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	Criticism Makes No Distinction between the Past and What Is Happening Now The Dominion Post March 30, 2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/3531585/Criticism-makes-no-distinction-between-the-past-and-what-is-happening-now Bishop Peter J Cullinane responds to claims the Catholic Church has lost its moral authority over sex-abuse scandals. New Zealand's Catholic bishops make no excuse whatever for sexual crimes or for errors of judgment in dealing with them. Wrong is wrong. Like other bishops around the world, the New Zealand bishops feel nothing but shame that such crimes have been committed here or anywhere, and sadness at the slowness of the Church, everywhere, to appreciate the irremediable nature of some not all kinds of sexual offending. The claim that the Church has lost its moral authority in your editorial refers especially to recent allegations of mismanagement by the Pope. Unfortunately, some media are still disseminating inaccuracies and misleading reports. Independent international research reveals that the department headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was not involved with the vast majority of sex abuse cases and even of the small percentage that wound up in Rome, before 2001. In 2001, responsibility for dealing with cases of abuse was shifted to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's department. He took a lead role in beefing up the handling of cases being reported to Rome. Before 2001 preoccupation with due process in order to prevent unjust dismissals by bishops added slowness to the Vatican response, and a culture of silence meant that even where justice was done, it was not seen to be done. 2001 was a watershed year. At this time Cardinal Ratzinger personally began to read all the files available to him. Like all of us, he was having to learn, and become wiser with hindsight. What we do know is that his involvement led to the toughening of Rome's actions against offenders. As head of the Catholic Church, the Pope must take responsibility for dealing with cases of abuse in the Church. The true calibre of the present Pope is evident in his letter to the Catholics of Ireland. The style of the letter might be unfamiliar to those who have distanced themselves from the Catholic Church. However, it is remarkable for its substance and frankness, its deep human concern for all who have been impacted, and its firmness in regard to what he expects of bishops. It is for churches in the countries of origin to establish processes for referral of abuse cases to civil authorities. No doubt the letter did not say everything that everybody wanted it to say. In our own country, the protocols put in place by the bishops and religious orders include the reporting of cases to authorities and fully co- operating with investigations. We also have a former police commissioner, John Jamieson, who is not a Catholic, in charge of our national office dealing with these matters. Monday's editorial makes no distinction between what happened in the past and what is happening now. Some reports have suggested that there is a link between abuse and celibacy. Specialists in Britain who have been working professionally with paedophiles over many years have pointed out that the vast majority of offenders are neither celibates nor Catholics. The matter is too serious for over-simplified explanations. We make no excuse for any offending that has occurred within the Catholic Church or for any inadequacies in our dealing with offences. But we would like to think that when individuals in any family let the other family members down, as has happened in the family of the Catholic Church, it is not the whole family that has offended and therefore lost its moral authority or integrity.
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