Book Condemning Church Heirarchy Banned from Basilica

A book discussing the sexual abuse crisis in the Church and the reasons for the decline of Catholicism in Boston was removed from The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception’s gift shop in June. A scheduled signing of the book at the Basilica was also cancelled.

The book, entitled The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture, is an exploration of the events that took place within the Church during the priest sexual abuse scandal, specific to Boston, but also as a microcosm of the Church in America.

“The bookstore is free, of course, to invite the speakers and carry the books it wants– and by implication to exclude others,” said Philip Lawler, the author of the book. Lawler is also an editor at Catholic World News and a native Bostonian.

This issue is always on his mind, said Deirdre Lawler, the author’s daughter, who is also a sophomore at the University. “It is a work that reflects who he is as a person, and his whole life,” she said.

The book was removed after Rev. Monsignor Walter R. Rossi, rector of the Basilica, read the book and received complaints about it. It has been suggested that the number of complaints were from officials within the Church’s hierarchy, whom the book criticizes.

“I don’t know if it fosters healing and reconciliation,” Rossi said in an interview with the Washington Times.

“I thought it contributed to a greater breaking down of the Church, rather than building it up.”

According to Rossi, the call for healing and reconciliation comes from Pope Benedict XVI, and the book does nothing to work towards that goal.

Lawler, a practicing Catholic, does not disagree with the need for healing, but feels that the issue is still being swept under the rug by the Church’s hierarchy.

“I believe that the book has answers that lead towards healing and reconciliation; it just does so through a challenge to American Bishops,” said Lawler’s daughter.

“My only regret is that so many Church leaders are still refusing to examine the underlying causes of the scandal,” said Lawler. “Until we fully understand the disease we cannot expect to devise a real cure.”

The book has been well received by the general public, however, with the first printing of 7,500 selling out. Lawler also garnered several positive reviews as well.

“I hope no one is jumping to the conclusion that The Faithful Departed is an attack on the Catholic Church,” said Lawler. “That is absolutely not the case.”

Bomb Threat At Basilica

A bomb threat was called into the Department of Public Safety last night, threatening the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Metropolitan Police Department responded at approximately 8:30 p.m. and cordoned off many parts of campus near the site.

“No part of the campus was evacuated,” said Victor Nakas, associate vice president for Public Affairs. “It was not judged that it was necessary.”

Nakas had not been informed by DPS as of 10:05 p.m. when the Tower called him at his residence seeking comment, despite his office having the sole responsibility to send out Alert DC text messages to the student body. At 11:01 p.m., he sent out an email to all undergraduate students explaining the incident.

“We notified him as soon as we could,” said Marcus Carr, a lieutenant for DPS. “We were on the scene and had an emergency going on. We could not leave to make the notification. Our intent is always to notify our superiors as soon as possible.”

Carr said that DPS worked jointly together with other law enforcement agencies and took the risk seriously.
“We did what we had to do to make sure that nobody was put in harm’s way,” said Carr. “Everything was confined to the Shrine. The campus was not in any immediate threat.”

About 20 MPD vehicles were on the property, in addition to DPS trucks and several unmarked law enforcement cars. K-9 units were deployed as well to search the interior and grounds.

The Basilica choir’s evening rehearsal was cut two hours short when they were asked to evacuate the building by security, while the MPD Explosive Ordinance Division, commonly known as the bomb squad, was arriving.

A state of all-clear was declared at approximately 11 p.m. and it was deemed that the evening’s events were “one of the hundreds of prank calls they get regularly,” according to Quintin Peterson, an officer with MPD.

“[It was] confirmed that the bomb threat was a hoax,” said Nakas. He stressed that “calling in a bomb threat is a major criminal offense“ and further investigation would be done by the appropriate authorities.
Peterson said MPD has no leads and that they are not immediately able to determine whether it was a student who made the threat.

The Basilica is the largest church in the western hemisphere and recently hosted such notable events as Tony Snow’s funeral, attended by President George W. Bush, and Pope Benedict XVI’s address to Catholic Bishops last April. It is located adjacent to the campus and neighbors the Gibbons residence hall.