Summary
Title: Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II
Author: Jason Berry, Gerald Renner
Publisher: Free Press
ISBN: 0743244419
Pro:
• Informative expose of the Legionaries for Christ
Con:
• A lot of jumping around in time and space can be disorienting
• Sometimes focuses more on the Legionaries than the sex-abuse crisis generally
Description:
• Analysis of the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal
• Focuses on the lives of two people: Thomas Doyle and Marcial Maciel
• Argues that institutional silence on sexual issues contributed heavily to the cover-ups
Book Review
If anything, the Vatican’s long-standing silence on priests who sexually abuse children has spoken louder than words. At best, it suggests a lack of understanding about the seriousness of it; at worst, it suggests a lack of caring and compassion. Which is the case is a matter of some debate, but the facts of the cases are far less open to dispute. Many of these are covered in Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II from journalists (and professed Catholics) Jason Berry and Gerald Renner.
The title points to two the major arguments that the authors make in the book: first, that many in the Catholic hierarchy have sought to remain silent on the issue of sexual abuse and resulting cover-ups; second, that one of the reasons for this silence is the ruling style of Pope John Paul II. There are many books on the sexual-abuse scandal, but this one stands out for the way it brings the problems into focus through the lives of two men: Thomas Doyle and Father Marcial Maciel.
Doyle is the hero of the tale — an American priest who recognized early on the possible scope of the problem and sought to solve it by confronting the bishops and rejecting cover-ups. His recommendations were ignored; had they been followed, the scandal would have likely been milder. It’s a shame that more priests didn’t follow his lead, but he had to sacrifice a promising diplomatic career because of what he did so it’s not surprising that many chose to look the other way.
Every story must have a villain, too, and this role is filled all too well by Marcial Maciel, founder of the militant, right-wing Legionaries of Christ:
- “His career is a case study in disinformation — distorting the truth to gain power and fabricating a virtuous image out of pathological behavior; but the Vatican assisted this process for years by its failure to investigate serious charges.”
These “serious charges” cannot be understated — and difficult to repeat, given how horrible they are. It’s unclear from reading the book whether the Legionaries of Christ was created to satisfy Maciel’s lust for power and he simply used it to facilitate the sexual abuse of boys entrusted in his care, or if the latter was the whole point all along. This is not to say that members of the Legionaries are anything but faithful and committed Catholics, despite having to take vows never to speak ill of Maciel and to inform on those who do; their good will, however, is unrelated to whether Maciel himself is of good character.
There is currently a Vatican investigation into what Maciel has done. Allegations were first presented to Pope John Paul II as early as 1978. A formal complaint was lodged in 1999 which the Vatican acknowledged as credible enough to justify further investigation — but no such investigation was made and the complaint was squashed.
The same accusations with the same level of evidence would lead to a priest being dismissed at any American diocese, but the Vatican operates by different rules. Almost two decades have passed before the complaints have been taken seriously, and this is characteristic for how the Vatican has handled sexual abuse allegations generally: look the other way, pretend that it isn’t a problem, tie things up in secrecy. Do you suppose the fact that Maciel is popular, brings in a lot of money, and supports the conservative Catholic agenda has anything to do with the manner in which he has been treated?
Many regard the sexual abuse scandal as having peaked in 2002, but it’s far from over yet. There are many pending lawsuits and many closets that have yet to be opened and cleaned out. It will be some time before everything is settled — especially given the continuing refusal of the hierarchy to really take the problems seriously.
