Vatican Stonewalling

Recently, the news has been full of two embarrassing situations for the Vatican. First was the Irish sex abuse scandal and the failure of the Bishops to protect children. Then there was the news of a sex abuse crisis in Germany, and specifically in the diocese formerly headed by the current Pope, Benedict XVI.

What has been the Vatican reaction to these news stories? Have they come forward and admitted mistakes? Well, maybe. A few Bishops have even resigned. Several bishops have expressed regret. So the Church is moving in the right direction? Well, not exactly. Basically, we are continuing to see business as usual and even worse. The regrets we are hearing from bishops turn out to be merely a vehicle for expressing solidarity with the Pope and attacking those who would voice even indirect criticism of the Pope's actions prior to his becoming Pope.

I guess it is a nice sentiment to rally behind your leader, yet there are some real concerns. First, where is the concern for the victims - the young people whose trust has been betrayed, and the families who have suffered. There can be no doubt that protecting the church and its secrets has been far more important than protecting young people who have been entrusted to the care of the clergy.

The strategy is to blame the messenger. It is the fault of the New York Times, the media, and even petty gossip. Can the Vatican really be resorting to this type of defense? And of course, there is also the fact that The Pope is being persecuted just like the Jews have been persecuted in the past. Any criticism of the Vatican is not only unfair, but a shameful attack that must be condemned. This is a conspiracy by anti-Catholics to discredit the Pope.

Can the Vatican be so naive as to think nobody will notice their refusal to face facts, or do they just not care? Do they really believe they can ignore the facts and carry on with business as usual? And, could they in fact be right? Let's examine the situation. Nobody can doubt that the Church as an institution did everything they could to keep the sex abuse crisis quiet. They paid the victims. They threatened the victims with ecclesiatical punsishments if they spoke up. Bottom line - they acted like any large corporation. Though indefensible, it is at least at some level understandable. Tobacco companies were not going to admit they knew their product was dangerous. Restaurants are not going to tell people not to eat menu items that might be bad for their health.

So, the Church operated like any other large institution. One would have hoped for something better from the Church, but the fact is they chose and have chosen for generations to protect themselves. As Bishop and Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger was part of that church and part of that deception. No one can doubt that is true. Let's give Pope Benedict the benefit of the doubt and assume that as Pope he has not been part of the business as usual operation on this issue. All the more reason not to strain credulity by denying any knowledge or complicitness in earlier years of striving to keep this scandal out of the press, and even reassigning abusive priests to pastoral work.

Is there a way to restore credibility? I believe there is. What should the Vatican do at this point? How about a little candor? I would recommend that the Pope make a statement that includes something like what follows:

"We grieve individually and collectively as Church for the pain and suffering that has been caused to so many of our young people and their families. Clearly, very bad judgements were made by many in authority that has added to the harm that has been done to members of the body of Christ. I myself have been guilty of poor judgement at times in the past, and regret these lapses with all my being.

What must be done now is to ensure that such harm shall never again come to any of our members. Justice must be meted out to those guilty of doing harm to others. Structures must be put in place to deal with any future cases of abuse. Even more importantly, we must undertake an exhaustive examination of the operation of the church and the priesthood to determine if there are any changes that need to be made to ensure the safety of our young people and to preserve the integrity of the priesthood. Experts in every relevant field will be brought in to explore the structure and culture of the heirarchy. The church at every level and in every country will openly and forthrightly cooperate with all interested parties to address these issues in the most comprehensive manner possible. No facet of the operation of the church will be untouched including celibacy. We owe it to the faithful to study this issue in a transparent and open fashion and make what changes are necessary to hand over the legacy of the church in a healthy and holy fashion to its future members.

We will protect the church and lead it into the future, but not by hiding its secrets and its failings, but by putting the scrutiny of the light of day onto the activities of the church, and assuring future generations of a holier, healthier, and better servant church than we have had in this generation."

I believe such an announcement and appropriate follow through by this Pope would be well received by the faithful and the community at large. I believe it would almost instantly strengthen the credibility of the church and promote a vibrant future, and healthier church for all of us.