors and persons who show any indications of sexual immaturity." Second, he said that "we should revisit our seminary programs to guarantee the appropriate formation of future priests in this area."

Finally, he said, "I believe that we bishops will also have to address how to deal with the misconduct of bishops and present our conclusions and recommendations to our Holy Father through the apostolic nuncio and the Congregation of Bishops." Levada noted that "many speculate about the causes of such abuse," and he said that "as a church we will need to commit ourselves to the best possible review of the causes, with the assistance of the best expertise we can find to assist us. But we must also pay attention to Christ, who promised that he would be with his church all days." Levada's homily follows.

Holy Week is sometimes called the "great week" of the church's liturgical year. During these days the paschal mysteries, the "work" that Christ continues to do year in and year out in the liturgy of the church, his body, is approached in slow motion, in memory's eye, so that in our rituals we may draw near to Christ as if we too were with him, among that now excited, now frightened band of his first disciples.

The centuries of recalling and celebrating the events of passion, death and resurrection - the events of our salvation - have given this week a unique character. "Do this in memory of me," he tells us. So we gather with palms and olive branches to accompany his entry into Jerusalem, singing "Hosanna to the King of Israel." We crowd into the upper room for the Passover meal he shares with his disciples, and we watch newly moved as he stoops to wash our feet. We follow him to the Garden of Gethsemane, that place of prayer and agony for him. We feel the tension of his arrest, trial, torture - and the shame felt by those he called his friends as they desert him. We wince at the thought of a crown of thorns placed on our heads, at nails being driven into the tender flesh of hands and feet, of the awful constant pain of hanging on a cross, wheezing and gasping for breath. And then the darkness of death, of the descent into hell, of the tomb.

We know that the story does not end there. But Easter is a day and a season of joy in proportion to its being seen and experienced in reference to Good Friday, Christ's resurrection in relation to his passion and death. Before the cross became the tree of life, it was an instrument of death. It was the triumph of the Evil One, of the mysterium iniquitatis, whose legacy has such a firm grasp on our humanity, whose "sacraments" are sin and death. So Easter is all the more a reason for rejoicing when the victory of Christ over death by rising to new life is proclaimed as our victory as well. Even when we die the death of our bodies, we learn from Christ that he has given us the gift of eternal life, the gift of freedom from sin and death - a share in his own complete victory over the tenacious hold of evil upon us.

This chrism Mass is linked liturgically with the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper. It has the character of preparation for the celebration of the paschal mysteries of the Lord's passion, death and resurrection - especially for us who are the priestly ministers who shepherd God's people through this Holy Week in the name of Christ our Good Shepherd. It is also a prophetic anticipation of the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit that Christ gives his church through the sacraments celebrated with these holy and newly consecrated oils. And because Jesus handed over to his chosen apostles at the Last Supper the mission of this sacramental ministry in and for his church, at this chrism Mass the bishop and the priests of the local churches throughout the world gather together in prayer as Jesus renews in them - in us - the anointing of the Spirit he poured out upon us in our ordination. He fills these oils with his Spirit and sends us priests to bring the anointing of the Holy Spirit to his people through the ministry of his holy sacraments.

The Franciscan practice that took inspiration from our patron St. Francis made Holy Thursday a day of special celebration marking the birthday of the priesthood and the eucharist. The fast of Lent was dispensed for this celebration. No wonder that we also owe the Stations of the Cross to Francis. The joy of the Lord's Supper had to transition quickly to the Way of the Cross. Jesus and his disciples left that upper room in Jerusalem rejoicing and singing as they marched arm in arm down to the Kedron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane. And then he went off alone to pray.
At this chrism Mass, then, let us accompany Jesus to Gethsemane and remain a while and watch with him. Let us try to enter into his prayer, a prayer that bathed him in sweat and blood. Let us hear him say, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." This "cup" contained the whole reality of humanity's sin and disobedience, the sin whose "wages" - whose payment - is death.

Surely Jesus in the infused knowledge of the divine Son also knew, and especially in that moment, the sins that would linger on among his disciples. Surely part of the cause of that sweat and blood was the uncertain outcome of his victory over sin even among those he had called by name and ordained his priests. His words at the entrance of the garden have all the more poignant resonance in this perspective: "This night you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'"

In the tragic revelations of the priests who have betrayed the church's trust by molesting children and teen-agers, we see one aspect of this agony of Christ. If the shepherds are struck down by sin, of course the sheep will be scattered. It is important that we not blink at what Jesus saw and suffered, and what our church in America is suffering. We are suffering for the sins of priests who preferred their own pleasure to the safety and protection of children entrusted to their care. And we are suffering for the mistakes of bishops and administrators who did not place the future protection of children above their desire to protect the reputation and service of priests who had proven themselves unfaithful in their duties. May our penance as a church - our participation in the agony of Christ in the garden - be a witness to our sorrow for these failings on the part of some of us and be a sign of a new day of healing and restoration of trust. May our celebration of the coming Easter feast be the dawn of that new day.

What are the elements that should form the foundation of such healing and restoration of trust? First of all, the whole church needs to reaffirm our commitment to protect children from sexual abuse, and to reach out with every effort to heal and support victims and their families. Much of the reported abuse committed by priests occurred decades ago. Yet many victims are scarred for life. How sad we all are to learn that such abuse was done by those called by Christ himself to be his shepherds for his people - shepherds who represent him and stand in for him. How sorry we are for this abuse, done to the body of Christ itself in the persons of these vulnerable victims.

Second, we must review all our programs and procedures to make sure that they are appropriate to deal with this situation. In 1992 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted five principles to guide our many dioceses in dealing with the issue. These principles were reaffirmed by the conference Administrative Committee earlier this month, and they offer a framework for bishops and diocesan officials to chart our progress in taking appropriate action to guarantee the best possible protection for children in our church. These principles are the following:

1. Respond promptly to all allegations of abuse where there is reasonable belief that abuse has occurred.

2. If such an allegation is supported by sufficient evidence, relieve the alleged offender promptly of his ministerial duties and refer him for appropriate medical evaluation and intervention.

3. Comply with the obligations of civil law as regards reporting of the incident and cooperating with the investigation.

4. Reach out to the victims and their families and communicate sincere commitment to their spiritual and emotional well-being.

5. Within the confines of respect for privacy of the individuals involved, deal as openly as possible with the members of the community.

In the Archdiocese of San Francisco, these principles have been operative in the development of policies and procedures that guide our response in the area of sexual abuse. We review our policy on sexual abuse at mandatory workshops with all clergy and lay employees. We have put in place an independent fact-finding committee of professionals to ensure that we get to the truth behind any allegation. We have notified all clergy that they, like teachers, counselors and other professionals who work with children, are "mandated reporters" of any reasonable suspicion of sexual or physical abuse of children. We have offered counseling to any victims and their families. We have undertaken a review of clergy files and taken appropriate steps to ensure that no children are at risk from priests in the archdiocese.

As you can imagine, this matter will be the subject of discussion at the spring meeting of the bishops' conference in June. Are there further steps we should take in responding to this crisis? Surely there are! For the present, we must achieve a new openness in speaking out against the abuse of children in our church. We must commit ourselves to act quickly to remove any offender from ministry, to require appropriate evaluation and treatment, and to ensure that civil authorities are notified of any suspected abuse of a minor. For the future, we should take the necessary steps to guarantee, insofar as possible, that this tragic cycle of abuse will not happen again.

For this purpose I make these suggestions:
-We should make sure that present admissions policies for our priestly and diaconate formation programs do their best to screen out persons at risk for sexual misconduct with minors and persons who show any indications of sexual immaturity.
-We should revisit our seminary programs to guarantee the appropriate formation of future priests in this area. I might add parenthetically here that recent media attention to seminaries - St. Patrick's on the Jim Lehrer News Hour a couple of weeks ago and Mundelein (Chicago) in the New York Times yesterday - are encouraging in showing how these seminaries have implemented programs that deal candidly with sexual issues and formation.

-Finally, I believe that we bishops will also have to address how to deal with the misconduct of bishops and present our conclusions and recommendations to our Holy Father through the apostolic nuncio and the Congregation of Bishops.

Perhaps my references to the media can offer an opportunity to say that I do not challenge the attention the media has paid to this issue. It is true that at times the coverage has seemed to ignore that sexual abuse of children is a societal problem, not just a priests' problem, or that all of society, not just the church, has been playing catch-up in understanding and dealing with these grave issues. But we all recognize that priests have been given a public trust as representatives of the Good Shepherd and have been given special grace by him to serve his people faithfully. Thus our betrayal of such trust is all the more shocking and all the more newsworthy.

Many speculate about the causes of such abuse: Is celibacy the problem? Homosexuality? The climate of sexual freedom? The inadequacy of seminary formation? As a church we will need to commit ourselves to the best possible review of the causes, with the assistance of the best expertise we can find to assist us. But we must also pay attention to Christ, who promised that he would be with his church all days. St. Paul wrote about what Christ revealed to him: "My grace is sufficient for you!" But this grace needs our cooperation. We must trust in its power to heal our weakness. But as we also learned, grace builds on nature. It is our responsibility to ensure that we take the means at our disposal to heal this human nature of ours when it leads us astray. And for this, we need to help one another get help when we need it.

The priests you know and see before you on the altar today, young and old, take responsibility for continuing our formation to ensure that we will be able to meet the challenge of this new and developing cultural climate. We do not present ourselves as angels before you today, but as men determined, with the grace of God and the help of our brothers and sisters, parishioners, friends, family - and professional caregivers when needed - to renew our commitment to priestly service before you, our church, tonight.

As your bishop, I can assure you that your priests and I are newly conscious of our need to work together to restore the climate of trust broken by a few of us, to our great sorrow and shame. As we prepare during this Mass for the annual renewal of our commitment to priestly service, we do so humbly aware that the anointing of the Holy Spirit, prophesied by Isaiah, invoked by Jesus, given at Pentecost to his church and to us in our priestly ordination, is more than ever needed by us now. May the Holy Spirit who consecrates these sacramental oils tonight through our prayer, accompany them to all of our parishes, our families and our people - and especially to our precious children. May he guide us through the mystery of Christ's passion and death to a share in his resurrection in the grace of Easter. And may he heal our wounds, the wounds of the body of Christ, the church, by anointing us with the oil of gladness and Easter joy.

Addressing Bishop Ziemann's Resignation from a Perspective of Faith

By Archbishop Levada

"The whole church is affected by Bishop Ziemann's behavior.... My message to you today is to call us all to a renewed love of the church following Jesus' own example," San Francisco's Archbishop William Levada said in a homily Aug. 22 in Santa Rosa's St. Eugene Cathedral. Levada was named apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Santa Rosa after Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann resigned as bishop of that diocese July 27. A lawsuit filed July 16 by a priest of the diocese alleged that Ziemann demanded sex from him in exchange for silence about the reason the priest was removed from a parish assignment; a diocesan attorney said the priest admitted stealing $1,200 from the parish collection. Ziemann admitted through his lawyer to having a sexual relationship with the priest, but denied coercion was involved. (See the "On File" page in the Aug. 12, 1999, Origins for a report on the resignation.) Levada said that Ziemann "has told me again and again of his sorrow, his shame, his guilt." The archbishop added, "[M]ay we find it in our hearts to forgive him the scandal he has caused among us through human frailty." The archbishop said that what is most important to him at present "is for us as church in the Diocese of Santa Rosa not to let the scandal of this tragedy harm the faith and faithful lives of those of us who have Christ as our good shepherd." He asked: "Are there those ... who will find in the bishop's fall from grace an opportunity ... to give in to the temptations of their own lives? It would be surprising if it were not so." That is why it is so important, Levada said, to pray to the Holy Spirit "to help us - our priests and all our people in every parish ... to be witnesses of firm faith and models of right conduct." Levada's homily follows.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes about the church of Christ in words as applicable to us today as they were that first generation of Catholic Christians. He says, "You are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him, the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord" (Eph. 2:19-21).

In my first public homily as interim apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, I want to address Bishop Ziemann's resignation from the perspective of faith. The media asks for candor and accountability. I have given my pledge. But my first responsibility is to reflect with you on the spiritual significance of this sad event and on the challenges it presents to us as church.

The whole church is affected by Bishop Ziemann's behavior, especially this part of the flock of Christ which we call the diocese - the "particular church" - of Santa Rosa. Of course the church will survive. We have Christ as our "capstone" and guarantee the building will not fall.

In today's Gospel we have heard once again that dramatic encounter between Jesus and Simon Peter which conveys in such a striking way Jesus' love for the church, to give it a visible shepherd and a foundation on solid rock. The church's foundation, as it is narrated in the text of St. Matthew's Gospel, is solidly grounded in Peter's confession of faith: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus responds, "You are the rock on which my church is built."

My message to you today is to call us all to a renewed love of the church following Jesus' own example. I call us to a renewed commitment to the church, the bride of Christ, which he has endowed with so many rich spiritual gifts. We benefit from these gifts every day of our lives.

It is through the church that God's saving word is preached day in and day out. This is the good news we hear - that all of us, regardless of our present spiritual condition - are called to the same salvation won for us by Christ, to be sharers in the holiness of God's own life made ours through sanctifying grace.
It is through the church that Christ's most precious gift of the eucharist becomes our daily bread and all the other sacraments, including the sacrament of the forgiveness of sins, are offered to us.

What I would stress today is that this church, the bride of Christ that we are called to love as Jesus does, is also a community made up of saints and sinners. It is precisely this church made up of us that we must love - the church the Second Vatican Council calls a "pilgrim people" because it is composed of people still on their way to holiness of life, people always in need of deeper conversion and growth.
The fact that this diverse assembly of Jesus' disciples is afflicted with failures and faults should not cause us to love the church less, but rather invite us to love it more and to help us appreciate its gracious message of salvation and means of holiness that are offered to all.

With St. Paul, we too know our humanity is fragile and weak. "We have this treasure [Christ in us] in vessels of clay" (2 Cor. 4:7). Does this mean we have to sin? Not at all, no matter how prone we are to do so or how much we are tempted. St. Paul gives us the assurance he himself received from Christ: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).

The challenge we face is to draw deeply on the gifts of faith we have received from Christ in the Holy Spirit and to overcome the temptations we experience to our faith. On an occasion such as this the church wonders why her prayer at the ordination of a priest has run dry: "May he be faithful to the ministry that he receives from you, Lord God, and be to others a model of right conduct." We lament that the prayer of consecration of a bishop has seemed to fall short: "May he be a shepherd to your holy flock and a high priest blameless in your sight.... May he be pleasing to you by his gentleness and purity of heart."

It is a participation in the mystery of the cross that we are now experiencing, a share in the suffering of Christ in his body, the church. And I am sure of this: No one is sharing in that suffering and that cross now more than our brother bishop and your former shepherd Patrick Ziemann. He has told me again and again of his sorrow, his shame, his guilt. He will no doubt experience in these coming days and years the need to pray again and again the prayer of King David, the Lord's anointed: "Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense. Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me" (Ps. 51).

The Lord heard the prayer of his servant David. May he hear the prayer of his servant Patrick as well. And may we find it in our hearts to forgive him the scandal he has caused among us through human frailty.

What could be the cause of such a failure by one whom God chose as his anointed shepherd? we may ask. An innate inclination too strong to resist? A vow of celibacy impossible to keep? The answer of faith is no different from the assurance Christ gave to St. Paul for you: "My grace is sufficient for you."

We know already from our own experience as sinners what the answer to our question is. We rationalize. We think it is only for once. We think God is asking too much of us. We cry that our burdens are too heavy.

But God's grace, given especially through prayer and the sacraments, in particular the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, is ready. It only awaits our own cooperation and response.

The most important thing to me at present is for us as church in the Diocese of Santa Rosa not to let the scandal of this tragedy harm the faith and the faithful lives of those of us who have Christ as our Good Shepherd. We must keep him at the center of our lives.

Scandal in the theological sense means putting a stumbling block in another's path, being the cause of another's falling into sin. Are there those among us within our Catholic community or within the community at large who will find in the bishop's fall from grace an opportunity to flee from the demands of faith, to give in to the temptations of their own lives? It would be surprising if it were not so.
It is for this reason that I count it so important for us to pray to the Holy Spirit, the giver of all good gifts, to help us - our priests and all our people in every parish up and down this beautiful Northern California coast - to be witnesses of firm faith and models of right conduct for our brothers and sisters, especially our young people whose faith and life values are still being formed in the challenging environment of our secular society.

As I begin my responsibilities as apostolic administrator, I want to repeat my message: Love the church and pray for the church. Pray to the Holy Spirit, as Mary and the apostles did on the Pentecost, for a new outpouring of his gifts for the church, for this particular church of Santa Rosa. Let us pray for healing for those who have been wounded or abused, for strength for those who are weak, for that full measure of love which will enable us to "bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2).

Let us invoke the Holy Spirit as well for guidance and wisdom in every facet of the long process of discernment which will provide this particular church with her new bishop. Neither you nor I, neither the apostolic nuncio nor Pope John Paul know who our new bishop will be. Only the Holy Spirit knows. May our prayer help us prepare a place in our hearts - in the heart of this local church of Santa Rosa - for the bishop who will come to be your new shepherd.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in his consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.