Pope John Paul II designated the second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, as an invitation by the Church for any to find hope and consolation in Christ.  The image of Christ with two rays streaming out of his heart is the vision of this mercy.  This year, it seems that divine mercy is needed by the Church and her leadership in light of the sexual abuse scandal that is being exposed in Europe. 

The United States Catholic Bishops have dealt with the priest pedophilia scandal for more than a decade and instituted strict processes to assure the safety of children through in their 2002 Dallas meeting.  A key policy from this document is “no tolerance”: even a single act is addressed immediately by withdrawing the priest from active ministry and by cooperating with civil authorities.  Every parish employee and volunteer must undergo a background check, be trained with the safety of children, and maintain continuing education about children’s safety.  That happens here at St. Paul.  All of this is consistent with what we know today about pedophilia.

The understanding of pedophilia in the 1980s and 1990s was different.  It was considered treatable.  Places like Jemez Spring, NM offered thorough psychological treatment to offenders in order to “cure” them and restore them to ministry.  This, of course, became a horrible disaster!  Today, pedophilia is considered untreatable.  Any priest caught for this kind of activity today is permanently removed from ministry wherever children might be.  Many of these priests are “defrocked,” canonically called “laicization.”

From our perspective it was only a matter of time before Europe would discover that this is also happening there.  The Irish Church scandal is just the beginning of this revelation.  In all of these cases, proper understanding and handling of these cases was also lacking.  Europe appears to be going through our tragedy, just a decade or two later.  Every one of these cases is sad, irreparable, and criminal.  Indeed, there is a great need for divine mercy to heal all of those whom priests have wounded.

As to the leadership in the Church, I am not sure how divine mercy needs to heal.  In many ways Pope Benedict has reached out to victims (e.g., during his trip to the USA).  In the present allegations…was he complicitous to a known evil or following the practice of that day which, today, we know to be wrong?  And in another case, was he advocating for a canonical sanction over a civil sanction (i.e., the Wisconsin matter)?  He surely is a juicy target to assault.  May he know where his guilt lies and confess, and have the strength to persevere where the news is gossip.  Lord have mercy.

In today’s gospel, Thomas doubts the witness of the apostles.  He knew their fallibility; he was one of them.  Only Christ himself could allay such doubts and fears.  Truly, in this broken vessel of grace and hope, the Church needs Christ to allay our doubts and fears, and transform us into transformed disciples who know of grace, live anew in that grace, and can minister in the name of grace.