BishopAccountability.org
	Action on Abuse Too Late but Not Too Little By Anthony Stevens-Arroyo On Faith April 16, 2008 http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/catholicamerica/2008/04/too_late_but_not_too_little.html Pope Benedict XVI's first message to Catholic America on his historic 2008 visit came early on the airplane, in fact. The pontiff said he was ashamed of the abuse of children by Catholic clergy. He promised to do everything possible to see that such things do not happen again. There is likely to be a heated debate between those who believe this statement satisfied papal obligations to move beyond the scandal for the good of the Church and those who think it was superficial and self-serving. I don't anticipate any quick resolution of the matter, and still less a smoothing over of raw emotions. Before reengaging in the debate, however, a few items need to be recognized. • The Bishops have abandoned the principle, "Innocent until proven guilty" in favor of "Guilty until proven innocent" in order to address the offenses. • Protection by a statute of limitations has been thrown out in order to clean house, punishing any offender at any time in the past. • The church paid $2 billion in reparations, driving many dioceses into bankruptcy. • The old practice of considering pedophilia a "sin" has been rejected in favor a more modern interpretation as a non-remediable sickness, requiring expulsion or exclusion from the priesthood. These measures are stricter than norms used in the US Congress or many school districts, just to cite the better known institutions in America that suffer from pedophiles. Moreover, if the statistics are to be believed, Catholic priests have a lower incidence of sexual misbehavior than the clergy of American Protestantism and Judaism. My observations are not intended to excuse the behavior of the individual clergy and much less of bishops who hid the scandals, but just to make the point that some radical and drastic changes have been made. They may be "too late" but I don't think they can be called "too little." The issue that concerns me most is the Pope's admission, "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children." I take him at his word that pedophiles will be excluded from the Catholic priesthood, but I am concerned that neither he nor other church officials have the savvy to discern prospective problem priests. Those who dedicate their lives to the church and work in the rarefied atmosphere of Vatican and Chancery offices may be very sincere, but are they nave about clergy sinfulness la America? The saying, "The Devil is in the details" applies here. Lofty desires to do good and avoid evil need to be translated into practical norms for everyday administration. Ironically, the laity most antagonistic to the hierarchy on this issue may be the best allies in establishing bullet-proof scrutiny for the future.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.