THE P RTAL
October 2018 Page 24
Bishops and their oversight
Geoffrey Kirk ’ s thoughts on the clerical abuse scandal
Cardinal Di Nardo , head of the American Conference of Bishops , has got it about right . The abuse crisis in the United States ( and probably elsewhere ) has entered a new phase . The first phase , culminating around 2002 , when the bishops met in Dallas , Texas and declared ( with Vatican approval ) a ‘ zero tolerance ’ policy - which is still in force - has now moved inexorably into a second phase .
The second stage is less about priests and their abusive conduct , more about bishops and their oversight . The public anger is now directed against bishops who treated complainants with disdain and failed appropriately to discipline errant clergy and about large sums of money paid to buy silence , and abusive clergy moved surreptitiously from parish to parish .
To personalise the change of gear – the Cardinal Law stage of the affair has moved into the Cardinal Wuerl stage .
Even in England , the IICSA ( Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse ) has been rattling the doors of the Diocese of Chichester in the dear old Church of England .
In the modern Western world , Christianity has enough sworn enemies to throw petrol on any fire , and rapidly to turn a blaze into a conflagration . Silence or wilful inaction in present circumstances is like standing by and watching Rome burn .
Because he is summus episcopus ( head of all bishops and pastor of the pastors ), Pope Francis is inextricably involved in all this – and the more so because of personal accusations made by Archbishop Vigano , a senior Vatican staffer . So what is to be done ?
About the accusations against himself , rather perplexingly , the Holy Father appears to have taken a vow of silence . His aides , meanwhile , have been busy seeking to discredit the Archbishop , and belittle the accusations .
Anyone , I would have thought , could see that in present circumstances this simply will not do . Whether true or false , the allegations need to be confronted head on and a coherent policy for the future developed and made public .
It is already becoming clear what is ultimately at stake . It is the very integrity and autonomy of the Catholic Church . In Australia ( where the seal of the confessional and the celibacy of the clergy are already under attack ) and in America ( where the judiciary is demanding access to confidential diocesan files ) we can see how a secular state , in the full flush of its righteous indignation , will seek to regulate what the Church fails to moderate .