Oy vey! Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche, spiritual writer and director is now under post mortem suspicion of having had sexual relations with six women. These women were not disabled patients but supposedly troubled women who came for his spiritual guidance. Does this invalidate his life's work like Maciel? L'Arche is pretty universally praised even among liberals. Or does this mean that, even among spiritually developed people, men, in particular, the sexual drive does not "go away" or even become tamed? I never was a rock star or a living saint. How would I behave if a constant stream of "opportunities" presented themselves?
Article in America:
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/02/22/internal-report-finds-larche-founder-jean-vanier-engaged-decades-sexual-misconduct
Oy. That's disappointing news. Makes me think of Covenant House and the scandal with its founder.
ReplyDeleteYou said, "...does this mean that, even among spiritually developed people, men, in particular, the sexual drive does not "go away" or even become tamed?" I wouldn't have said that, because I don't want to be sexist, but I think it is true.
I know, Katherine. I am a longtime contributor to Covenant House. It still exists and does, hopefully, good work. But Fr. Ritter actually used the teenage boys he was supposed to be helping. Did he found CH to gain access or did he succumb later to the temptation? In some parallel universe, if he were an openly gay priest in a sanctioned gay marriage, would this have happened? I don't know. It's easy to rush to blame Church rules, but I think sexuality will always be untamed and unruly. Not an excuse to do wrong things to other people, but primal drives are a big motivator to do wrong things.
DeleteI'll give most of them credit that they didn't found their mission to gain access, but succumbed later to temptation and opportunity. And then to compound the problem, people who know and ought to hold them accountable, don't. Because of fear, or an imbalance of power, or a reluctance to upset the apple cart.
DeleteThese women were not disabled patients but supposedly troubled women who came for his spiritual guidance.
ReplyDeleteIt took time to begin to understand childhood sexual abuse, society is just beginning to understand adult sexual abuse.
Before the eighties the impact of adult behavior with children was mostly denied. These were probably childhood fantasies; children didn't really understand sex and were likely not disturbed by sexual behavior if it did occur.
Adult sexual abuse where the is a power difference has generally been denied until recently. Woman misunderstand, they consented, etc.
There has likely been and likely still persists much adult sexual abuse in the area of religion. We are going to have many stories of fallen saints and angels in this area.
Just a reminder that this is not only a problem for Catholics, the Boy Scouts are filling for bankruptcy. Likely more than a thousand cases. Of course this is the national umbrella organization. They have camps and facilities to go after. Some of the abuse likely took place there. But then there are the local groups. Lots of fallen saints are likely to be found there.
I always enjoy your posts and comments, Jack.
DeleteVanier never became a priest. I'm sure he could have found a wife. Even if he wanted to just have an unmarried relationship, he could have probably found a willing partner. This, though scandalous, is not nearly as bad as exploiting one's spiritual reputation to seduce. I'm an engineer. I find it possible to understand Maxwell's coupled equations but the motivations of people mystify me sometimes.
I always enjoy your posts and comments, too.However since my strong enjoyment of math in high school faded after freshman year, I could not begin to understand Maxwell's coupled equations. However, after a professional life in the mental health field I think its possible sometimes to understand people.
DeleteThis, though scandalous, is not nearly as bad as exploiting one's spiritual reputation to seduce . However, this is precisely what he did as a spiritual director even though he was not a priest.
From the report, it sounds like he adopted some practices of integrating spirituality and sexuality that were similar to those of his own priest spiritual director, who was removed from ministry for unspecified reasons.
Merton in Seeds of Contemplation warns us of the dangers of spiritual pride, the tendency to begin to think because we have some positive spiritual experiences that "we are not like other men."
Francis has talked about "spiritual worldliness" as the worse sin. That is when someone builds a whole life devoted to money, status, and power all for "spiritual" ends.
It is not far fetched for a person who many others thought of a "not like the rest of men" who led a celibate life to be tempted to integrate sexuality and spirituality in his practice of spiritual direction, especially since he had a mentor who thought and acted that way.
I guess when they say we are all sinners, it really should be read "we are ALL sinners". These fallen famous figures certainly illustrate what Merton was talking about. Pride can even corrupt spirituality.
DeleteThis whole subject brings to mind a song on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, which my kids used to watch. It went, "The very same people who are good sometimes, are the very same people who are bad sometimes... "
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThanks for that, Katherine. Here's hoping they don't dig up dirt on Mr. Rogers.
DeleteI hope not too about Mr. Rogers. Likewise Father Flannigan, who is "Servant of God" now.
DeleteI know almost nothing about L'Arche. But I am hoping that it has not promoted the sort of cult-like behavior among its employees (members? - it's not really a religious order, is it?) that Maciel had the members of his order promote about him.
ReplyDeleteEven though the reputation of its founder now seems destined for personal disgrace, I'd hope that the good work that L'Arche does can continue.
We should pray for men and women who minister to others. Sex drives do not diminish by taking vows or choosing a way of life. Sacramental grace may help us to resist our natural inclinations.
I have contributed to L'Arche USA, which is independent of Vanier. They were quick to believe the women and condemn Vanier's actions.
ReplyDeleteI find it almost unbelievable that grown women would confuse sexual seduction as a form of "spiritual direction." This doesn't excuse Vanier, but it does suggest that the Church needs to do a better job helping people be aware of these tactics.
I found this pretty incredible and part and parcel of the kind of "romantic thinking" some Catholics have about spirituality that makes them vulnerable to power tripping horny predators: Kathryn Spink, who wrote one of the biographies of Vanier, wrote in an email to The Washington Post on Sunday, “This is not the Jean I knew and I believe it vital to remember that . . . his brokenness was the wellspring for enormous good, and that the message and indeed the miracle of L’Arche is precisely the fruitfulness of brokenness. As Mother Teresa always used to say, the extraordinary achievements of ordinary, imperfect human instruments is evidence of the involvement of God.”
I suppose one could take that viewpoint. It certainly applies to music. This weekend, I'll be dancing to the music of the Strausses, nasty by any measure if the BBC drama is accurate. Wagner, forget it. I still find it harder to compartmentalize when it comes to spirituality, especially using spiritual direction and authority to attain sexual satisfaction. If he had taken a trip to the brothel, it would be weakness but not a power trip. I dunno. I guess higher spirituality can bring on greater pride.
DeleteThere is a school of spirituality which appeals to the romantic, and perhaps sensual, side of people, especially women. Think about the "Jesus is my boyfriend" vibe of some evangelical spirituality. Catholics have it too, just read the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux. They are beautiful, but the caveat is not to take them too literally. We need to recognize an analogy(simile, metaphor?) when we see one. Not sure any of this has anything to do with Jean Vanier.
DeleteJean Vanier apparently played "Jesus and Mary" sex games with these women and swore them to secrecy because he claimed it was holy. It bespeaks (as far as I can see) an almost infantile level of credulity or damage among the women, and an evil willingness to exploit it.
DeleteSpink's notion that somehow Vanier's "brokenness," which sounds like a euphemism, was the "wellspring for enormous good" is bending theology further than I can accept.
Vanier had retired from L'Arche when these incidents occurred, so how his activities fostered this "enormous good" is puzzling.
Jaime Manson at NCRonline has a good article on the Vanier revelations.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/grace-margins/no-jean-vanier-not-all-us
...Vanier was not someone I looked to for spiritual inspiration. … my years of experiencing the clericalism of both the clergy and the laity had made me weary and wary of the Catholic tendency towards hero worship, particularly of grand older men...
Both Phillippe and Vanier used allusions to Marian theology and the Scriptures to justify their sexual abuse of women.
In a 2018 essay, Alexandra Stein, an expert on cults and extremist groups, wrote about the ways in which cult leaders often groom women for sexual encounters. "This type of sexual abuse is often sold as way to become closer to the spirits or to gods; it's represented to adherents as not really 'sex' at all, but a form of spiritual practice," Stein wrote.
But unlike in a cult, Philippe and Vanier had centuries of Catholic doctrine to buttress their behavior.
The Vanier case reaffirms an argument I have made in this column before, which is that the church's radically patriarchal leadership structure and theology are at the root of most sex abuse cases in the church.
When this patriarchal system is combined with the theological notion of gender complementarity, which states that God calls men to lead and women to submit, it creates the perfect breeding ground for kinds of abuse we see in the Vanier case.
Jaime is simply one of many who have made this connection. Bishop Geoffrey Robinson of Australia made the same point in his 2007 book Confronting Sex and Power in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming Jesus.
When I made the connection personally, after a lot of self-guided study, I left the Catholic church. Since laity are powerless to change the teachings that are at the root of clericalism and the sexual abuse perpetrated by some, I could not remain. These teachings include: that ordained males are ontologically "changed", and thus superior to other Catholics; the teachings related to complementarity that define women as inferior to men, giving men the "right" to define their roles in the family and the church; teachings on marriage and sex; the claim that the vocation of celibate priesthood is superior (holier) to both marriage and to the non-consecrated/ordained single state.
In the many cases of sexual abuse revealed in various protestant churches, mostly evangelical, one finds parallels - patriarchy, holding the preacher/minister up as a superior human, emphasis on complementarity, and emphasis on obedience to the male church leaders. They may not speak of ontogical change to their ministers, but they also promote the patriarchy and clericalism seen in Roman Catholicism.