PRELUDE, July 2002



FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

SEX SCANDALS AND KEEPING ONE'S COUNSEL

One of the challenges in ecumenical and interfaith work is learning when to keep one's mouth shut, something which does not come easily to anyone as opinionated as I am. The wedding liturgy of my denomination asks the family and friends of the betrothed to promise "to uphold and care for these two persons in their marriage" and I often add "Will you offer them your best advice and counsel, but only when they ask for it?" The same may be required of Christians whenever we are tempted to tell those of other denominations how they ought to run themselves.

Trying to follow my own advice, I have hesitated to speak publicly about the still-unfolding scandal of clergy sex abuse within the Catholic Church. My heart goes out not only to those who have been victimized but also to the damaged souls who abused them - and to all the good priests who now find themselves under suspicion or working themselves to death trying to fill in for clerics who have been suspended or removed. No one at the Vatican has called to ask what I think, so I will refrain from sharing my opinions on mandatory celibacy, women's ordination, and how to investigate charges of clergy misconduct. What does need to be said is this: no church is immune to abuse, every parish can take steps to protect children and to protect church workers from false allegations, and there is much which we can learn from other denominations about how to do this.

Churches also can learn from the early childhood educators and youth leaders in their buildings. When allegations of sexual abuse in schools and day care centers swept the nation in the early 1980s, parents were anxious and teachers were vulnerable. Though more abuse takes place in homes than classrooms, people were more willing to suspect schools than their friends and neighbors. The witch-hunts unleashed across the land threatened to drive innocent people out of the classroom and make fearful teachers less affectionate toward children. Early childhood educators rose to the challenge, bringing about positive change while preventing abuse from occurring and protecting teachers from false accusations. At the Riverside Church Weekday School in Manhattan, where I was teaching,

What have your local schools done? Some have brought in publicly-funded safety educators to teach a broad range of child-safety issues, including how to resist and report abuse. Some have built trust with parents by offering an evening program on protecting children from abuse and abduction and then presenting a similar program for students.



DID YOU KNOW?



WORTH QUOTING:

"Have no fear for what tomorrow may bring.
The same loving God who cares or you today
will take care of you tomorrow and every day.
God will either shield you from suffering
or give you strength to bear it.
Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations."
- Francis de Sales


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