[His comments are getting a similar negative reaction across the religious spectrum and around the world]
Father Benedict Groeschel’s disturbing comments
By Matt C. Abbott
8/30/12
www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/120830
My favorite living spiritual writer, Father Benedict Groeschel, made some comments in a recent interview with the National Catholic Register that I find quite disturbing.
The portion of the interview with Father Groeschel addressing the issue of sexual abuse is as follows (click here to read the interview, which is wide-ranging, in its entirety www.ncregister.com/daily-news/father-benedict-groeschel-reflects-on-25-years-of-the-franciscan-friars-of ):
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[Interviewer]: Part of your work here at Trinity has been working with priests involved in abuse, no?
[Father Groeschel]: A little bit, yes; but you know, in those cases, they have to leave. And some of them profoundly — profoundly — penitential, horrified. People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to — a psychopath. But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer.
[Interviewer]: Why would that be?
[Father Greoschel]: Well, it’s not so hard to see — a kid looking for a father and didn’t have his own — and they won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing, perhaps sleeping but not having intercourse or anything like that.
It’s an understandable thing, and you know where you find it, among other clergy or important people; you look at teachers, attorneys, judges, social workers. Generally, if they get involved, it’s heterosexually, and if it’s a priest, he leaves and gets married — that’s the usual thing — and gets a dispensation. A lot of priests leave quickly, get civilly married and then apply for the dispensation, which takes about three years.
But there are the relatively rare cases where a priest is involved in a homosexual way with a minor. I think the statistic I read recently in a secular psychology review was about 2%. Would that be true of other clergy? Would it be true of doctors, lawyers, coaches?
Here’s this poor guy — [Penn State football coach Jerry] Sandusky — it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice. Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn’t think of it in terms of legal things.
If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties — except for rape or violence — it was very rarely brought as a civil crime. Nobody thought of it that way. Sometimes statutory rape would be — but only if the girl pushed her case. Parents wouldn’t touch it. People backed off, for years, on sexual cases. I’m not sure why.
I think perhaps part of the reason would be an embarrassment, that it brings the case out into the open, and the girl’s name is there, or people will figure out what’s there, or the youngster involved — you know, it’s not put in the paper, but everybody knows; they’re talking about it.
At this point, (when) any priest, any clergyman, any social worker, any teacher, any responsible person in society would become involved in a single sexual act — not necessarily intercourse — they’re done. And I’m inclined to think, on their first offense, they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime.
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Because I have such profound respect and admiration for Father Groeschel, it pains me to say this, but I think he’s terribly misguided here. Perhaps in his advanced age he’s not articulating himself as well as he used to; I don’t know. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but, in this instance, it’s very difficult.
When asked by me to respond to Father’s aforementioned comments, a faithful Catholic who has worked with victims of sexual abuse wrote:
“First of all, Father Groeschel’s suggestion that sex abusers of any profession should not get jail for a first offense — because, he claims, they don’t ‘intend’ to abuse — is simply incomprehensible. What on earth does he mean? Doesn’t he know that a good intention does not by itself make an act good? Hasn’t he read the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
“Moreover, with all due respect to Father Groeschel, it is utterly irresponsible to suggest that a priest, who is in a position of moral authority, should be excused for permitting himself to be ‘seduced’ by a young person. That is not at all the message coming from the Vatican, which has been trying with increasing urgency to get bishops to take decisive action to protect young people and bring healing to victims.”
Father Groeschel apologizes for calling victims ‘seducers’, but won’t face discipline
CASSANDRA GARRISON
NEW YORK
August 30, 2012
www.metro.us/newyork/Local/article/1150935–father-groeschel-apologizes-for-calling-victims-seducers-but-won-t-face-discipline
The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the order to which Father Benedict Groeschel belongs, is not planning to reprimand him for expressing sympathy for convicted child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky and making comments about pedophilia victims seducing their abusers.
He did, however, issue a statement of apology through the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal:
In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Father Benedict Groeschel, 78, said boys without fathers are often the ones to approach their abusers.
“Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster – 14, 16, 18 – is the seducer,” Groeschel, who is based in Westchester, said.
“It’s not so hard to see — a kid looking for a father and didn’t have his own — and they won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing,” he added.
On the subject of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted on multiple counts of child sex abuse, Groeschel, who is part of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, expressed sympathy.
“Here’s this poor guy — Sandusky — it went on for years. Interesting. Why didn’t anyone say anything?” Groeschel asked.
He also said he doesn’t think child sex abusers should be prosecuted for their first offense.
“I’m inclined to think, on their first offense, they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime,” he said.
Speaking from Most Blessed Sacrament Friary in Newark, N.J., Father Glenn Sudano said Groeschel, 78, was recovering from a fall where he hit his head when he gave the interview to the National Catholic Register.
“He is a counselor and he is very dedicated to the poor, and the oppressed, and actually people who are victims of everything,” Sudano told Metro of Groeschel. “This is why it’s shocking that he even said this. It doesn’t even sound like him.”
Sudano would not disclose Groeschel’s whereabouts.
When asked whether Groeschel would face any consequences for his actions, Sudano replied, “He is recuperating. I can imagine him being confused, and frankly, knowing him, when it sinks in, he is going to be devastated that he hurt people.”
Sudano said that since Groeschel is not in a position of authority within the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, there will be no disciplinary action taken against him.
“It’s almost like your grandfather, what do you do?” Sudano asked. There is no disciplanry action that logically could be done.”
Sudano said that only in extreme circumstances when a crime is committed, will a friar be dispensed from his vows. Since the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal take a vow of poverty, there can be no monetary consequences for Groeschel, Sudano said.
The National Catholic Register issued a statement of apology for printing Groeschel’s comments and removed the interview from its website.
“Child sexual abuse is never excusable,” Editor-in-Chief Jeanette R. De Melo said in a statement.”The editors of the National Catholic Register apologize for publishing without clarification or challenge Father Benedict Groeschel’s comments that seem to suggest that the child is somehow responsible for abuse. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
De Melo added, “Our publication of that comment was an editorial mistake, for which we sincerely apologize. Given Father Benedict’s stellar history over many years, we released his interview without our usual screening and oversight. We have removed the story. We have sought clarification from Father Benedict.”
The Archdiocese of New York condemned Groechel’s comments and disassociated itself with them.
“The harm that was done by these remarks was compounded by the assertion that the victim of abuse is responsible for the abuse, or somehow caused the abuse to occur,” spokesman Joseph Zwilling said. “This is not only terribly wrong, it is also extremely painful for victims.”
I’m not surprised. I’d guess Fr. G. is a Weakland fan. Weakland gets the Linda Ronstadt award for covering “Poor, poor, pitiful me. Oh! These boys won’t let me be! Lord have mercy on me.” Now G wants to sing harmony.
Fr. G. is an arch heretic, and I hold him responsible, along with fag Weakland, for sealing my father’s loss of salvation. My dad almost did RCIA with mom (Mom is Catholic). But they would watch EWTN. Dad LOVED Fr. G. See, my dad was a Lutheran syncretist. Fr. G repeatedly spoke of his good Jewish and protestant friends. He assured his listeners that Jews and prots go to heaven. It’s no consolation to think that my dad will have eternity to stomp on G’s head.
Re: Weakland. I’m from Milwaukee. In the 90′s, Weakland visited my dad’s ELCA lodge and told them that Catholics could receive communion there. Unreal.
Yes, I’ll pray that Fr. G and fag W convert. But the tree has almost hit the ground, and we know it lies where it falls.
Cyprian, my condolences.
When the horrific legacy of the Second Council of the ( once noble ) Vatican and its human component is finally written, it will be literally unreadable by conscientious Catholics. That the Bogus Ordeal holds sway over so many hundreds of millions of Catholic souls to this moment, after 50 years now of filth, corruption and dark error, should terrify any reasonable man.
As St. Thomas Aquinas states, the worst crime against God is that against the Faith. And the worst of that category of sin is heresy. And the worst heresy is the one Pope St. Pius X condemned as the “synthesis of all heresies.”
I shall pray for your late father.
Your commentary was both moving and exquisitely rendered in its authenticity.
Thank you, gpmtrad. I don’t recall if your dad passed on, but I recall he was quite ill. You have my prayers. My dad went out with Alzheimer’s.
I probably should tone down my rhetoric when writing about a priest and a bishop, but I get really riled whenever I hear their names.
My mom zinged dad’s pastor once. She attended a concert there with my dad, and as they were leaving the pastor told her that Abp. Weakland says that Catholics can receive communion there. Mom looked right at him and said, “I don’t care what Abp. Weakland says.” (She smelled Weakland out early on.)