The Vatican has chosen it's path: stonewalling by the pope, aggressive defense by his spokesmen, and blaming the investigative journalists -- and, presumably, it's own bishops who wrote directly to him pleading for action in some cases.
In the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, attended by the pope, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, defended the pope's "unfailing" leadership and courage in an effort to preserve the pontiff's moral authority. In obvious reference to the abuse scandal, Sodano pledged: "Holy Father, on your side are the people of God, who do not allow themselves to be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment, by the trials which sometimes buffet the community of believers."
Petty gossip? No, in fact, we are talking about actual evidence unearthed by trial lawyers and investigative reporters of the church's failure to take appropriate action in response to established crimes by its own priests.
The pope then gave his message of concern for the "trials and suffering" of Christians in Iraq and Afghanistan and urged hope for the people of Haiti. He did not mention the abused children and the damaged adults they now are.
The Vatican is right about one thing: the Church has been severely damaged. But they are still blind to who is responsible for the damage.
Or maybe, as Richard says, it ultimately comes down to money. "Because the Church is a corporation, too, corporate policy will trump issues of faith."
Ralph
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Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York responded to questions about the Church's response to the scandals, saying that "Nobody nowhere has confronted this crisis... better than the Catholic Church."
ReplyDelete"Confronting this crisis" -- you mean the crisis of widespread criticism of the Church? the crisis of global loss of confidence in the Vatican? the loss of respect and faith for the clergy? the loss of reverence for the pope?
Surely he couldn't have meant that they have dealt with the criminal priests and their victims better than anyone else.
Could he?
Richard's comment about the Church being a corporation is, of course, right on. The Catholic Church is one of the wealthiest money-making corporations worldwide. Even more to the point is Pascal Boyer's argument in his brilliant "Religion Explained. The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought" that organized religions should be likened to powerful trade guilds which attempt to protect their power and the size of their flocks at all costs. He writes: "A religious guild is a group that derives its livelihood, influence and power from the fact that it provides particular services, in particular the performance of rituals. . . Such groups often try to control the market for their services. By establishing a quasi monopoly, they make sure that all custom comes their way." The hierarchy of the Catholic Church, Pope included, is dangerously close to abrogating its guild leadership power by the moral and practical mishandling of this crisis. When a union's leadership is corrupt the writing is on the wall for its longevity.
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