Dear Pope: Check This Out
I don’t know if you follow the National Football League in the U.S., but I think you will be interested in this.
I don’t know if you follow the National Football League in the U.S., but I think you will be interested in this.
A professional football player allegedly got an underage college student drunk and then raped her in the bathroom of a bar. She reported him to the police. He was arrested but not prosecuted because the District Attorney did not feel he could win a criminal case against him. The player walked free. Nothing unusual there.
But this is the interesting part. The Commissioner of the NFL suspended him for 6 games (that’s a lot of the season) and sent him a letter with the following statement:
I recognize that the allegations in Georgia were disputed and that they did not result in criminal charges being filed against you . . . My decision today is not based on a finding that you violated Georgia law, or on a conclusion that differs from that of the local prosecutor. That said, you are held to a higher standard as an NFL player, and there is nothing about your conduct in Milledgeville that can remotely be described as admirable, responsible, or consistent with either the values of the league or the expectations of our fans.
You see, the Commissioner wasn’t concerned that the football player wasn’t prosecuted for the crime of rape (although I think the player should be in jail). He was concerned that his conduct in the bar was unbecoming of his role as a star athlete and member of the NFL. Imagine that! It wasn’t the law but a higher standard against which the player was judged.
I confess that I was shocked by the Commissioner’s statement. I didn’t know the NFL had a standard of conduct for the players that would address their acts of violence against women, and I certainly didn’t know that they had a Commissioner who had the courage to take action and call a player out.
Since you are sort of like the Commissioner for the Roman Catholic Church, you might want to contact the NFL Commissioner. I think he might be able to give you some pointers on dealing with players who engage in conduct unbecoming the ministry.
And remember, I’m still waiting by my cell phone.
Series of letters to the Pope
I want to thank you for your clear, uncompromising communications to the Pope on the issue of priest sexual abuse (I only wish he would read and respond to them). As a professor of Pastoral Counseling who teaches courses in both Professional Ethics and Trauma, I have found my work increasingly challenging in the face of the ongoing abuse of trauma victims in the form of silencing, denial, and deflection. It is more than disheartening, it is heartbreaking. As a Catholic and a teacher in a Catholic institution, I struggle each day to live in the tension between a faith that promotes justice and a Church that denies it to people whose lives have been damaged by its actions. I wish you continued blessings in your work - you are an inspiration to me and my students.
Peace,
Lisa Cataldo