Step up and take responsibility, Archbishop, or step down

By Frances Coleman
AL.com
June 11, 2014

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/06/step_up_and_take_responsibilit.html

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson

I have a philosophy about things posted on Facebook or other social media platforms, and it is this: When you hear that a public figure has said something especially shocking, the first thing you should do – even before gasping and certainly before responding -- is read a transcript of what the public figure actually said.

            So that's what I did when I saw the report that Robert Carlson, archbishop of St. Louis, said he wasn't sure whether he knew in 1984 that it was a crime for an adult to have sex with a minor.

            Unfortunately, that is indeed what the archbishop said in a deposition he gave last month. In response to an attorney's question on the subject, he said: "I'm not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not. I understand today it's a crime."

            When the attorney asked, more specifically, whether he knew in 1984 that it was a crime for a priest to engage in sex with a child, the archbishop replied, under oath, "I'm not sure if I did or didn't."

            Now, being surrounded as I am by lawyers – three in my immediate family and assorted cousins in the extended family – and having watched my share of "Law & Order" over the years, I understand some of the nuances of depositions. Especially, I understand that the person under oath, on the advice of his attorney, will try his best to avoid giving specific answers to specific questions about what he does and doesn't remember.

            But I also understand that the archbishop of St. Louis is not the chairman of General Motors or the CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Those men are responsible to their boards of directors and stockholders; he is the moral and spiritual leader of thousands of American Catholics. Those men can hide behind their duty to shareholders; the archbishop cannot.

            His responses to the lawyer's questions aptly illustrate the distinction between what's legal and what's moral – a distinction I learned something of in a religion class, when I and the rest of the class sat before a white board and listened as the teacher said, "I want you to think of the surface of this board as all possible human behavior." Then he drew two circles.

            "This," the teacher said as he drew the first circle, "is what's moral." Drawing the second circle, he added, "This is what's legal."

I admit I was a little surprised that the circles only partially overlapped. After we spent the rest of the class discussing  his assertion that there are some things that are moral but not legal, and even more things that are legal but not moral, I understood better.

            Now, after reading Carlson's deposition, I understand clearly. It is obvious from the transcript that the archbishop was well coached in how to give answers that would satisfy technical questions without revealing the truth.

            That might be legal, but it is anything but moral. The court may not require Carlson to be fully forthcoming in a deposition, but he has a moral duty to tell the truth about what his organization permitted to happen to children.

            Two months ago,  Pope Francis – in office barely a year -- bravely and properly said he would take personal responsibility for the scandal of priest abusing children. The archbishop of St. Louis should do the same, and tell the truth – the whole truth – about what happened.

             Giving carefully crafted answers to deposition questions in an attempt to avoid liability is not moral leadership. It is a church leader striving to protect a bureaucracy at the expense of the people whom he has a moral duty to serve.

            Yes, admissions of fault in the church leadership would likely carry a heavy financial cost and perhaps criminal charges. However, when a Christian organization puts preservation of money and reputation ahead of what is morally right, it is an organization not worthy to be called Christian.

             Instead of dodging the truth in a deposition, Archbishop Robert Carlson should follow the example of Pope Francis, and accept responsibility for what happened. Otherwise, he needs to step down so the pope can replace him with someone who will.