ROME (ITALY)
Crux
February 23, 2019
John L. Allen Jr.
Since the beginning of the clerical abuse crisis, some voices in Catholicism have warned that going too far towards secular standards of transparency and corporate “best practices” could ruin the reputations of innocent priests by circulating false allegations, as well as eroding traditional guarantees of pontifical secrecy.
On Saturday, bishops gathered for a special summit heard one of their own, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, tell them bluntly that such arguments just aren’t “particularly forceful.”
“The protection of rights and transparency are not mutually exclusive,” Marx said. “The opposite is the case.”
“A clearly defined and public procedure,” the German prelate said, “is the best safety mechanism against prejudices and false judgments. Such a procedure has the credibility to restore the reputation of a wrongly accused person who otherwise would be subject to rumors.”
Ultimately, Marx said, the aim of building and maintaining effective administrative procedures in dealing with abuse cases is to “bring humanity to God.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.