For those who know her well, a large part of Amanda McKenna's personal story and outlook on life is intimately locked up with two key formative experiences in her life. On the one side she came from a home where the love between her own parents was something very tangible, beautiful and open. They were people of deep faith very much enlivened by the Spirit of the Second Vatican Council. On the dark side, and unbeknown to her parents at the time, Amanda was brutally raped as a 14 year old by a stranger. She suppressed the entire memory, hiding it even from herself, for decades until this demon could be locked up in her life no longer. It eventually erupted in her life, and her family's life, decades later and required almost a decade of medical treatment, both psychiatric and physical, until she recovered. Reading Bishop Geoffrey Robinson's new book has had special poignancy for her. Here are her impressions of the book…

A view from the pew...

Retired Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Geoffrey Robinson has just released his book "Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus" — a book that has caused shock waves to reverberate not only throughout the Church in Australia, but around the world.

As +Robinson says in his introduction to the book: "Sexual abuse of minors by a significant number of priests and religious, together with the attempts by many church authorities to conceal the abuse, constitute one of the ugliest stories ever to emerge from the Catholic Church. It is hard to imagine a more total contradiction of everything Jesus Christ stood for, and it would be difficult to overestimate the pervasive and lasting harm it has done to the Church."

There are those who say that delving into this dark chapter and admitting fault would only bring the Church into disrepute. What they fail to realise is that the Church has already been brought into disrepute by the response, or more correctly, the non-response, of our leaders on this matter. But this book is not just about the sexual abuse crisis. That is only the tip of the iceberg. The real worth of this book is not about the criticisms that are implicit in the book's title. This is overwhelmingly a positive book as suggested by the subtitle. Most of the book is concerned with exploring why this "ugly story" came to be, and what we might do to redress the situation.

To more authentically live the teachings of Jesus in this day and age…

In his book +Robinson poses many questions. At first, I found myself becoming annoyed at the amount of questions he was posing, but by the end of the book I came to realise that he wasn't writing a book of 'answers to the problems of power and sex in the Church', but rather urging all of us — the people as well as those in positions of authority in the Church — to exercise our baptismal call to more authentically live the teachings of Jesus in this day and age. And to do this we must critically assess how well we are measuring up to the challenge. It is the first book of its kind that actually speaks to all of us, and not just those privileged few who have a say in how our Church is governed.

+Robinson's questions are a great source of discomfort to many, and to those who are proponents of 'certainty', even moreso. While the sexual abuse crisis may be its jumping-off point, it critically examines the many underlying issues that led to this crisis and other situations causing concern that we face today. It is very threatening to question long-held beliefs, but ultimately necessary if we are to address the pressing needs brought about by our own ignorance — particularly when addressing the issues surrounding sexual abuse that have erupted in our Church (and the wider world) in modern times.

I've read many comments published since the release of the book just one week ago, and the main characteristic that dominates those who vilify both Bishop Robinson and his work come from those who have not even bothered to read the book, let alone make any attempts to answer the questions posed in it. And herein lays one of the biggest problems to finding any resolution. How can we enter into any kind of dialogue, as +Robinson urges us to do, with those who refuse to even allow the questions to be asked? It seems that prophets are no more popular now than they were in Jesus' time!

Inspiring and one of the bravest critiques I've ever read about Catholicism in the modern era…

As an ordinary 'pew-sitter', I found the book inspiring. It was a Bishop in full teaching mode, and one of the bravest critiques I've ever read about Catholicism in the modern era. He has tackled head-on two of the greatest barriers to the spreading of the message of Jesus in this day and age: the Catholic Church's attitudes on power and sex. On these issues we are challenged to re-examine how these attitudes were formed and ask whether these attitudes stand up to scrutiny in light of our current understanding.

+Robinson advocates the idea of "healthy people in a healthy relationship with a healthy God" — 'healthy' being that which gives people "the freedom to grow and become all they are capable of being." [Robinson, p 26] When speaking of the 'health' of individuals, he speaks of seven areas that are involved in the development of the whole person within the limitations imposed by a person's genes, upbringing and the events that shape them: the physical, intellectual, emotional, social, artistic, moral and spiritual dimensions. And from this, a wide variety of issues are opened up for further exploration.

+Robinson also talks about the two sources of our knowledge about God, calling them the "two books of God" — the bible and the world around and within us. Each chapter is then discussed from both of these perspectives, covering a wide range topics that range from the meaning of 'tradition', God's eternal plan, and how authority is exercised within the Church through to issues of freedom and responsibility, spiritual 'harm and healing', and the ethics that underpin much of what the Church teaches about sex — and so much more. And each chapter ends with a 'Meditation' — a call to bring to God in prayer the issues raised along the way. I found the reading of this book to be not so much a passive look at ideas, but rather a spiritual exercise.

The value of the personal insight of one who has been a victim…

His treatment of the sexual abuse crisis and the multitude of issues arising from it are both informed and challenging. Like the good bishop, I too am one of those who have experienced sexual abuse at a young age, and again like the bishop, I was one of a minority of people who was abused at the hands of a stranger. This gives me some appreciation of, and no little insight into, the trauma this causes in a person's life as well as the difficulties involved in trying to move forward in life following such traumatic events. For me, my own faith has been the defining element that has enabled me to overcome much of the damage caused by my own trauma, and I can only imagine how difficult it is for those who have been abused at the hands of their 'spiritual leaders'.

But as anyone who has dealt with the realities of sexual abuse knows, opening up and examining this dark underbelly of the Church is also an opportunity for us all as a community to grow, and is above all what this book is all about. Bishop Robinson has written a book that is not so much about levelling criticism as articulating the problems that need to be addressed, and initiating a dialogue to address them. My only criticism of the book itself is that there is no comprehensive index to provide easier access to particular topics and questions for further reflection and discussion.

In the spirit of Jesus…

Bishop Robinson stands to lose his good standing within the Church by going public with this book, but for the vast majority of us, he has gained great respect by doing so. By the end of the book I felt like giving him a standing ovation for having the courage to 'tell it like it is' and for his encouragement of us all to meet these challenges 'in the spirit of Jesus'. I encourage everyone to get a copy of the book to read, pray about, and reflect on the questions he asks us to consider. We may not all come to the same conclusions, but this is an opportunity for us all to engage in a conversation necessary to the health of our Church, and ultimately of the whole world.

Well done, good and faithful servant!

Milly

What are your thoughts on Milly's review?
You can contribute to the discussion in our forum.

©2007 Amanda McKenna

[Index of Commentaries by Amanda (Milly) McKenna]