For 25 years National Catholic Reporter has been editorializing and reporting on the inadequacy of the Church hierarchy's response to sexual abuse by priests. Slowly under relentless pressure the American Church responded. Now the same grim pattern has emerged in Europe. First in Ireland and now in Germany, engulfing the Pope's own episcopacy in Germany in the familiar pattern of denial, minimization, and evasion. This past - Easter - weekend featured some particularly galling Roman responses - like the one about how the criticism of priests resembles anti-semitism in its assertions of guilt by association.
This week's issue of America, the Jesuit magazine, has a strong editorial, which begins
The shame associated with the abuse of children by Catholic priests is borne these days by all Catholics forced to explain to incredulous friends and acquaintances how this could have happened, how it could have gone on so long, how it could have been allowed to become so extensive—questions that still require a proper answer. Like a millstone around our necks, the scandal, year after endless year, drags us all down with it. How the church as the people of God respond to it should not be a question of loyalty to the pope nor even more demands for his resignation; it is a matter of restoring the church’s integrity as an institution and renewing the life of holiness for its members. It is a matter of corporate conversion.
It is clear we are no longer dealing with an “American problem.” We never were. This is a global crisis that requires a church-wide strategy. The whole church—from parish to diocese to Roman Curia—needs to respond with the resources and the urgency it demands. Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, argues it is time for a thorough housecleaning. “We need a culture of alertness and bravery,” he said, “to do the housework,” and we must begin with caring for the victims.
The balance of the editorial is HERE
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