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American Morning
Interview with Robert Silva
Aired August 26, 2002 - 07:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to a crisis in the church right now, the Catholic Church. Hundreds of people so far have come forward charging sex abuse or misconduct by priests. And now some priests, who say they've been wrongly accused of abuse, are now fighting back.
Father Robert Silva heads the National Federation of Priests' Councils. That's an organization representing half of the country's 45,000 priests. Father Silva is in Chicago.
Good morning. Good to have you on a Monday morning with us here.
REV. ROBERT SILVA, NATIONAL FEDERATION OF PRIESTS' COUNCILS: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: How else do we categorize this story other than priests fighting back? Is that the best way to put it in a category?
SILVA: Well, I would put it this way, that, you know, when a -- priests are very vulnerable people because they're very public people without the kind of supports that other public persons have. And so they're very vulnerable to accusations of any kind. And given the climate of this time and this period in our lives, we're susceptible to false accusation.
And some of the priests will say how do I defend myself if I am accused falsely? And so they are moving now to assert their that to a civil suit if they are accused, if they feel that they've been falsely accused.
HEMMER: Some detractors have already come out and they've gone public with how they feel about this. Just a few comments. Some say instead of getting pastoral assistance, you're going to get slapped with a lawsuit. Others are saying it's un-Christian, vengeful style litigation. Others say it's a charge of intimidation, that they may tell accusers that they'd better not come forward, otherwise they're going to be slapped with a lawsuit themselves.
The church says what to that and these priests?
SILVA: Well, what the church says is this: anybody who has been abused by a priest needs to step forward. If that is the fact, they need to come forward and say so. The -- we're not interested in hurting someone who has already been hurt. But it's a matter of justice. Anyone who is falsely accused has a right to defense. And given the situation that we're in today, the priest has a right to defend himself against that -- that false accusation. HEMMER: What is the church's position, though, on these lawsuits, though? Have they supported the priests who have filed it?
SILVA: These cases are submitted by the priest as an individual. They are not at all supported -- I shouldn't say supported, but there is no plan on the part of the church as an organization to do this. A priest as an individual has a right to defend himself.
HEMMER: I was not inferring, I guess, that the is church either supported or opposed to it. But on the surface right now, or even in private, has the church objected to these lawsuits coming forward that may dissuade others?
SILVA: Well, no, I don't think so. Why would it if it's a matter of justice? Anyone has a right to defend themselves and I would think that a priest, if he's falsely accused -- and that's the key word, falsely accused. Everyone who is hurt by a priest and by abuse of a priest needs to come forward so that healing and wholeness can begin to take place. That's not the issue.
The issue is a false accusation.
HEMMER: Father, what are you hearing from other priests about the amount of support they have taken from the church if they, indeed, feel they've been wrongly accused? And the reason I bring that up, there's a case in Florida, I think, where a priest was suspended. He is now taking action against his own bishop because he feels he is now guilty before proven innocence.
Do you hear much of that?
SILVA: And, well, that's part of the problem. The poor bishops are between a rock and a hard place because legally if they support the priest, then they're accused of being false to the victim. On the other hand, if they support the victim, then they're accused of abandoning the priest. And so consequently the bishops have to be very careful in how they go forward with this.
So the priest is pretty much left on his own, to his own self- defense.
HEMMER: Thank you, Doctor -- Father Robert Silva. Excuse me. I apologize. Father Silva in Chicago, thinking on that story.
Thank you very much, sir. And we appreciate your time this morning.
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