BishopAccountability.org
	Catholic Church Unable to Heal Itself through Confession By Jay Bookman Atlanta Journal-Constitution April 1, 2010 http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/04/01/catholic-church-unable-to-heal-itself-through-confession/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog It has been painful to watch the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, from Pope Benedict on down, struggle to respond to renewed outrage over its previous handling of horrific child-abuse cases involving church personnel. I think it’s clear — at least I very much hope it’s clear — that the church recognizes how egregiously it mishandled those cases in the past. If and when new cases arise, there is every reason to believe the church will now handle them correctly, including quick notification of law enforcement officials. However, pledging to do better in the future has not been enough to placate anger and deep disappointment over its past mistakes. The bureaucracy of a religion that places great value in the healing power of honest confession has been unable to be completely honest with itself, its membership and the outside world about just how deeply the corruption ran. The same defensive instincts that in the past drove Catholic officials to choose protecting the church’s reputation over protecting helpless children from abuse remains at play. New revelations have raised questions about the past behavior of Benedict himself, before becoming pope, in failing to act against predatory clergymen. It is hard to know what the truth really is, and that’s a major problem. Given the gravity of the charges against it, the church ought to be making every document, every official available for public inspection. That is how trust is regained; that is how slates are wiped clean. At one level, church officials seem to understand that. At another, the deeply hierarchical, authoritarian nature of the organization makes it impossible for it to do what is necessary. The result in many cases has been a tragic loss of confidence in both church leadership and the church as an institution, if not in the faith it was created to advance.
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