How Do You Respond When A Member Of Your Faith Is Disgraced? Thoughts On George Pell

When George Pell was sentenced this week, some onlookers cheered.

I am glad that justice has been served. I hope that it can bring some peace and closure to those who’ve been hurt by this man. But I can’t cheer.

Pell may go behind bars, but this isn’t over. And whatever the outcome of his appeal, the problem isn’t over.

It’s not over for Pell’s surviving victim, who admits he can’t feel much solace in the wake of the proceedings. 

It’s not surprising, because it takes much more than that to overcome this kind of ordeal. Finding justice can help healing, but it’s not a fix for what’s been broken.

The situation isn’t over for the church, either.

So many Catholics are having an identity crisis at the alleged guilt and hypocrisy of the Cardinal. Whether Pell’s appeal is won or not, his death by public consensus has already occurred.

Some are disbelieving and defensive. But for many others, it’s another blow for a faith that’s been hammered in recent years. It’s another betrayal to those Catholics battling to keep and promote their faith in an increasingly fractured world.

Some Catholics will walk away. Others will continue to ask themselves: How did this happen? How could we have trusted this person?

But these are questions that shouldn’t just be asked by Catholics.

If it’s one thing Christians should think about, it’s this: Abuse is not just a Catholic issue.

I am not a Catholic. My church tradition doesn’t have the celibacy and traditional reverence of priests in its doctrine – aspects that have been used to explain why so many Catholic priests have committed sexual crimes.

So, we could very easily say, “Not all Christians…”, or pass it off as a Catholic thing.

But here’s the thing: abuse isn’t just happening in the Catholic church.

I’ve written elsewhere that there has been a history of misplaced trust or complacence around abuse among Christians. We’ve also seen domestic violence, sexual harassment and abuse in the church surge into the headlines in recent years.

These types of abuse are not all the same. But the point is, we’d be remiss if we didn’t look at what parts of Christian culture are at play in this – even if it’s a sin of omission.

George Pell may be behind bars, or he may win his appeal. We don’t know at this stage. But he’s another serious reminder that abuse can happen anywhere. It’s not all in the past, either. It can be happening right now.

It’s still important we realise if we turn a blind eye, “manage” abuse as though it’s a minor hiccup, or pretend it’s impossible.

This is an ongoing conversation we need to have.

The conviction of George Pell can be a time to condemn the failures of the past. But our response would be incomplete if it’s not about making change for the future.

We need to insist on organisational measures that keep victims safe. That includes basics, like Working with Children checks, and also policies and plans for what happens when a complaint is made.

If we don’t already, we also need to afford victims the dignity of being taken seriously.

Do you know who you’d go to in your church if you had suspicions of sexual abuse? What if you were experiencing it yourself? It may seem extreme – maybe it’ll never happen. But thinking it won’t happen is part of how it happens.

We also need to understand the true meaning of forgiveness in abuse. Saying you won’t report someone, just choosing to let it go out of Christian “grace”, is sometimes the least loving thing you can do. It can allow sin to continue and voices to be silenced.

If there’s anything that George Pell can remind us of, it’s that no one can or should be above the law.

We need to respond, not just react.

Instead of retreating into defensiveness or denial, it’s a time where Christians need the grace and commitment to face truth – whatever that may be. It’s also a time to consider how to love victims better than we have.

Jesus warned about people who will prey on us in our churches, and I believe that Jesus’ message is needed more than ever. That’s where our grounding comes from.

This chapter of the scandal of George Pell may be over, but I hope the reform is just beginning.