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Pope Francis has summoned Catholic bishops nationwide to gather for a seven-day spiritual retreat at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago suburban in clone with the ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal.
As Chancellor of the Seminary, Archdiocese of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich – now in Rome for a monthlong meeting of global church leaders – will serve as host of the gathering, which could include some 300 bishops from around the country.
Loyola University The Chicago Theology Professor Miguel Diaz called the retreat "historically significant for American Catholics." The concept of the meeting reflects the pope's leadership style – "In the Context of Collaborative and Prayerful Discernment," said Diaz, to form US ambassador to the Vatican.
The announcement of the spiritual retreat comes in the wake of a horrifying grand jury report in August.
Shortly after its release, Illinois General Attorney Lisa Madigan announced plans to meet with Catholic Church leaders throughout the world to review the local community. In a 2002 letter included in the report, one victim from Illinois recounted decades-old abuse by a priest and Air Force chaplain once considered a "father figure."
"I do not think I knew what was really happening at the time," the victim wrote. "Anyway I felt protected, and my parents trusted him and I knew they would not let anyone harm me."
Larry Antonsen, a Chicago-based leader of the Survivors Network of Abused by Priests, was told that it would be a real change. He called on church hierarchy to be more transparent.
"They need to be more open and not do everything in secret," he said. "The retreat would not be open to the public, I'm sure. They need to get the involved type, because they have not done so much. "
Antonsen added that law enforcement intervention may be the only way to spur true reform.
"The only way we can get to have a grand jury in every state, like they did in Pennsylvania," he said.
But Diaz cautioned against interpreting the retreat as "a mere spiritual exercise."
"The pope links prayer-filled holiness to daily acts of justice, especially on behalf of those who suffer, the marginalized and oppressed," Diaz said. "Make no mistake: Pope Francis knows that the sexual abuse scandal presents a serious crisis to the authority of U.S. bishops. He has invited them to 'retreat' so that they can figure out what they need to do to credibly address human suffering related to gender and sex-based forms of sexual abuse. "
The retreat is scheduled for Jan. 2 to 8, "Taking the place of the US bishops continues their work to address the current U.S. clergy sex abuse crisis," the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement.
Last month, the conference is an action plan for action on clergy sex abuse that includes third-party reporting procedures and standards of conduct for bishops, as well as protocols for the avoidance of abuse.
"Some bishops, by their actions or their failures to act, have caused great harm to both individuals and the Church as a whole," the committee said in September. "They have used their authority to manipulate and sexually abuse others."
Part of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Mundelein Seminary in Lake County is the largest Catholic seminary in the nation with more than 200 seminarians from 34 dioceses across the globe.
And choosing that location for the bishops' meeting is also symbolic, in that a seminary forms the next generation of priests and church lay workers, said the Rev. John Kartje, rector of Mundelein Seminary.
"To be sure, they will never harm their people," he said. "As the church moves forward to seek healing and establish new policies of accountability, it will be necessary to forge better ties between bishops, priests and the laity."
Twitter @angie_leventis
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