The children of St. Michael
- Feb 18, 2008 - comment
The latest issue of Newsweek magazine contains a haunting article we should all read, the subject of which should serve as both a caution and as an object of prayer. It is the story of the children of St. Michael, a tiny Eskimo village in Alaska so remote in the 1960s that no roads connected it to the rest of the world and there was only one telephone for the whole community. Everyone was poor.
St. Michael was rich in one way, however. Villagers were proud of their children, who whiled away the long days in the colorful berry fields of the frozen tundra or on the ice of the Bering Sea, fishing for the abundant tomcod. In many ways it was an idyllic, if isolated, life.
It was into that setting that the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic Church sent a number of priests and workers representing the Church, who now stand accused of sexually molesting almost every child in St. Michael over an unbroken string of four decades.
“It is one of the darkest chapters of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church,” the Newsweek article states. “More than 110 children in Eskimo villages claim they were molested between 1959 and 1986, raped or assaulted by 12 priests and three church volunteers. Families and victims believe that another 22 people were sexually abused by clergy members but have since killed themselves. The Jesuit Oregon Province, which includes Alaska, has agreed to pay $50 million in damages. It is believed to be the largest settlement ever against a religious order.”
Tom Cheemuk told Newsweek he was one of the victims. Now a 53-year-old alcoholic, Cheemuk has not only attempted to kill himself because of his anger and shame, he has lost two brothers to suicide and wonders if they too were abused. He alleges he was abused by more than one priest at the same time.
Newsweek also discovered from court filings that one priest covered under the Jesuit settlement is accused of fathering four children and encouraging a 16-year-old girl to have an abortion, which she did. Another priest allegedly impregnated a young girl, then pressured her to blame it on her father and have an abortion.
“These priests had abused elsewhere and then were unleashed in the most uncontrolled environment,” Patrick Wall told Newsweek. Wall is a former Benedictine monk and Catholic priest who served as a consultant to attorneys in the Alaska suits.
The story of the children of St. Michael should serve as a caution to us, because the same thing could happen to Mississippi Baptists. Don’t be shocked, and don’t avert your eyes in disbelief. There is presently at least one Mississippi Baptist church in a similar (but not identical) situation, and there are probably others.
Think about it. Is there a more “target-rich” environment for pedophiles than our churches? Is there another place where more children gather in greater numbers under the trusting supervision of adults? How well do you know the adults to whom you entrust your church’s children? How well do you know them, really?
At your Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, every employee is required to undergo a background check during the hiring process. That’s because most convention board employees have contact with children at some time in the course of their jobs. It’s not a foolproof process, but it sure beats doing nothing—and nothing is what too many of our churches are doing.
The leaders of every church in the Mississippi Baptist Convention should consult with their attorney to put together a legal system for checking everyone who works with the church’s children. The thousands of legitimate children’s workers will not be offended by being a part of a system that screens out the few predators who would take advantage of a church’s trust.
Not doing so can be devastating. Not many churches have $50 million to settle lawsuits, but there’s an even greater cost.
“You see the alcoholism, the severe mental problems, people in and out of jail,” an attorney who has handled many of the Alaska cases told Newsweek, “and you wonder, how do you put Humpty Dumpty back on the wall?”
The fact is you can’t. That’s why we should be praying for the children of St. Michael, and ensuring that all the children in our Mississippi Baptist churches are as safe as they can be. Start today.
This article is reprinted from the January 24, 2008, issue of the Baptist Record, the newsjournal of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Family, Abuse, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Children