PARIS (FRANCE)
LaCroix International
April 9, 2019
By Massimo Faggioli
The separation between Church management (the hierarchy) and its research and development department (theologians) is one of the most serious problems facing the Catholic Church. Thomas Reese, the former editor-in-chief (1998-2005) of the Jesuit magazine America, identified this problem back in 1996 in his book, Inside the Vatican. And although the book was published two pontificates ago, Reese’s premise remains true.
In fact, the situation is even worse now than it was nearly 25 years ago.One of the effects of the latest phase of the Catholic abuse crisis, which started in 2018, is that it has offered us some historical perspective on the Church’s management-research dichotomy. The sexual abuse crisis has been long in the making.
It became public in the mid-1980s and its turning point was 2001-2002 in the United States. This opened the eyes of many to what had happened in that North American country and what was bound to happen in other countries as well.
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