Posted on: Friday, June 14, 2002

Catholic Church finally takes hold of crisis

Finally.

Finally, yesterday, the nation's Catholics and all others who care about the church, heard the words many had been waiting for:

An apology from the leader of U.S. Catholic bishops for their mishandling of the sexual abuse scandal that has consumed the church for months.

And an acknowledgement that the bishops' actions had precipitated a crisis in the church and "a profound loss of confidence by the faithful in our leadership" because of failure in addressing the crime of sexual abuse of children by priests and church personnel.

"What we are facing," Bishop Wilton Gregory told his brother prelates, "is not a breakdown in belief, but a rupture in our relationship as bishops with the faithful."

Gregory's litany of apology in his extraordinary speech opening the bishops' annual meeting in Dallas was a stirring call for change.

As cleansing as Gregory's remarks were, it is now up to all the bishops, collectively and individually, to validate apologies with true change and action. The profound confession heard yesterday will lose its healing power tomorrow if change is not swift, meaningful and deep.

The bishops must adopt a zero-tolerance policy for any case of abuse, whether current or in the past. The Honolulu Catholic Diocese has such a policy, with Hawai'i Bishop Francis DiLorenzo noting that child molestation is "so profoundly evil" that no predator should ever return to the ministry. That does not mean that predators cannot be shown compassion, DiLorenzo says. But compassion does not equate to cover-up.

All cases of abuse and obstruction must be turned over to civil authorities as long as they fall within statutes of limitation. No member of the clergy should be exempted.

And the church must heed Gregory's words of warning not to treat victims as adversaries. The church's practice of filing countersuits must stop.

While the Honolulu diocese is to be commended for its zero-tolerance policy, we wonder how it can reconcile compassion with a countersuit it filed against a woman who sued the church and a former employee who admitted to molesting the woman's child.

And, finally, while it is not for us to tell the bishops how to change the clericalism of the church, we note that they heard from lay leaders yesterday who bluntly warned that if they did not give lay people a greater role in the church, they risked more scandal. The arrogance of power must end.

It is clear the church laity is restive and the bishops must respond. The way they respond affects not only the nation's 65 million Catholics but the broader community. None of us must forget that the Catholic Church does much good in our nation. And people far beyond baptized Catholics benefit daily from the church's vast network of education and social services.

The bishops' call to change must ensure that good continues. And the wrongs must stop.