KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
November 13, 2018
By Pat Perriello
The NCR editorial staff did not mince words in its open letter to U.S. Catholic bishops. Its insistence that “it is over” is compelling.
Let me just highlight a few points that the editorial makes.
First, the editorial highlights the efforts church leaders made to hide the truth of the scandal from the faithful, the public and law enforcement.
The authors then go on to describe the pharisaical nature of our hierarchy. They have been “imbibing the excesses of power, authority and privilege that have accrued over centuries.”
It is also important to note just how big a deal the present crisis is. NCR says there is no precedent in U.S. church history and perhaps in global church history for what is facing the church right now. This is not about a debatable religious or dogmatic issue. It is a “rot at the heart of the culture entrusted with leadership of the Catholic community.”
While the editorial acknowledges that the church has done some good things that makes it a safer place today, it notes that these changes were essentially made only because the scandal became public. Thus, “you were moved to words of contrition because you were, once again, caught.”
These are strong words from the editorial staff of NCR. The staff is still looking to the hierarchy for a true personal examination, sincere desire for forgiveness, and a resolve to change. It demands ceding authority and ridding the clerical state of privilege and power.
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