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Seminary Life Accountability Case Study
By Fr. Dennis | March 30, 2005
One of my professors, Fr. Kurt Stasiak, OSB, asked me the other day when he would appear in my blog again. So here he is.
Today, Fr. Kurt, a monk of St. Meinrad and the Director of Spiritual Formation for the seminary, gathered my class together to discuss “accountability” by using a case study. After reading the case, we were asked to discuss what course of action we should take and why. Here’s your chance. I’ve modified the case a bit for the sake of brevity, but the gist of it is here. Feel free to leave comments, as long as they are charitible.
Imagine you are in your second year of seminary formation and another seminarian from your diocese, Jack, is about 6 weeks from being ordained a deacon, well into his 4th or 5th year of seminary formation. You and he are good friends, and you sometimes drop by his room to discuss life, politics, theology and the gospel with him. You were in his room the previous night and left a book on his desk that you HAVE to get hold of for class. You knock on his door, and he’s not in, already off to class. The door is open a crack, though, so you walk in to get the book. On the floor, between the bed and the wall, you notice a stack of 3 or 4 pornographic magazines. You think, “Ok, I need to get out of here.” You go to class, but later that day, you find in your mailbox the invitation to his diaconal ordination. You remember the magazines and realize you need to do something quickly because Jack is about to be ordained.
Do you have a talk with Jack, hoping he will do something about his problem? Do you have a talk with the seminary staff, who might delay his ordination while he gets help, or who might ask him to leave? What factors might you need to consider before you can decide which course of action to take?
There are a lot of factors here having to do with what’s confidential in spiritual formation, what’s not, what the seminary wants to do to help men become more who God wants them to be, and what the seminary has to do to fulfill its obligations to the Church and the bishops who entrust men to their care. Also, the bishop of Jack’s diocese might be brought into the mix.
At first, you might simply say, “Toss him. We don’t need any more priests like that.” On the other hand, there’s a Christian in trouble, and he obviously has a lot of gifts or he wouldn’t have gotten that far, and the Church has already made a huge investment in him, so maybe something could be salvaged. In our conference today, we discussed many possible courses of action. I’d be interested in your own reflections on this case.
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March 30th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
Tossing someone out over one incident doesn’t seem particularly Christ-like, does it? Sometimes we in the laity expect perfection from our clergy, when in reality our clergy are sinners, too.
That being said, the standards are higher because of the clergy’s position of authority. As we Catholics know all too well, the damage from a priest’s sin can go deep and wide. We’re not only dealing with Jack’s soul, but the souls of hundreds of those who will rely on Jack once he’s ordained. Not to mention the potential impact he could have on his fellow seminarians.
So how do we resuce Jack while also ensuring the integrity of his future office?
First of all, I would meet directly with Jack and explain to him what I discovered, and encourage him to speak with his superiors. I would remind him of the importance of his impending ordination, and suggest that perhaps he is not ready.
What happens next depends upon Jack. If he refuses to speak with his superiors, I would do so myself. But hopefully Jack won’t force me to take such steps.
In either case, I’d make sure that Jack knows he has my full love and support, that I am here to help him however he may need.
March 31st, 2005 at 10:47 am
There are two distinct paths one could take.
1) Discuss what you found with the seminarian or report it to the proper seminary authorities–or both. This would be the option to take if you were concerned with the seminarian possibly losing his salvation due to sin. Also, this would be the option to take if you were concerned with the future of the Church and making sure that our priests, while fallible, are suited to a priestly life of celibacy and have at least a better than average chance of not bringing scandal to the faithful and not leading them into sin.
2) Ignore it and don’t say anything about it either before or after your ordination. As we have found out over the past few years this corruption runs all the way up and has compromised our bishops to the point that some of them can be blackmailed into silence (while the others just keep silence because it’s easier)–except when taking out their vengeance on the messenger. You would choose this option as a seminarian if ordination is your goal over and above the salvation of your soul. As a priest you would choose this option if having a career is more important than having a ministry. If you prefer serving in a large parish in the city over a rural outpost far away from the main activity of the diocese. You would also choose this option if you didn’t want to follow in the footseps of The Rev. James Haley of Arlington, Va. who faces being defrocked in ecclesiastical trial for reporting the pornography problems of fellow priests to his bishop and then not keeping silent about it as ordered by his bishop–even though he only spoke of it when he was subpoenaed to provide testimony in a civil court.
In the end, one’s choice would reflect one’s real reason for seeking the priesthood. Either one sees the priesthood as a lifetime of sacrifice for the sake of the Truth. Or one sees it as a nifty career for people not inclined to marry.
March 31st, 2005 at 11:49 am
First of all, you’re lucky in having Fr. Kurt as a professor. We used his book on the sacrament of Reconciliation as one of the texts for our seminary class.
I think that I would first talk to the classmate and see what’s going on. I woulod then strongly advise him to go and speak with his spiritual director and then let the two of them take it from there. To have a witch hunt or to judge the classmate is not the proper thing to do. “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
I think the abuse scandals have put people so on edge, that they want to rush to solutions without thinking what is the best and most Christlike attitude!
March 31st, 2005 at 12:12 pm
I will add that it’s encouraging that the topic is even being discussed in a seminary. Let us know what comes of the discussion.
April 1st, 2005 at 11:08 am
Finding pornographic material in a seminarian’s room is serious matter, I think we all recognize that. I agree with Fr. Kenny’s suggestion: tell him the circmstances in which you dicovered the material, and strongly advise him to speak with his spiritual director.
There is another issue here that I think we failed to notice. Entering someone else’s room without permission is also wrong. Even though the book you HAD to have was in there and even though he left the door open, it is not an invitation to enter his personal space.
In the not too distant past, in most seminaries, seminarians were not allowed in each others room, in fact there are still some seminaries where that is the case today.
I see two issues in the situation proposed.
April 1st, 2005 at 2:40 pm
Why were the books in his room… Maybe he found them in some others room and decided to confiscate them, (rightfully or not),until he had time to confront the person who appeared to own them. going into anothers’ room? mmmmm
Not good! Lessons on ‘personal responsibilities and consequences for our actions or lack of anc help shape a life. sometimes forgetting something that you just have to have is just plain tough… sorry about that. back to the main issue —the books. don’t jump the gun but don’t ignore.
April 5th, 2005 at 7:16 pm
A tough situation, no question about it. In answering the question, I will place myself in the position of the one who entered Jack’s room and found the devil’s playthings.
Jesus had a three-step plan for treating such instances in Matthew 18:15-17. It doesn’t automatically grant me the right to respond to every offense I encounter but when I saw those magazines on the floor this offense was too much to be left unsaid.
Step 1: “Go and show him his fault.” He could respond that I had no business in his room in the first place but that would indicate an improper response from one who is so close to being in a position of witnessing other’s private lives every day. The atmosphere of the dorm is one of sharing anyway. And, I’d lot’s rather have to apologize for entering someone’s room without permission than to confess to harboring the devil’s tools.
Of course, confronting one caught in such an act is bound to lose a friend. Hopefully when I showed Jack the evidence he would be convicted on the spot and changed. We kneel and pray for forgiveness. And then we become accountability partners (or maybe Jack seeks help some other way). Should Jack be thrown out at this point? I don’t think that I would make that decision yet. What if Jack had simply admitted in class that he occasionally visits porno websites? Perhaps his admission in that case would be a conviction that leads to a change of heart.
Step 2: But what if Jack gets mad and starts hollaring and says that this is his business and it’s OK and he’s not doing anything other than looking. I might then suggest that if this behavior is OK that he bring it to class the next day where he can receive the “testimony of two or three witnesses.” I doubt he would do that but the simple fact that the situation has escalated to Step 2 is a pretty good indication that perhaps Jack is not fit for the priesthood.
Step 3: Therefore I would tell it to higher ups (the “church” verse 17) and see what happens. Would he be treated as a “pagan or a tax collector?”
Again, any action past step 1 will define what should happen to Jack. And at that point a decision would be obvious.