By June of 2002, victims and media raised such a national clamor that the annual Bishop’s Meeting in Dallas had to act. They passed the Charter for the Protection of Children and adopted “zero tolerance”.
This ministry to Priests in Prison began in the Southern Province of the U.S. in 2003 and has continued when we merged as part of the Western Province of the U.S.
Priests who have not gotten help for this psychological problem have done terrible harm to innocent youth. When they are brought to trial, it is front page news because they are seen by many as representative of the Catholic Church that needs to be punished. Once they are accused and arrested many people within the Church and in society back away in horror. An accused priest is the loneliest man in town. An incarcerated priest is the loneliest person in prison. But He Is Still A Human Being.
HE WHO DESERVES LOVE THE LEAST NEEDS LOVE THE MOST.
Priests Accused & Arrested
Priests, who besides being human beings, also deserve equal protection under the law as any other citizen of the United States. The amount of compensation that priests receive qualifies them for food stamps. But “the trial that they receive” qualifies them to be celebrities which means that the State or Federal Government will bring to bear all the resources available and the court appointed attorney is going to be overwhelmed by the pressure, the media attention, and the disproportionate amount of money the government will spend to prosecute the case. How will the priest be able to hire adequate representation to get what’s coming to him, rather than what vengeance would like to wreak upon him.
The Ministry, the part not funded by the Province, seeks to help accused priests contact adequate attorneys and seeks to help them raise the funding necessary to hire attorneys who are knowledgeable in this area and accustomed to media pressure.
The Ministry, the part funded by the Province, is the outreach to the priests in prison as explained in the rest of this article.
Priests in Prison
Once convicted and sent to prison, the priest needs to fear for his life. Fr. Geoghan in Boston found that out in 2003 when he was murdered in prison. An Advocate from the outside helps the prison personnel stay alert and supports them in their effort to provide protective custody. The Ministry has been able to provide this support by mail, phone calls, financial support, ordering books and subscriptions and visits.
Since 2003, there has been an average of 45 priests in State and Federal Prisons over the past 16 years. Seventeen priests have died in prison over those 16 years and 60 priests have been released. Presently two thirds are incarcerated for sexual abuse of minors and one third are incarcerated for embezzlement.
Often a priest in prison will have no visitors or very few and far between. Prisons in Texas allow a face to face contact visit only to family members, all others get the bulletproof glass/telephone visit. One priest in the ministry found that, since he is the only one regularly visiting some of the incarcerated priests, the prison will allow him to qualify for the contact visits and allow him to buy snacks from the vending machines for their visits. Outside human contact is an important element in helping the imprisoned priest feel loved as a human being who is loved by God the Father. As Henri Nouwen noted in his book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, the truly prodigal person in the Rembrandt painting by the same name is the Father who is prodigal in his extending caring love and forgiveness.
Abuse of priests in prison can extend from inmate abuse to guard abuse, to lack of medical attention, to solitary confinement. Letters from the outside and regular visitation help the prison personnel realize that they cannot be unfaithful to their role as custodial officers with impunity because there are persons on the outside who will yell “foul’! Life threatening medical conditions sometimes may only be addressed within the system when someone from outside writes and calls the Warden. One of the priests in the Ministry has been able to provide this support a few times.
Family and Friends of priests in prison have a painful road to travel. Besides being hours away, besides being treated as a threat to the security of the prison, besides being intimidated by the concertina wire, 20 foot fences and guard towers, they have to walk away after each visit and leave someone they love behind in “hell’. They have no one to share their pain with because they are afraid others will hatefully turn on them, rather than being sympathetic to their pain. The Ministry seeks to be supportive of family and friends.
At the present time, only priests in prisons within 500 miles, a day’s drive, are visited, so visitation is limited to Texas and Louisiana State prisons and Federal prisons in those States. Visits to New Hampshire, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida etc were just too expensive (plane fare, motel, food) for a mere two hour visit.
Priests Dying In Prison
“Dying in prison alone with the fear that they’ll treat my body in death with the same disregard that they treated it in life” was the fear of an 81 year old priest who died in a New Mexico prison. Fortunately some Sisters in Albuquerque allowed him burial in their plot and the Ministry was able to sponsor a memorial service for him despite his being modern day leper in our society. It gave great comfort to his family (1,500 miles away) to know that he was_ not abandoned in death as he was in life by the Church. The flowers are samples of his watercolors done in the year prior to his death in prison.
Priests Living (existing)
In Prison Some basic things are provided in prisons: some toilet paper, a basic bar of soap, a basic safety razor, used underwear, heavy work shoes, and, in Texas used white jumpers and elastic band white pants. Just a few of the items that must be bought to make life humane in prison: deodorant, a safe supply of toilet paper for emergencies, shaving cream, toothbrush, mouth wash, dental floss, shampoo, cotton swabs, finger & toe nail clippers, ear plugs, pen, writing paper, envelops, First class stamps, manila envelopes for legal documents, over the counter meds such as chap stick, basic skin cream, hemorrhoid relief etc. Since they are human, they also like to buy some snacks to spice up their life. There are special purchases like a small fan for triple digit Texas heat in Texas’ non-air-conditioned prisons, extra underwear, a hot pot, a prison style typewriter with ribbons, a comfortable pair of shoes. The prices reflect their being a “captive” customer. Texas does not pay any hourly wage for their factory, farm or housekeeping work so all support must come from outside. “Too old” or “too infirm” in other State or Federal Prisons are the same.
Normally, good reading material comes from the outside and must come directly from a bookstore or publisher because of security. In other words, the ordinary person cannot send an inmate a book. The prison worries about drugs being put in the binding by ‘friends’.
The Ministry seeks to help priests in prison secure financial support for needed items.
The Ministry presently supplies a subscription to Magnificat, a monthly publication which has the Mass of the day, Lauds and Vespers, and articles of inspiration. The Ministry also supplies a subscription to the bi-monthly Mad Magazine which is a zany comical publication which brings the priest inmate some humor but it also helps protect him in prison because many other inmates want to get on the waiting list to read it next and so they befriend the priest inmate and protect him from inmates who would like to beat up on a priest in prison whom they just presume is incarcerated for sexual abuse of a child.
Artful cards by priest who recently died in prison & whom | visited every other month for more thana dozen years.
Beyond Priests in Prison
Being in prison is a terrifying enough but getting out can be terrifying also because of the need to get a job, find a place to live, and build a whole new life, when your life has been the cocoon of seminary, priesthood, and prison. The Ministry seeks to help priests in transition to survive as a layperson, each person’s needs being somewhat different.
Priest Still in Active Ministry
Being a priest does not protect men from having the same problem with addictions that other people have and at times it is even harder to talk about because priests are not supposed to be human like the rest of humanity. The Ministry seeks to reach out to priests addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex and internet pornography. Help in these areas involves therapy, 12 step programs, support persons, spiritual retreats specifically geared to supporting recovery in these areas while protecting confidentiality.
Priest no longer in Active Ministry
Priests who are no longer in active ministry are still sacramentally priests who can be a great resource for mutual support for priests in recovery in active ministry. Laicization does not un-ordain a person. The document, which | have, is called a Rescript of Dispensation from Priestly Orders but | have also seen it entitled Dispensation from the Obligations of Priesthood.
Understanding the Rescript
Section “5, b”of the rescript makes reference to canons 976 and 986, §2. These canons refer to the ability to give sacramental absolution in danger of death.
The texts declare:
Can. 976 – Even though a priest lacks the faculty to hear confessions, he absolves validly and licitly any penitents whatsoever in danger of death from any censures and sins, even if an approved priest is present.
Can. 986, §2 – In urgent necessity, any confessor is obliged to hear the confessions of the Christian faithful, and in danger of death any priest is so obliged.
Canon 976 is quite clear and needs no comment. It is the second clause of canon 986, §2 that applied in this situation. Basically, it states that there is a responsibility to use your power to absolve in order to aid someone in danger of death. Thus, even if that meant revealing your status to others who were not previously aware of that, the need of the penitent in danger of death would be paramount.
In interpreting the other conditions in the rescript, the provisions of canon 18 come into play. Since these conditions “restrict the free exercise” of baptismal rights, they are subject to a “strict” (i.e., narrow) interpretation. This means that only those matters clearly under the scope of the conditions are prohibited. If some function is not clearly forbidden, then it is permissible.
So, if a person is in danger of death because of illness or an accident, and he or she wants to go to Confession (Sacrament of Penance) and there are two priests available, one active and one not active (laicized) the penitent can choose the inactive ordained person for his confession and absolution. All of which means the word laicization is a misnomer.
Networking
Networking with other people and organizations is an important part of accomplishing the goal of reaching out to marginalized priests. Some of the networking involves helping priests reach out to other priests, helping family and friends who reach out to priests in prison to support others who are doing the same thing, sharing resources and information with a few other groups who are seeking to help priests in trouble. Also in a more indirect way, networking involves education by providing information to others about the plight of marginalized priests, about priests in recovery, about priests who are in the limbo of no assignment because of an accusation without a resolution and about many other aspects related to this painful situation in the Church today.
by Paul Sauerbier CM
US West Province
