BishopAccountability.org
	Church Meeting Could Heal Archdiocese Has True Chance to Change Philadelphia Daily News September 15, 2006 http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/15524073.htm The Philadelphia Archdiocese's dark history of cover-ups and clergy sexual abuse - fully illuminated last year in a scathing grand jury report - doesn't earn it much sympathy. The unconscionable acts left hundreds of children emotionally scarred. Hundreds of thousands of Catholics felt angry, betrayed and bewildered. The grand jury report portrayed the archdiocese as a protector of perverts, preferring to move accused priests around than remove them from the priesthood. It's easy, then, to cast a cynical eye on today's meeting between two victims of child sex abuse, a victim's parent, and priests assembled at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood. But this is a face-to-face exchange that could have a positive and emotional impact, much like what happens at mediation sessions where crime victims confront their perpetrators. There are no guarantees. But we don't see this as a public relations ploy. Neither do we think it "shows a complete lack of sympathy or empathy for anyone who has been abused by a member of the clergy," as one person told Daily News reporter Christine Olley. We prefer to see it as a courageous step taken by Cardinal Justin Rigali. To change a culture of pain and mistrust created and abetted by former archdiocesan leaders will not be easy. Rigali, who took office in 2003, has apologized for the pain, asked for forgiveness, vowed it won't happen again. But more importantly, he's gone to parishioners and listened to them. Rather than direct by edict, he has taken a contemporary approach to instill change, to be inclusive rather than exclusive. To hear it straight from the victims themselves. Rigali calls it "Witness to the Sorrow." The grand jury report was damning. It showed the archdiocese more concerned about image and less concerned about the pain inflicted on victims. It outlined several legislative reforms that Harrisburg lawmakers should consider, including the removal of the statute of limitations for the sexual abuse of children. When the report was issued, the archdiocese was defensive, calling it biased and anti-Catholic. But now that rhetoric is passed. Rigali seems eager to mend the burned and tattered bridges to his flock. We should give his efforts the benefit of the doubt .
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