Cardinal O'Malley's mixed legacy
Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, 80, announced his retirement. He served as the Archbishop of Boston from 2003 to 2024. Catholic Church leaders applauded his tenure because he came to Boston during the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal, succeeding the disgraced and fallen Cardinal Bernard F. Law.
Dubbed "The Fixer," O'Malley had previously dealt with clergy sexual abuse scandals in Palm Beach and Fall River. Pope Francis appointed O'Malley president of his newly established Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2014. However, complaints about O'Malley's leadership and transparency issues resulted in high-profile members leaving, like German Jesuit Fr. Hans Zollner, a renowned psychologist and psychotherapist, and Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins.
Sadly, the problem of clergy sexual abuse scandals persists. In 2023, O'Malley was slapped with a lawsuit by three former students at a Catholic high school.
The question not asked by the church's governing body is why sexual abuse persists as it does among its clerics.
There are two salient causes: a "no-snitch policy" and an unwavering support of church bishops. For example, the church has a "no-snitch" policy when it comes to child sexual abuse. Canon law allows for the pontifical secret of "allegations" as well as proof of predatory priests. This "cover-up" has occurred under six popes' pontificates since 1922.
However, in February 2016, good news came, giving hope that canon law was about to change. O'Malley, then president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, stated that bishops have an ethical and moral obligation to report allegations of clergy sexual misconduct and abuse to civil authorities. In December 2016, the commission published its bishop's guidelines; sadly, O'Malley's statement was excluded. Given that O'Malley was the Pope's "go-to guy on this subject," he'll mostly be remembered for his handling of the clergy sexual abuse scandals.
O'Malley came to Boston at a difficult time to fulfill a difficult task. "His main charge has been righting the ship of the archdiocese, culturally, morally, and fiscally, as it continued to be buffeted by the sexual abuse disaster, "the Boston Globe wrote, reflecting on his 20-year tenure.
The exorbitant legal fees, lawsuits, counseling, and medications, all resulting from sexual abuse cases, forced the selling of church property to right the ship. For example, O'Malley sent a letter to parishioners at St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Scituate informing the parish of the Vatican's ruling to sell and re-use the building. The Archdiocese of Boston closed St. Frances and several parishes throughout the Commonwealth. St. Frances was a thriving church comprised of over 3,000 registered families with no debt and fiscal sound, with a sister church and school in India. It sat on 30.3 acres of prime coastal real estate. Selling off church properties to right the ship in incalculable ways desecrate many of its faithful parishioners' worshiping lives and church homes.
O'Malley was weak in several areas. And on LGBTQ+ issues, O'Malley won't be receiving a gold star from the community. Although O'Malley was not like any of his predecessors by outwardly condemning homosexuality and barking off like a tight-fisted church bureaucrat, he wasn't full-throatedly supporting our issues either.
"Individuals with same-sex attraction are beloved children of God and must have their personal human rights and civil rights recognized and protected by law. However, the legalization of their civil unions, which seek to simulate holy matrimony, is not admissible," O'Malley told Boston.com.
Dudley-Burke chimed in, stating," While he recently said he welcomed the Vatican's allowing priests to bless people in same-sex relationships, he continues to insist same-sex relationships lack the sacredness of marriage." Duddy-Burke is the executive director of DignityUSA, the world's oldest organization of LGBTQ Catholics, which has existed since 1969.
In 2023, O'Malley formed a committee to craft gender-identity guidelines for Catholic schools, K-12. The committee invited Michael Sennett, a transgender Catholic, to share his experience.
"I don't think Cardinal Sean or Bishop O'Connell have this crusade against trans people. They have hard jobs, and I think they are trying to do the right thing. But I wish they'd listen and let us be part of the conversation." Sennett told the Globe.
Dudley-Burke didn't disagree with Sennet but felt more should be done and wrote me, "While [O'Malley] has not instituted the kind of anti-transgender policies many other dioceses have adopted, he has also failed to challenge the religious rhetoric undergirding much of this discrimination and violence."
O'Malley's successor will be Bishop Richard Henning of Rhode Island. O'Malley lauds him as "a joyful pastor who seeks to serve Christ." Dudley-Burke hopes his ministry will be inclusive in words and deeds. "I hope that we who are members of the Boston Catholic community—all of us, including LGBTQ+ people and others who often find ourselves on the church's margins—will indeed find a pastor in Archbishop Henning."