Fr. Andrew Greeley says what I have said before: victims of sex abuse need to come to forgive the Church, their abusers, and others before they find true peace. Their anger may be righteous, but you can’t live that way forever.
Yet can people live forever as prisoners of such anger? Does not the rage continue the power the abuser has over the victim? Without giving up one’s rights in justice, cannot one escape from the control of anger by beginning to forgive?
I may not agree with all of Greeley’s conclusions, but I do agree that bishops need to accept responsibility for they did or did not do, and that admission will help victims to forgive. I also agree that bishops need to listen to more than their inner circle of yes men, although I don’t think Greeley and I are talking about the same thing when he references internal reform for the Church.
