Vatican expert discusses future of the Catholic Church

By Austin Cook
Old Gold and Black
April 06, 2014

http://oldgoldandblack.com/?p=39861

With revelations of sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups still surfacing and a crisis of faith spreading throughout the world, the Catholic Church faces many challenges in the years to come that are already shaking the institution to its core.

Despite signs of reform under the new leadership of Pope Francis, the Church is at a true crossroads, and few people are as insightful into this topic that journalist Jason Berry, who spoke to an audience on campus April 2 in Farrell Hall.

“This is one of the great stories of our times,” Berry said, referencing the stark challenges that the Pope faces both within the Vatican and throughout the world. “The guy parachuted into a vipers nest.”

Berry, originally a journalist from New Orleans, has pioneered investigative reporting into the sex abuse scandals that have plagued the Catholic Church for decades. Hailing from a culturally diverse and fascinating part of the country, Barry began his career covering New Orleans’s deep Cajun roots—but it took an unexpected turn when he started looking into allegations of sexual abuse by a local priest.

When he published a series of stories exposing the abuse in local papers, Berry faced a backlash from the local Catholic community of which he himself was a member. But despite the criticism he faced, Berry continued his reporting. “You can attack the messenger all you want,” he said.

Although he tried—multiple times—to refocus his reporting on cultural issues in Louisiana, Berry seemed fated to continue his investigations into the Church. When The Boston Globe began its series of stories on sex abuse by priests, the issue was thrust under the international spotlight.

Berry was given the opportunity to travel to Vatican City and continue his reporting on the Church. Since then, he has published four books on the subject of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. In 2014, he co-produced a PBS Frontline documentary, Secrets of the Vatican. He has also serves as a contributor on Vatican news for ABC News and for National Public Radio.

In his discussion that night, Berry said that Pope Francis, now one year into his tenure as the leader of 1.1 billion Catholics around the world, faces three main crises he must confront: the revelations of sex abuse by the clergy, the scandals and mismanagement of the Vatican Bank and the scandals within the Roman Curia—the bureaucracy of the Holy See.

“Clergy sex abuse, Vatican Bank corruption and the Vatileaks scandal all need to be dealt with,” he said.

Berry spent much of his time discussing Pope Francis and the reforms he has started to implement, including hiring a Wall Street consulting firm to improve the Vatican Bank’s finances as well as forming a commission to explore clergy sex abuse.

He also recalled his memories of the shocking announcement of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation last year and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio’s surprising election to the Papacy in March of 2013.

“Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina—he wasn’t even on the shortlist, wasn’t even in the running, and yet he had finished second in the running to Cardinal Ratzinger who had become Pope Benedict eight years prior,” Berry said.

Berry described it as a magical moment when Pope Francis was introduced to the world—noting the expression on the new pontiff’s face as he greeted the massive crowd in St. Peter’s Square on March 13, 2013.

Although he has only been Pope for a year, Berry said that Francis has already made a number of symbolic gestures that have shown his ability to reach out and appeal to the faithful as well as non-Catholics. But while he has enchanted the media and millions of people around the world, Berry said the challenges ahead for the Pope are daunting and the future of the Church remains uncertain.

“He has captured the imagination of the global media and also so many people who are not Catholic. No one else on the world stage has that intrigue,” Berry said. “He is giving the Church what it needs: a realistic integrity… [But] this is barely into the first inning.”