Help for Bishops in Rebuilding Trust

By Bishop Daniel Conlon
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
August 30, 2012

http://www.nccbuscc.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/Sec-Vac-Conference-Talk-120813.pdf

[full text]

God bless you. Your commitment to the care of victim/survivors of past abuse in the Church and to the safety of children in the Church today is a true manifestation of God’s grace. What you do every day builds up the body of Christ and allows the light of Christ to shine more brightly in the world.

More than twenty years ago I had your responsibilities in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. I am confident that you are much better equipped to fulfill the task and even have a better idea what the task is. I am certain that you are doing a better job. I think we all are.

PART 1—A LONG WAY TOWARD HEALING

You understand that I must be cautious in making that assertion: that we are collectively doing a better job. Most Catholics and the public in general apparently believe that the Church’s handling of the sexual abuse of minors is barely more correct or effective today than it was ten years ago.

The May issue of U.S. Catholic reported on a survey of 300 Catholics it had conducted. The article, “Needs improvement: Readers rate the bishops’ response to church sex abuse”, does not describe the survey’s methodology. So, the survey’s objectivity and scope is unclear.

The bottom line, though: thumbs down for the bishops. For example, 59% of the respondents said that the bishops have done the bare minimum, while only 9% think that the bishops have done a good job of being transparent about past cases of abuse. 55% say the bishops are less likely to cover up abuse cases today than in the past. Remarkably—and this will certainly disappoint you—34%--just over one-third—believe that “parishes and schools are now safer for children thanks to safeguards implemented in the last 10 years.”