The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession (33 page)

12
. Falconi,
Popes in the Twentieth Century
, 54.

Six:
Pius X’s Spy-Net

1
. For a detailed history of the Anti-Modernist campaign, see Émile Poulat,
Intégrisme et catholicisme intégral
(Paris, 1969).

2
. Owen Chadwick,
A History of the Popes, 1830
–
1914
(Oxford, 1998).

3
. For the range of Benigni’s clandestine activities, see David Alvarez,
Spies in the Vatican: Espionage and Intrigue from Napoleon to the Holocaust
(Lawrence, KS, 2002), 80ff; see also Émile Poulat,
Histoire dogme et critique dans la crise moderniste: Suivi de La réflexion d’Alphonse Dupront
(Paris, 1996 [1962]).

4
. Peter Hebblethwaite, John XXIII (London, 1994), 74.

5
. The oath was promulgated on 1 September 1910. The full text is available on several websites, including, for example, ‘The Oath Against Modernism’, Papal Encyclicals Online,
www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius10/p10moath.htm
. The oath includes: ‘I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. . . . Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. . . . Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition. . . . I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the
charism
of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way. . . . I promise that I shall
keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. . . . Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God. . . .’ On the implications of the Anti-Modernist oath, see, for example, Paul Collins,
Papal Power: A Proposal for Change in Catholicism’s Third Millennium
(London, 1997), 66–67.

6
. George Orwell,
Nineteen Eighty-Four
(London, 1949), 32.

7
.
Codex Juris Canonici PII X Pontificis
(Vatican City, 1917); the pocket edition runs to 890 pages.

8
. U. Stutz,
Der Geist des Codex Juris Canonici
(Stuttgart, 1918), 50.

9
.
Codex Juris Canonici
, canons 1323, 1324. In the standard edition of the Code of Canon Law that would remain in use until 1983, there was a clarification: ‘Such are all doctrinal decrees of the Holy See, even though they be not infallibly proposed, and even though they come from the Sacred Congregations with the approval of the Holy Father, or from the Biblical Commission. . . . Such decrees do not receive the assent of faith; they are not
de fide catholica
. But they merit genuine internal and intellectual consent and loyal obedience.’

10
.
Codex Juris Canonici
, canons 1325, 246, 1386.

Seven:
The Great Confessional Experiment

1
. Pope St. Pius X,
Sacra Tridentina
(On Frequent and Daily Reception of Holy Communion), 20 December 1905, Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN),
www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDWFREQ.HTM
.

2
. See Owen Chadwick,
A History of the Popes, 1830
–
1914
(Oxford, 1998), 361ff. Chadwick notes, ‘Historians, in hindsight, if asked which act of which pope did most to affect the Church since 1800, would put their finger on this change of 1905–6, the encouragement of frequent, even daily communion, and receiving of it by children’ (p. 362). On the
Quam Singulari
, see
www.papalencyclicals.net/Piuslo/ploquam.htm

3
. See Henry Charles Lea,
A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church
, vol. 1 (London, 1896), 400ff.

4
. Ibid., 400.

5
. Catechism of Christian Doctrine (‘Penny Catechism’) taught in many English-speaking countries, originally published in 1889.

6
. Ibid.

7
. Peter Occhiogrosso, ed.,
Once a Catholic: Prominent Catholics and Ex-Catholics Reveal the Influence of the Church on Their Lives and Work
(Boston, 1987), 236.

8
. Frank O’Connor, ‘First Confession’, in
The Cornet Player Who Betrayed Ireland
(London, 2005), 17.

9
. Mary McCarthy,
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood
(New York, 1957).

10
. Anthony Burgess,
Little Wilson and Big God
(London, 1987), 45.

11
. Tobias Wolff,
This Boy’s Life
(London, 1989), 17ff.

12
. Roddy Doyle,
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
(London, 1993), 84.

13
. Occhiogrosso, ed.,
Once a Catholic
, 295.

14
. Antonia White,
Frost in May
(London, 1978), 134.

15
. Neil McKenty,
The Inside Story
(Quebec, 1997), 21.

16
. O’Connor, ‘First Confession’, 19.

17
. Michel Foucault,
History of Sexuality
, vol. 1, trans. Robert Hurley (London, 1998), 20. Foucault wrote: ‘An imperative was established: Not only will you confess to acts contravening the law, but you will seek to transform your desire, your every desire, into discourse.’ The quotation from Molly Bloom is in James Joyce,
Ulysses
, ed. Hans Walter Gabler (London, 1986 [1922]), 610.

18
. Margaret Hebblethwaite, ‘Gift of Faith’, in Monica Furlong, ed.,
Our Childhood’s Pattern: Memories of Growing Up Christian
(London, 1995), 37.

19
. Bel Mooney, ed.,
Devout Sceptics: Conversations on Faith and Doubt
(London, 2003), 90.

20
. See my article in
The Tablet
on 18 August 2012 entitled ‘Where Are the Penitents?’ at
www.thetablet.co.uk/article/163100
.

Eight:
The Making of a Confessor

1
. Erving Goffman,
Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates
(London, 1982), 11.

2
. For a wide range of statistics in the United States and worldwide, see the publications at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University,
http://cara.georgetown.edu/Publications/Publications.html
; see also the website of UK Priest,
http://ukpriest.org/resources-and-events/statistics
.

3
. Pope John XXIII,
Veterum Sapientia
(On the Promotion of the Study of Latin), Apostolic Constitution, 22 February 1962, Papal
Encyclicals Online,
www.papalencyclicals.net/John23/j23veterum.htm
.

4
. H. Davis, SJ,
Moral and Pastoral Theology
, 4 vols. (London, 1943), 2:235.

5
. Ibid., 3:212ff.

6
. Ibid., 3:215.

7
. Ibid., 2:436.

Nine:
Seminary Sexology

1
. H. Davis, SJ,
Moral and Pastoral Theology
, 4 vols. (London, 1943), 2:200.

2
. Ibid., 2:205.

3
. Ibid., 2:204.

4
. Ibid., 2:229.

5
. Ibid., 2:230–231.

6
. Ibid., 2:295.

7
. Ibid., 2:234.

8
. Ibid., 2:243.

9
. Ibid., 2:24.

10
. A. W. Richard Sipe,
A Secret World: Sexuality and the Search for Celibacy
(New York, 1990), 139.

11
. Michael Haneke’s film
White Ribbon
(2009), which depicts a rural village in Germany on the eve of the First World War, portrays a Lutheran pastor father who quizzes his son on the subject of self-abuse and compels him to sleep with his hands tied at night. Critics of the movie have commented that the pastor’s treatment of his children is typical of Schreber’s recommendations. Haneke appears to be suggesting that this pedagogic terrorism was a prelude to the authoritarian spirit that would sweep Germany in subsequent decades, erupting into two world wars.

12
. Stephen Heath,
The Sexual Fix
(London, 1982), 22; Morton Schatzman,
Soul Murder: Persecution in the Family
(London, 1973), 105.

13
. Pope Pius X,
Haerent Animo
(To the Catholic Clergy on Priestly Sanctity), Apostolic Exhortation, 4 August 1908, Papal Encyclicals Online,
www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius10/p10haer.htm
.

14
. Sipe,
Secret World
, 142.

15
. On the wide-ranging practice of masturbation in the Catholic priesthood and its consequences, see ibid., 139–158.

16
. Ibid., 143.

17
. The term is from the Greek. Several spellings are used in English, including ‘epiky’ (
Oxford English Dictionary
) and ‘epicheia’.

18
. Davis,
Moral and Pastoral Theology
, 1:187.

19
. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologica, S
1.2, Q. 96, a.6, c.

20
. Interview in London with Dr. Josephine Klein, 14 August 2012.

21
. Philip Jenkins,
Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis
(Oxford, 1996), esp. Chapter 7, ‘Pedophilia and Child Abuse’; John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, ‘The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, 1950–2002’ (John Jay Report), commissioned by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, based on surveys completed by the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States. The initial version of the report was posted on the Internet on 27 February 2004, with corrections and revisions posted on 16 April. The printed version was published in June 2004. See PDF at
www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/The-Nature-and-Scope-of-Sexual-Abuse-of-Minors-by-Catholic-Priests-and-Deacons-in-the-United-States-1950-2002.pdf
.

Ten:
Sexual Abuse in the Confessional

1
. Leonard Shengold,
Soul Murder: The Effects of Childhood Abuse and Deprivation
(New York, 1989); Morton Schatzman,
Soul Murder: Persecution in the Family
(London, 1973); A. W. Richard Sipe, ‘Loss of Faith’, 10 December 2002, Sipe Comments,
www.awrsipe.com/Comments/2002-12-10-Loss_of_Faith.htm
.

2
. Father Pickering fled Australia in 1993 before he could be charged. See Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, and Josh Gordon, “Suicides Linked to Clergy’s Sex Abuse,”
Sydney Morning Herald
, 14 April 2012,
www.smh.com.au/national/suicides-linked-to-clergys-sex-abuse-20120413-1wzcy.html
.

3
. All testimonies quoted from my research (‘Tablet Testimonies’) are from correspondence I received in response to my article in
The Tablet
on 18 August 2012 entitled ‘Where Are the Penitents?’ at
www.thetablet.co.uk/article/163100
, in my personal files, and interviews I conducted.

4
. Christa Pongratz-Lippitt,
The Tablet
, 26 January 2013. The hotline closed in January 2013.

5
. The archdiocesan junior seminary, St. Wilfrid’s, Cotton College, North Staffordshire, was closed in 1987. The incident is reported in my book
Seminary Boy
(London, 2006).

6
. See Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell B. Pomeroy, and Clyde E. Martin,
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
(Philadelphia, 1948), 499 ff. The report never claimed that 99.9 per cent of males practised masturbation. Under the heading of ‘Incidences and Frequencies’, the report claims: ‘By even the stricter definition, masturbation may be identified in the histories of a very high proportion of human males. Ultimately about 92 per cent of the total population is involved in masturbation which leads to orgasm. More individuals (96%) of the college level and 95 per cent of the high school group, are ultimately included.’

7
.
Christ & Welt
(supplement to
Die Zeit
), 16 January 2013.

8
. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, ‘The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, 1950–2002’ (John Jay Report), 2004, commissioned by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops,
www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/The-Nature-and-Scope-of-Sexual-Abuse-of-Minors-by-Catholic-Priests-and-Deacons-in-the-United-States-1950-2002.pdf
, 78ff.