蜜芽传媒

Over the weekend the Vatican announced that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, once one of the most influential Catholic churchmen in the United States and the confidant of Presidents and Popes, has resigned from the College of Cardinals following accusations of sexual abuse.

Belonging to the College of Cardinals is a sign of notable influence, for its members elect the Pope and to lose that membership is a remarkable fall from grace. The last time it happened was in 1927.

The cardinal, who is being investigated over abuse of children and sexual misconduct with young men training for the priesthood, is the latest in a series of increasingly senior clerics in the Catholic Church to be accused of abuse of people over whom they have had power.

What鈥檚 noticeable about scandals in both the Catholic Church and the Church of England is that there has been not only abuse conducted by individuals but also others in the institutions have failed to act against miscreants. Indeed there are cases where people in senior positions covered up what individuals had done rather than put the interests of victims first.

Following Cardinal McCarrick鈥檚 resignation, Pope Francis swiftly ordered him to a life of prayer and penance. A Church of England spokesman, talking about the case of Bishop Peter Ball discussed at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse last week, also spoke about the need for repentance.

In the Christian tradition repentance and making penance means a surrender to God and a change of direction 鈥� what is often called metanoia, a Greek word suggesting a conversion in the way one lives. And if one truly turns to God, then in Christianity there is the belief that God will be compassionate.

But in the aftermath of the abuse scandals, this metanoia, or conversion also needs to be seen on the part of the institutions, as part of their acknowledgement of their complicity. One way to demonstrate this is to ensure there is justice for the survivors. For justice - the resolve to render to each person what is their due 鈥� is as much at the heart of Christianity as forgiveness for those who do wrong.

Sometimes Christian teaching has emphasised forgiveness so much it has seemed as if the survivors of abuse have been forgotten. But Christ put victims centre-stage. His message, whether to the Church or to individuals, could not be clearer in Luke鈥檚 Gospel when he says of perpetrators: 鈥淚t would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.鈥�

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