The Rev. James Scahill, pastor of East Longmeadow’s St. Michael’s parish, was chastised yesterday by Bishop Timothy McDonnell of the Springfield Diocese for the sermons he delivered at his church last weekend. In those sermons, Cahill suggested that Pope Benedict XVI should consider stepping down, in light of his connections to the ever-erupting church sex abuse scandals.
“There is a sad irony in that Fr. Scahill’s remarks were delivered on Divine Mercy Sunday, a day on which the Church throughout the world re-affirms Christ’s forgiveness, reconciliation and mercy towards all his followers. Still, there are always those who doubt, who like ‘Doubting Thomas’ in the Gospel refuse to believe their fellow disciples,” McDonnell said in a released statement.
“The Holy Father, our bishops and Church leadership throughout the world know how difficult it is for those who have suffered abuse at the hands of clergy who should have been signs of God’s love rather than inflictors of pain,” continued the Bishop, adding that the church “expresses tremendous sorrow, sadness and shame at what happened.”
Tensions between Scahill and the Diocese are nothing new; the pastor has been a strong advocate for victims of abuse by priests, and vocal in his criticisms of the church’s handling of those cases. And a compelling video-taped interview with Scahill, online at MassLive.com, shows that the latest scolding by the Bishop is not about to stop him.
In the eight-minute video, Scahill directly takes on McDonnell’s criticism for delivering his sermon on a day focused on “forgiveness, reconciliation and mercy.”
“When it comes to mercy and forgiveness, there has to be first contrition,” Scahill told Springfield Republican reporter Jack Flynn, who conducted the interview. “The church fails to be truly contrite because they fail to be completely honest,” Scahill added, referring to lingering questions about who knew of the abuses, when they knew it, and what they did to stop it.
And while he’s complimented the church for reforms made in recent years, Scahill added frankly, “I think the only reasons those things happened is they got caught.”
Some church loyalists view Scahill as a danger; the priest told the Republican that while his sermons were met with applause and standing ovations, at least one parishioner called him a “heretic.” But to abuse victims, their families and the many faithful who’ve been left feeling bruised and betrayed by the scandals, he’s nothing short of a hero. Scahill describes himself as a “reclusive, laid-back person who simply chose to do what his people asked him, to shepherd their concerns and challenge the institutional church. …
“I … think it’s important the people realize that I’m not some rebel. I’m not a zealot,” he said.
At one point in the interview, Flynn asked Scahill if he had any concerns about potential repercussions as he prepared his sermon. “This is too vital, too important a matter to approach without great deliberations and prayer …” Scahill responded. “ But I also felt in light of the current climate that the issue of doubt should be put on the table, because that is a contemporary issue with our people. …
“There could be repercussions, but … I will never regret shepherding the concerns of the people, because children are safer now,” Scahill added.
Scahill also called the church hierarchy “foolish” for attempting to blame the media for overemphasizing the scandal, and urged the press to keep up its investigations into how the church handled reports of abuse. The media will find, he contended, that the “cover-up has been systemic.”
