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	Marcos Breton: Sacramento Diocese Spokesman States Case for 'Flawed' Church By Marcos Breton Sacramento Bee April 7, 2010 http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/07/2660471/marcos-breton-sacramento-diocese.html Imagine being the guy whose job is to explain what the Catholic Church is doing about pedophile priests. That's Kevin Eckery, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. Last week, while Christians celebrated Holy Week, Eckery was on local television news constantly – speaking to molestation allegations and cover-ups at the highest levels of the Catholic church. It's a dicey gig. Usually, Holy Week is dedicated to reflecting on the resurrection of Christ. Eckery, 51, also had planned a big Easter gathering at his house. His time was monopolized by an unholy topic. In Sacramento, allegations that Pope Benedict XVI in earlier church roles covered up for pedophile priests – and allowed them to continue pastoral work and prey on more victims – have been like a scab removed with a switchblade. It wasn't that long ago – in 2005 – that the local diocese paid $35 million to 33 victims to settle claims of sexual abuse by local priests. A public relations specialist and longtime Capitol fixture, Eckery was hired by the diocese in 2002 when local allegations were seething. "You're not justifying or defending," he said of his strategy for confronting the public outcry. "If anything, you're validating and legitimizing people's anger." When the Vatican seemed to circle the wagons last week – with some incredibly portraying the church as victims – Catholics and non-Catholics were outraged. It made the church seem tone-deaf and isolated from everyday people who worship in the pews and expect better. I have to admit: I felt some resentment at Easter Mass on Sunday. I was asking for forgiveness of my sins and looking inward for a better way of living while church leaders filibustered and played the victim card. This is why people turn away. They get get fed up when lofty men in robes hold everyone accountable but themselves. It's Eckery's job to engage the disillusioned and – in his measured way – to publicly confront the slings and arrows in the media. "Why shouldn't people be upset by the news?" he said. "Our bishop was upset. A lot of Catholics were upset." So why do this job? "Because at its best, the church is divinely inspired," he said. "(But) it's going to be a flawed human institution. You want to try to make it better." Is it better? "In the local diocese, we've come a long way in protecting kids and screening seminarians," Eckery said. "No one is going to make that mistake again in Sacramento," he said. In some ways, the Vatican is only now experiencing what the Sacramento Diocese did eight years ago. "They are still in the denial phase, getting their heads around what really happened," Eckery said. People in Sacramento used to be in denial as well. There is a lot to answer for – more than Eckery or any mortal ever could. Contact: mbreton@sacbee.com
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