Some double standards are just too blatant to ignore. In 1977, acclaimed film director Roman Polanski was indicted on six felony charges that included statutory rape, sodomy, and introducing a hypnotic sedative drug into the alcoholic beverage he provided to his 13-year-old victim.
Mr. Polanski and the prosecutors entered into a “plea deal.” In exchange for Mr. Polanski’s plea of guilty to one of the charges – thus avoiding a criminal trial – the prosecution agreed to a sentence of 42 days, the amount of time Mr. Polanski served while awaiting trial.
The victim in the case, who stood to gain millions in a civil settlement, also agreed with this sentence. When the judge hearing the case balked at the plea deal, Mr. Polanski fled from the United States to France where he has lived since. France declined to extradite him to the U.S. for sentencing. For 31 years, Roman Polanski hid in plain sight.
Last month, Roman Polanski was arrested in Zurich on an American fugitive warrant issued after he absconded in 1977. Mr. Polanski is now 76 years old, and the victim is in her mid-40’s. She asked for dismissal of the case because she apparently no longer feels like a victim. The amount of her financial settlement is unknown because of a standard non-disclosure agreement between the parties. When Catholic dioceses honored those same types of agreements, they were widely accused of perpetrating a cover-up.
What is most interesting about the Polanski case is not the charges themselves, or Mr. Polanski’s 1977 guilty plea. It is not even the fact that he may face a sentence – if there is even to be one – 31 years after being convicted.
And the Winner Is . . .
No, what is most interesting about this case is the reason Roman Polanski went to Zurich in the first place. He was arrested at the Zurich airport when he arrived to receive one of the highest honors in the film industry - the Zurich Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
This was not the first such award bestowed since Mr. Polanski plead guilty to child sexual abuse. In 2003, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him the Best Director Oscar for the film, “The Pianist.” The Oscar was bestowed to a proxy since the famed director would not risk traveling to Los Angeles.
None of the above is a judgment on whether Roman Polanski deserved such awards. That is not my point. The point is that there has been an outpouring of outrage by media pundits and others over the latest developments, but it is not the sort of outrage we Catholics have become accustomed to in the wake of similar decades-old claims against priests and the bishops’ handling of those claims.
The outrage voiced in the case of Roman Polanski is not that he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting a child but faced no consequences – other than perhaps financial consequences. The outrage is also not about the honors and awards he received. The most vociferous outrage is over the fact that Roman Polanski was arrested at all and could now be sentenced to prison.
That outrage has been most vocal within the media and film industries, including some of the same people who have ridiculed and railed against the Catholic Church for often far less serious claims against priests that are also decades old. Some of the same people who openly vilified Catholic priests now demand leniency for Roman Polanski and minimize the case against him.
Whoopi Weighs In
Typical of this outrage is the example of actress Whoopi Goldberg. As a panelist on the morning talk show, “The View,” she and her co-hosts have relentlessly ridiculed and pummeled Catholic priests and bishops for the sex abuse scandal. Virtually all of the claims against priests that surfaced in or after 2002 were alleged to have occurred decades ago.
The charges against me, for example, were claimed to have occurred sometime between 1978 and 1983. The panelists on “The View” have demanded criminal prosecutions and public exposes of bishops and accused priests regardless of however long ago the claims were alleged to have occurred. They have also ridiculed Catholic moral teaching pointing to what they see as the sheer hypocrisy between what the Church teaches and the claimed behavior of some priests and bishops.
Whoopi Goldberg now ridicules the case against Roman Polanski, inferring that it is unjust to impose a penalty in a case from so long go. Moreover, and most shockingly, she minimized the child’s victimization with the astonishing statement,
“It wasn’t really rape, rape!”
The inference here is that the victim “consented,” despite being drugged, and despite being thirteen years old. If Roman Polanski was a Catholic priest, Whoopi Goldberg would want his head presented to Herod on a platter.
Then there is the issue of the awards themselves – the Zurich Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Motion Picture Academy’s Oscar – bestowed upon Roman Polanski well after the sexual assault conviction, and while he was a fugitive from justice. Just imagine, for a moment, what would happen in the news media if an accused Catholic priest was publicly nominated to receive an award. The outcry would be thunderous, and the Church would be battered and ridiculed.
Scarlet Letters
The loudest outrage would come from Catholics in protest groups like Voice of the Faithful (V.O.T.F.) and the vocal and vitriolic Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests (S.N.A.P.). Both groups have consistently made themselves pawns of the news media’s agenda to discredit their Church.
Vocal members of both V.O.T.F. and S.N.A.P. have assailed the Church and bishops claiming that even the most basic and humane observance of the rights of accused priests – including efforts to grant them even minimal support, due process, and a presumption of innocence – are treacherous betrayals of the victims of sexual abuse.
V.O.T.F. sponsors an annual “Priests of Integrity” award. Can you imagine what would happen if an accused priest was nominated for it? Earlier this year, a woman wrote to me asking if she could nominate me for that award. I had to plead with her not to do so.
Members of V.O.T.F. in my own diocese have repeatedly demanded my dismissal from the priesthood without affording me even the most basic rights of defense under canon or civil law. Most recently, some have called the attempt to bring about a mere review of my trial the work of an insidious right-wing conspiracy.
Before The Wall Street Journal published an analysis of the case against me in 2005, one of the V.O.T.F. leaders used my case to grab headlines. When I wrote to him with the truth in 2003, my letter came back to me unopened and stamped, “Refused by Addressee.” When asked by a friend if V.O.T.F. would hear from me, a local V.O.T.F. leader reportedly replied, “We do not want to hear from him. We do not want to hear about him.”
It seems the denizens of Hollywood feel freer in our culture to practice the tenets of the Gospel of mercy than many in our Church – including many of our bishops who have been highly influenced by their fears over public sentiment and organized vilification.
As the national priesthood scandal unfolded seven years ago – at which point I had already been wrongly imprisoned for eight years – my bishop wrote the following to a Vatican official:
“Whatever the truth is about [Father MacRae’s] guilt or innocence, the Diocese of Manchester was in a difficult situation during his public trial. I do not feel that the Diocese can publicly advocate on his behalf without risking grave public misunderstanding.”
In a neighboring diocese, a bishop under relentless pressure from S.N.A.P. has told the news media that he is considering a website to publish the names, photos, accusations, and current addresses of priests who have been accused and suspended in cases alleged to have occurred 30 to 40 years ago. The priests named have never been convicted of a crime.
The duplicity is broad and blatant. Despite being acquitted in a criminal trial, singer Michael Jackson settled a single claim of sexual abuse for a reported $20 million, and untold millions settled other claims against him. When Michael Jackson died, he was celebrated as a cultural icon of the entertainment industry. In contrast, an American bishop, under pressure from a victims’ group, ordered the remains of a posthumously accused priest exhumed from a diocesan cemetery, and reinterred elsewhere.
I do not cite the above to criticize my bishop, or any bishop. Actually, I agree with my bishop that there would indeed have been a vocal reaction by groups like V.O.T.F. and S.N.A.P. if he fulfilled a 2001 promise to help seek a review of my trial. He had committed to doing just that when the national scandal erupted in 2002 at which point his support transformed into silence. My point is that public outrage is misplaced, and the reactions to the case of Roman Polanski show us just how misplaced and selectively voiced it is.
In the polar opposite of the vilification occurring in our Church, the French government has expressed its own outrage over Roman Polanski’s arrest. The French Cultural Minister, Frederick Mitterrand, was quoted in the news media: “In the same way that there is a generous America that we like, there is also a scary America that has just shown its face.”
Having faced mob justice, I find the double standard of otherwise reasonable Americans – many Catholics among them – to be far scarier.
Editor’s Note: Several of you have expressed a desire to join Fr. MacRae in a Spiritual Communion. He celebrates a private Mass in his prison cell on Sunday evenings between 11 pm and midnight. You’re invited to join in a Holy Hour during that time if you’re able.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
A priest was acquitted on Friday by the judge at a pre-trial hearing and the judge actually said that it was clear that the accuser could not be trusted. This good priest has suffered 14 months of torture awaiting this moment but the attitude of SNAP is to call on the prosecution to appeal. I have asked them to remove references to this priest on their site but they have neither done so nor replied to me. These organisations need a constant stream of accusations or they cease to exist and their funding dries up. Money is at stake here.
I read Fr. MacRae’s quote of the Bishop of Manchester, NH told the Vatican about what would happen if he defended Fr. MacRae. You know what? I will bet there is a mission statement in this bishop’s bookcase which covers the following:
-shepherding his fellow priests
-leading his flock
-visiting those in prison
-hearing confessions of those in prison
Even adopting a person in prison…..that is going a bit far ….in his case as he wishes to remain silent. A bishop that is silent………to me this is rather unusual, to put it mildly.
In St. Louis, MO Patricia
“And to keep me from being too elated …. a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me. Three times I besought the Lord about this, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ ” (2 COR 12: 7-8).
Imagine the Church receiving evidence today that St. Paul’s cryptic “thorn in the flesh” was a sexual compulsion. Would there be talk of removing his image from our walls? Would a movement form to expunge his words from the Canon of Scripture? The story of sex abuse allegations against priests, some true and many obviously not, is indeed a stain on the image of the Catholic priesthood, but should the Body of Christ, the Church, allow Her critics to equate the efficacy of Her message with the character of Her messengers?
Does God call flawed and sinful men and women to be instruments of His grace? Clearly. Does God weigh each of our lives solely in the harsh light of our most egregious sins? Let’s hope not, despite the fact that in the Internet age we do this routinely to one another, and especially to our religious icons.
I read with horror the part of this post about a bishop ordering the remains of a priest to be exhumed and moved from a Catholic cemetery after he was posthumously accused. I thought this must be an isolated response by a U.S. bishop until I recently read the Boston Globe article (10/20/09) about the Bishop of Portland, Maine doing something very similar.
Fr. Joseph McGowan died in 1962 at the age of 72. The bishop read a letter to parishioners at one parish stating that Fr. McGowan was accused of abuse between 1936 and 1949. According to the Globe article the bishop “directed the removal of any memorials or tributes to [Father] McGowan, including a photo and a plaque at the church.” The bishop also directed the Knights of Columbus to remove the priest’s name from its charter. The person accusing Fr. McGowan in a demand for settlement claimed to be 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, and is now 78.
The knowledge of these abuse claims brings me to only one place: the truth that I, too, am a sinner who comes to Christ through the Church for redemption. With a modicum of honest self-assessment instead of a stone at the ready, it is a truth at which we would all arrive. For my part, I have no stones to throw at any accused priest. I have only sadness that the bishops who once supported them now heed calls to purge the Church of any trace of them.
No doubt, the Puritan founders of American Protestantism would approve of the purging of the priesthood that is now underway in Western culture, for it is far more Calvinist than Catholic. The fact is, we are not sinners in the hands of an angry God, and we Catholics should not allow our critics to play God by holding our faith in contempt because our leaders sometimes fail.
I cannot believe Whoopie Goldberg’s comment as someone who has far too close an association with Rape than I care to remember. It is obvious whoopie has never been raped or she would realise how stupid her insensitive comments are. Rape is Rape no matter what, and its violation is a wound for life.
Praying for you daily Father
God bless from across the pond
love Jan
Re the members of SNAP and VOTF -they need our prayers and compassion. Sometimes movements begin out of sheer frustration and a just cause and they can then be hijacked just as any one of us at any time in our lives can be misled into a false turn or direction unless we ask easch day for God’s merciful grace to aid our discernment.
The Serenity prayer is so wise. Being of an impulsive and highly strung temperament myself I have slowly learned that not all impulses are of the Spirit. Many of the people connected with SNAP and VOTF have suffered abuse or know of friends or relatives who have suffered abuse and it is easy for them to get caught up in a vigilante mood and to forget that not every accusation is true and not all “Victims” are genuine.
I would like to see more use of the wonderful Sacrament of annointing with the oils used for the sick and dying in abuse cases.This Sacrament of healing would go a long way to bringing peace to their broken hearts.It does not take much imagination to realise how deeply wounding abuse would be to a vulnerable trusting sensitive soul.
Pastorally I feel Holy Mother Church should urge all victims of abuse to attend healing masses where they can go up to receive these strengthening healing oils.I am sure Father Gordon himself can realise how deeply wounding and humiliating it is not to be believed as some of the genuine cases of abuse were not believed. Real evil was at work in these cases just as real evil wants “good priests ” like Father Gordon to suffer.
But we know from our Faith that evil will not triumph in the end. Even from within the confines of a prison Father Gordon’s priesthood is radiating light .Our Beloved Mother will sustain him as he carries his cross.
A friend of mine, not Catholic, but Christian, expressed her fear of the times. I wrote back to her something that came flying from my fingertips but which, frankly, I could not say I had thought about strongly before it arrived in print.
God never promised Christians an easy time of it and here in this nation we HAVE had an easy time of it. The truth is that people find God most often in adversity, not complacency.
We are that very scary thing that Dickens wrote about in “The Christmas Carol”: ignorance. People with free speech and freedom of religion who have been expertly led along like lambs to the slaughter by the far more savvy special interest groups that largely populate the media, the judiciary and our government.
Money IS the root of all evil when it is the goal and aim to have money in order to influence and oppress others. It is very hard to say that any branch of government or ‘free’ press is not filled with corrupt individuals with this very goal.
Religion is now being ridiculed, by people too ignorant to realize that those who go manic buying pink wardrobes for themselves, their pets and their homes are just as faithful to a religion.
The difference is that Christianity is the only faith that left us a manual that actually manages to answer the question of why we’re here. Others who fabricate their own religions love the parts of Christianity that we all admire, love, charity, forgiveness, but they choose to eschew the more unpalatable aspects of selflessness, forgiveness and prayer of those we dislike and being accountable for our sins. Sins is a term that they have done their best to eradicate since most of these newfangled religions welcome much that is termed sinful…very inconvenient.
Father, I know that your being buried there and your choice of grace, despite an honest admission of fear and anger, is affecting many people who would not otherwise be termed worth salvaging. I know that there will be more that will be affected. I also cannot fail to recognize how similar is your fate to those of saints who suffered the hypocrisy and the mob mentality centuries past.
As you know, we as Catholics are explicitly directed not to try and guess the end times, that is none of our business. God said that we must be beacons and as things grow more dismal and dark, it is true faith and that strange peace that comes through Christ, that will ironically impress and even bring to God those who now hang on to false sanctimony and inhumane illogic.
I do not know how things will fall but I will not be surprised if there is a great deal more persecution.
Meanwhile we are called to quietly cite justice, yet still pray for these who persecute, citing Jesus’ comment, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.”
I am no pacifist and I do intend to contribute in a just fight, but I also recognize that my faith calls me to, like you, tread a path that is so very much NOT the path most taken. It will not be easy for us, but since we are actually trying to bring God closer to these very ‘Sauls’ who so casually throw us to the metaphorical lions, it will be our grace, our charityand our truly divine peace that must color all we do.
I didn’t get trained in a seminary and I vetoed the idea of being a nun when I was 21, so the road ahead will not be taken with as much admirable patience as yours has been.
God bless you, Father. You are remembered, prayed for and watched over by us and by God. Praying for that day when you are freed.
I fear that the church in the United States has lost its way because it made the critical error of kowtowing to soon to the demands of S.N.A.P. and V.O.T.F. under enormous public pressure to do so. The Church has chosen appeasement over truth. And, that’s never going to produce righteous results.
I have spoken at length with a fair number of priests regarding issues that touch upon my own life and experience as a convicted felon. What I have found is that they hold the judgments of secular/temporal courts in high regard. I find this an oddity among Catholics, and it betrays their appreciation of the Church’s historical struggle against state authority. What would Pope Gregory VII say, for instance, of the Church’s raw presumption in favor of a civil/criminal court processes and judgments?
Is there something in Church law that requires ecclesiastical authorities to roll over and play dead in the face of a civil/criminal judgment? I was under the impression that Christ is the great and high judge of the universe. And, as His agent on earth, the Church is the last arbiter of true justice, not the state. Popes throughout the ages have consistently, tenaciously, doggedly proclaimed this to be true. Pope Leo XIII gave it particular attention during his pontificate.
So why is it, all of the sudden, the Church finds that it has talked and cringed itself into acknowledging and abiding by civil court processes and judgments without any consideration given to either their veracity or legitimacy? Does the American system of justice deserve so high a level of deference? Is this policy historically sound? Or might it not be the most dangerous precedence the Church could possibly set at a time when the processes of justice in the United States are of dubious international respect and largely continue to operate only because of the exceptional trust with which the American people blindly affirm them?
“When Michael Jackson died, he was celebrated as a cultural icon of the entertainment industry. In contrast, an American bishop, under pressure from a victims’ group, ordered the remains of a posthumously accused priest exhumed from a diocesan cemetery, and reinterred elsewhere.’
When I read the last part of that paragraph, Fr., my heart just dropped out of my chest… one wonders what would have become of us if Jesus had bowed “under pressure”- and He would certainly know about pressure…
The hypocrisy in this nation and this world overwhelms me sometimes… it makes me want to hide in my room. But I mustn’t… I must get out there and let everyone I know know about you and other priests suffering…
As always, you are in my prayers… and thank you for yours.
Father,
I agree with Julie and Mary; none of this is surprising. The secular media and Hollywood have no trouble voicing their opinions, all of which are mostly based on falsehoods. Perhaps it is time more of us in the Catholic Church began speaking up and out on the truth of the matter.
True in the end, Truth wins, but that does not help you or the Church right now. My first thought when I read those first headlines on Mr Polanski, was things would be different if he were a Catholic priest.
Continued prayers for you.
It is not all that surprising disappointing, illogical but not surprising that such double standards and hypocrisy prevails. When society turns its back on God and /or tries to shape Him to their own design Truth goes out the window.
Truth was once betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and the same force that led Judas to take that action continues to work in the hearts and minds of souls today.
Yet Truth triumphed and His followers continue to this day and His Truth will last forever. We will not fail or betray Him as long as we do not rely on our own strength or lack thereof but instead turn to him in gratitude for the Divine Mercy He is so eager to bestow on us.No prison, no eathly power can deprive us of His Love.
God Bless you Father
Father, I agree with you 100%. I can’t say any more than I did a couple days ago in a blog post, so please forgive me for reposting it here. I think it really does apply, and I’m sorry I can’t say anything different than I did then.
http://adorotedevote.blogspot.com/2009/10/imitation-of-christ.html
I am as outraged as you are, but at the same time…totally unsurprised. I wonder what is next, who is next..on the Catholic end. VOTF and SNAP….they aren’t Catholic. They’re just modern Judas’s. We should expect their presence. If they were there for Our Lord’s Passion, why would he not be present now?
It all conforms us to His Sacrifice, as painful as it is. I’m sorry I have no comfort to offer. I wish I did.
You know my prayers for you continue.