Msgr. Burrill’s Resignation and the Surveillance Age: 5 Points to Consider

National Catholic Register, 23 July 2021

No harm, no foul may apply in sports. No crime, no foul does not apply in the life of the Church.

The resignation of Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill, general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is another gut-punch for Catholics. That sin abounds is old news — and grace abounds all the more, St. Paul reminds us — but still the whole matter stings.

There are at least five important matters raised by the Burrill resignation.

Digital Surveillance 

Msgr. Burrill resigned after The Pillar Catholic news website gathered data that showed that Msgr. Burrill’s mobile phone was used to access Grindr, a “hook-up” app that puts users in contact with others in the same location desiring anonymous sexual encounters. Grindr bills itself as “the largest social media network for gay, bi, trans and queer people.” The Pillar obtained the tracking data, which is commercially available and is gathered by Grindr; users give Grindr permission to track them in order to find available partners nearby.

The Pillar concluded that the tracking data constituted “evidence of a pattern of sexual misconduct.”

The Pillar “de-anonymized” the data to show that Burrill was using the app in various places, including a “gay bathhouse” in Las Vegas. The Pillar’s methods are not illegal, but have raised ethical concerns. Critics of The Pillar story did not coincide neatly with conservative/progressive divisions on other issues.

Alejandro Bermudez of Catholic News Agency reported that he had turned down offers to use such data in 2018, and worried such techniques could be used not to expose immorality, but to monitor innocent priests for nefarious purposes.

Jesuit Father James Martin, who knows “hundreds of gay priests,” wondered about a “witch hunt” on social media

“This is a disgrace: spying on bishops and priests to see if they’re being chaste and celibate,” Father Martin tweeted. “Of course it’s aimed at gay priests, and ‘gay apps,’ which shouldn’t surprise anyone. It’s part of the ongoing witch hunt against gay priests.”

The Msgr. Burrill investigation only established use of the Grindr app, not that he engaged in any immoral sexual encounters. Msgr. Burrill made no statement about the reporting, nor the implication that he was, for several years, engaged in an ongoing pattern of casual sexual encounters.

Especially in an age of digital tracking and omnipresent security cameras, a priest has extra reasons to be faithful to the requirements of Christian discipleship and his priestly promises. Not only God is watching.

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