On the weekend, Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast addressed the Citizen’s multi-part exposé on local Catholic priests connected to the abuse of young people starting in the 1960s. His words were vague, bromidic and, frankly, unsatisfying.

The scope of the scandal – 41 known victims (there likely are more), 11 priests connected to sexual abuse through criminal or civil actions – had not been clear until the Citizen’s Andrew Duffy, poring over court documents, began tallying the human damage. In the process, he also uncovered three previously unreported cases.

After reviewing these records, Duffy contacted the Archdiocese of Ottawa for comment, and also sent it 11 specific questions in writing. That was on May 13.

Four days later, the archdiocese issued a general press release decrying the fact that people were abused, and pointing to its 2015 Code of Pastoral Conduct, which priests are supposed to sign. Nine days after receiving the Citizen’s questions, Archbishop Prendergast finally wrote about the matter in the Ottawa Sun.

Except that he really did not. The archbishop could have spoken bluntly about the decades of abuse and offered genuine succour to the victims. He could have explained why the church is suing its own insurers to get back money paid to victims. He could have revealed the actual number of those abused. Instead, he chose the “nothing to see here, move along” approach.

Writing “there were not many surprises in the published articles,” he added banalities such as “We have learned from errors in the past and are constantly striving to improve how to create safe environments for all.”

Instead, the archbishop focused on the hurt feelings of priests and other religious workers after being exposed to “public vilification and scorn” by the newspaper.

Forgive us, but we imagine the victims feel a bit more deeply scarred than you do, sir.

They may, for instance, be wondering why members of the Ottawa clergy were warned several times about the abusive behaviour of one priest, Rev. Dale Crampton, between 1963 and 1982, yet did nothing. No answer.

They may also be curious about why Rev. Barry McGrory, who abused minors in the 70s and 80s, has not been defrocked, even today. No answer.

They may want to know why the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has never issued a study on how widespread abuse was here. The U.S church did one. No answer.

We know good men and women of the Catholic church are appalled at the abuses of the past, and fiercely determined to prevent such despicable acts in future. Their conviction, however, would be strengthened by openness from the archbishop, not platitudes.