In Spirit and Truth Reading Roundup: May Edition

(Plus a question for you!)

Welcome to the May In Spirit and Truth Reading Roundup, with news, analysis, and reflections related to the twin crises of sexual abuse and institutional betrayal in the Catholic Church.

Before I jump into the roundup, I do want to let you know that I’m considering changing or discontinuing this monthly feature. My work with Awake takes so much of my time and energy these days that it’s hard to make space to keep up with reading these articles and compiling these posts. I also wonder if it would be a little better for my emotional and mental health if I took more time away from this topic when I finish up work for the week (yes, this blog is what I do in my “free time.”). I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but I have to confess that spending most of my Memorial Day putting together this post may be what’s pushing me over the edge. :)

That said, I’m curious what you think - How do you interact with these Reading Roundups? Should I experiment with a format that is less time-consuming to put together? Would you miss these posts if they were gone? (I’m committed to continuing the Survivors Voices series, so don’t worry, that won’t be going anywhere.)

Please let me know in the comments below, or send me an email at inspiritandtruth@substack.com.

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The Big Stories

• The biggest news related to church sex abuse this month comes not from the Catholic Church, but the Southern Baptist Convention, which released the results of a third-party investigation into the mishandling of sexual abuse by the SBC’s leaders. It’s every bit as terrible as what we’ve learned about the response of Catholic leaders, with commentators calling it a “horror” and an “apocalypse.” I found the AP’s summary informative, and Christianity Today’s analysis even better. You can read the whole report online, but don’t skip this excellent commentary by the outraged former president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. There are certain differences in the way abuse and institutional betrayal unfolded in the SBC, but sadly, most of it sounds very, very familiar.

• In the Catholic world, controversy is stirring around allegations of sexual misconduct and employee intimidation at media apostolate Word on Fire, founded by Bishop Robert Barron. This scandal has led to resignations by prominent employees and a scathing response from Word On Fire. While the situation doesn’t fit neatly into our usual categories for “the clergy sexual abuse crisis,” I can’t help but notice the parallels and wonder what we as a Church have learned.

• On the global scene, Pope Francis asked the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to conduct an annual audit of what the Church is doing to prevent abuse; he also encouraged them to retain their independence while becoming part of a larger Vatican dicastery. This month, attention has also been focused on a limited (and much-criticized) response from the Italian bishops conference and on developments in Chile, where the government is considering opening a nationwide investigation.

Other Notable News

• The Pillar has continued its excellent coverage of the unfolding disaster with Bishop Richard Stika’s leadership in the Diocese of Knoxville. To understand what the abuse crisis in our Church looks like today, take some time with these stories on Stika’s dismissal of a sexual assault allegation against a seminarian as a “boundary issue,” and a new lawsuit accusing Stika of mishandling a different abuse allegation (this time of a priest sexually assaulting a grieving widow). Apparently, some Knoxville priests have pleaded with the papal nuncio for “merciful relief” from the leadership of their bishop.

• In other diocesan developments, the Archdiocese of Chicago recently reached a settlement over claims of sexual abuse by the late civil rights activist Fr. George Clements and three other religious leaders, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe announced a tentative bankruptcy settlement agreement of $121.5 million with 375 claimants (one of the largest in U.S. history), and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas returned an accused cleric to ministry after investigations by the Kansas Bureau of Investigations and the Archdiocese.

• Building on increasing attention to abuses at residential schools in Canada, the United States Department of the Interior released part one of its investigation into Indian boarding schools run or supported by the U.S. government. As in Canada, many of these schools were run by churches, including the Catholic Church, and subjected students to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

• Catholic organization Voice of the Faithful released results of their first independent review of diocesan compliance with child protection guidelines, yielding an average score of 67%. You can read the entire report online and look for your own diocese’s results. Note that this review was conducted entirely through a review of the information publicly available on diocesan websites, and not all standards they reviewed are required by the Dallas Charter or other church laws.

Going Deeper

• In a story that hits very close to home, my friend Dakota has been speaking publicly about her assault by a priest who is a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. If you want to understand what sexual abuse of adults can look like, watch this video of her telling her story (strong trigger warning on this one). I also really appreciate the honest blog post she wrote about the consequences she’s faced from publicly naming her abuser.

• Awake recently launched a new monthly Survivor Story blog series, which gives us the opportunity to go much deeper into individual stories than I do in the ISAT Survivors’ Voices posts. The first two pieces feature interviews with my friends Michael Koplinka-Loehr and Kathryn Walczyk.

• 10 Reasons Not to Discuss Child Sexual Abuse is a great summary of some reasons people might give for avoiding this difficult topic - and why they’re all wrong.

• Our Sunday Visitor recently published an inspiriting profile of survivor Steve Burnette, titled “Enduring years of sexual abuse by a priest, survivor is called ‘gently, fully back’ to his spiritual home.”

Worthwhile Videos and Podcasts

• I know I’m a bit biased, but I think Awake’s recent Courageous Conversation, Trauma and Resilience in the Body of Christ, was one of our best yet. You can read a brief summary here, but I think the whole video is worth your time. Don’t miss the discussion of post-traumatic growth near the end!

• Jeannie Gaffigan and Where Peter Is editor Mike Lewis interviewed two clergy abuse survivors on their “Field Hospital” podcast: Juan Carlos Cruz and Mark Joseph Williams. I have heard both of these men speak on more than one occasion, but these interviews stand out because the hosts ask some hard questions about why these survivors have chosen to work so closely with the institutional Church.

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Thank you for reading and once again, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this Reading Roundup feature in the comments below.

With gratitude,
Sara

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