Catholic bishops in Singapore have said they feel “terribly ashamed and betrayed” by the acts of priests who have “slaked their lust” on innocent children.
In a pastoral letter written in reaction to the recent revelations of clerical sex abuse in America, Archbishop of Singapore, William Goh, writes on behalf of the bishops that they are “even more scandalised” to read of how some church leaders have “deepened the pain” of those abused by covering-up to protect their subordinates.
The Singapore pastoral letter, published on 1 September, follows a devastating Grand Jury report released on 14 August in Pennsylvania detailing the abuse of 1,000 children in six dioceses along with multiple cover-ups by bishops. Days after the report’s release the Pope wrote a letter addressed to the “entire people of God” expressing his shame over the Church’s mishandling of the scandal.
“Our hearts grieve at the deplorable state of the Church’s affairs,” continues the Archbishop Goh’s letter. “With the growing number of revelations and scathing reports from the media, we cannot but begin to doubt our Church leaders.”
The Archbishop continues, writing that is “understandable” that some have left the church as a result of the scandal because the “credibility of the church’s leadership has been greatly affected”.
“The entire Church is suffering because of the wolves who have infiltrated the Church in sheep skin,” he writes.
Nevertheless, the archbishop writes, “we must also recognise that there is much goodness in the Church founded by Christ”. He adds that of the 400,000 priests in the world, the great majority has strived to be faithful to their calling, and to live good and holy lives.
“More than ever, with all the negative reports, our faithful must stand up and show their support for the good priests they have encountered in their lives,” the Archbishop writes.
He adds that “as human beings” they, as priests feels ashamed and disheartened and need the support of the faithful.
Archbishop Goh adds that the scandal “has been a wake up call” for the Catholic Church in Singapore. He says the church has not “been spared allegations of child abuse”. He says that a “handful of cases” have been brought to their attention, which have been handed over to the Professional Standards Office (PSO) of the Archdiocese for investigation.
“Thus far, all the cases have been judged to be inconclusive by the PSO,” he added.
He concludes by saying that every scandal is a “stepping stone for growth”.
“The Church is undergoing testing and purification. The exposure of such crimes is good for the Church in the long run. It purifies the Church,” he writes.
A day earlier, Philadelphia Archbishop, Charles Chaput, wrote to Pope Francis asking him to call off the Synod of Bishops on young people, saying that the bishops “have absolutely no credibility in addressing this topic”.
In its place, the archbishop suggested that the pope "begin making plans for a synod on the life of bishops”.
Archbishop Chaput was speaking at a conference on 30 August at Philadelphia's St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, according to a report by the website LifeSiteNews.
Ken Gavin, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, confirmed the archbishop sent the letter to the pope, but he offered no additional comments.
The youth synod is due to take place 3-28 October in Rome.