This week the news broke of legal charges filed against Cardinal Pell, formerly archbishop of Sydney and Melbourne, but for the last three years has been in the Vatican dealing with its finances. During his time away from Australia there appears to have been multiple complaints lodged against the Cardinal of “historical sexual offences” but so far it is unclear just what offences he has been charged with.
The Cardinal claims that he is innocent and looks forward to clearing his name in court on 18th July. As we know from the Irish experience of these cases it is difficult to hold to the adage “innocent till proved guilty”, the one charged finding himself on the defensive.
Sexual offences of varying severity are probably quite widely experienced and, if my own case is anything to go by, seldom spoken about. It was in my early teenage years that the offences occurred and they were of a minor nature.
We kept around 100 hens and one of my tasks was to provide them with chaff during the winter months when they were kept indoors in the deep litter shed.
The chaff (empty husks after the ear of oats has been threshed) was obtained from underneath the mill which was housed in a building on our neighbours farm. I would fill anything up to 14 sacks on a Saturday transporting them, two at a time, on my bicycle the 5-minute journey to the hen shed.
There were three sons on the farm but it was always the eldest one who would come to ‘help’ me gather the chaff. His advances were fairly easily repelled but he had the advantage of size and age. It was a bit like a cat and mouse game with the mouse frequently escaping!
Looking back over the years I recall that his father, the farmer, often came to the mill and I wonder if he had a suspicion about his son’s behaviour? Nothing was ever said about the incidents, which in fact were very few, but I certainly knew in my mind that this was a sexually warped person.
Why did I never speak about it? It is hard to analyse but perhaps not having reported it immediately to my parents I felt somehow complicity with what was going on.
It has given me a greater understanding as to why there seems to be an extraordinary long time between alleged offences and their being reported.
Jesus didn’t have much time for people who took advantage of their position to abuse believers under their authority (St Matthew Chapter 18 verse 6).
For the repentant who confesses his sins there is forgiveness (St Luke Chapter 24 verse 47).
St Paul wrote “Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and added that he was the foremost (1 Timothy Chapter 1 verses 15-17).
St Paul was probably implying that if he could be saved then there was hope for everyone. By God’s grace he could say that Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to us who believe, or are in the process of coming to faith in Jesus, for eternal life.
Then in a typical Pauline outburst which I can echo he adds “To the King of the Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever.” Amen.