Look in the mirror...

Blessed Edmund Rice, Tuesday, 5th May, 2020.

The life and work of Edmund Rice was remarkable by any standard. After the death of his wife he gave up his possessions and personal ambitions and focussed on helping others. He and his companions recognised the need for education among the poor and deprived. To this end he dedicated himself and achieved amazing results. He was the founder of the Christian Brothers and throughout the world they became a force for education, setting up projects and establishing schools and institutions. 

Yet some years ago, and I cannot pinpoint a date, revelations of abuse surfaced. A huge scandal erupted and many former pupils and young inmates attested to the abuse perpetrated by brothers. Rightly the abusers were sought out and where appropriate prosecuted and punished, although some had died. The scandal seemed to break the back of the Order and many of its institutions.

Many such scandals have over the years broken over other religious orders and charitable societies.

I recall recently a scandal involving charities in Haiti. I vaguely remember a charity official being accused of using his authority and power to abuse local women. The result of such scandals is for donors to stop giving support. Such drying up of funds has the knock on effect of the good work being done suffering and therefore the beneficiaries also suffering.

A director of one such charity told me some years ago that as a direct result of such a collapse people had died and returned to lives of suffering and pain. His lament was that the good being done had to collapse and stop also. He noted 'the baby had been thrown out with the bath water'.

No one should stop or cover up such expositions. Yet other considerations should be noted. The interruption or halting of the charitable endeavours means the poor and deprived suffer further with little hope of amelioration.

Of course we need to cut out the poisonous elements but ensure the good is still fostered. Rebuilding trust is hard as the whole charity gets tainted. I recall as a pupil hearing from my marvellous housemaster the idea: how can someone become trustworthy if no one will trust them. It echoed the scriptural concept of forgiveness....how many times do I forgive my brother? 

Beyond the horror of the scandal and its effects I feel it important to look at other elements.

Scandals in one era may not be scandals in another. Homosexual practices were illegal in Britain in the 1910s but in the 2010s they were accepted and legal. Public mores change and different societies and countries have different attitudes and moral principles and laws. 

Also what of hypocrisy?

One of the New Testament stories of Jesus is known as the woman caught in adultery. She is to be stoned to death for her transgression. Jesus turned to those about to exact the punishment and said "let him who is without sin cast the first stone." To the credit of the crowd they all realised that they had all transgressed and melted away. Jesus turned to the woman and did not say that adultery was acceptable but rather said go and sin no more. A realisation that if something is wrong it should not be practised but also that forgiveness is apposite and necessary for a greater good. In this case the life of a person.

The baby had not been thrown out with the bath water. 

He is also reputed to have said elsewhere judge not and you will not be judged and take the beam out of your own eye before the speck in that of another. 

I have had too many experiences of the effects of scandal. I have seen the lives of acquaintances and even friends destroyed. And not only the lives of the perpetrators but the lives of their innocent families, friends and businesses.

I have witnessed the viciousness of accusers and their horrid cohorts....crowds, as it were, baying for blood. I have known of the false allegations, of people jumping on bandwagons to do down their supposed enemies. It is as if people relish the demise of reputations and seem to be using their own participation as a sort of scapegoating.

All of us have seen the beauty and positive nature of forgiveness.

Yes, justice must be served but not prurience nor vicarious gratuitous enjoyment of the perverse. 

Only last year I watched a television adaptation of the Profumo Scandal. My sadness was exacerbated by the delight so many felt at the fall of the people involved. Part of the programme was interviewing remaining family and friends who underlined the nastiness of many who rejoiced in the whole event.

No human deserves to be annihilated and they must, in my view, be given opportunities for repentance and reform and rehabilitation. 

Yes, throw the bath water away but keep the baby.

Also look in the mirror.

#profumo #mirror #edmundrice #scandal #charity #abuse #christianbrothers #christ #haiti