News with Teeth
This week’s news that the Paterno statue has been removed from the Penn State campus, the NCAA heavily penalized Penn State with both a fine of $60 million and denied their wins of the football team as well as its future bowl game participation was welcome news.
This week’s news that the Paterno statue has been removed from the Penn State campus, the NCAA heavily penalized Penn State with both a fine of $60 million and denied their wins of the football team as well as its future bowl game participation was welcome news. In addition, Monsignor William Lynn has been sentenced to 3-6 years in prison for covering up priest pedophiles under his supervision in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Some are arguing that the penalties imposed for Penn State and for Monsignor Lynn are too light. That may be true. But I must confess that I was surprised at the severity of both; I hadn’t expected much more than a slap on the wrist for either one.
Perhaps finally the message is clear: for institutional corruption and cover-up, there are institutional consequences. “The Bishop made me do it;” “We wanted to avoid scandal, bad publicity, and lawsuits;” “We didn’t know.” No more excuses. The assumed “institutional protection agenda” employed by both Penn State and the Philadelphia Archdiocese once again simply did not work. It should be called the “institutional jeopardy agenda.” The way to jeopardize the history and future of an institution is to ignore and cover up evidence of abuse by persons in positions of leadership.
Of course this is all long overdue. But I think the tide is beginning to turn due to the persistence of survivors and activists in both secular and religious settings. The message should be clear for all organizations: sanctions against individual leaders, financial losses, and loss of credibility are inevitable if you take the path of avoidance and cover-up. Justice-making and responding quickly to disclosures of abuse will save time, money, and institutional credibility and besides, it is the right thing to do to stop abuse and protect others from potential harm. It is also the least we can do for victims and survivors who deserve an institutional response that takes them seriously and stands with them, not against them.
So if you are a leader in your institution or organization, don’t say you didn’t know the potential consequences of your choices. Enough is finally enough.
Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune
FaithTrust Institute
www.faithtrustinstitute.org
Penn Penalties