SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland
Saturday 18 May 2013
Hugh Dougherty
Three months of agony may well be over for the Scottish Catholic in the pew, now that the Vatican has finally taken action on the Cardinal Keith O’Brien affair.
But uncertainty remains over what may happen at the end of his six-months’ purdah, and there are disturbing questions about what really went on in seminaries in the past. And why was Cardinal O’Brien made both archbishop and cardinal when his failings must have been well known to many in the Scottish hierarchy and in the Vatican?
But, above all, ordinary Catholics are hurting. It has been shaming, embarrassing and faith-challenging to watch the whole sorry tale staggering on over three months, as the church ties itself in knots over its internal procedures, giving credence to the charge of it keeping parishioners and media alike guessing. There has been a lack of leadership and a woeful lack of appreciation of the damage done by the whole affair to the church’s reputation and, by association, to that of all Christian denominations in Scotland.
What has been lacking, from day one, has been a statement to parishioners, an apology for failings, and a clear indication of how matters will be put right. Instead, ordinary Catholics have been gleaning what they can about their church’s discomfort and actions, or lack of them, by scouring the media for crumbs of conjecture. The church has committed the ultimate sin of public relations, by failing to communicate, first and foremost, directly with its own stakeholders.
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