New York Archbishop-designate Timothy Dolan said Monday, on the eve of his installation, that he will challenge the idea that the Roman Catholic Church is unenlightened because it opposes gay marriage and abortion.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Dolan said he wants to restore pride in being Catholic, especially given the damage the church endured in the clergy sex abuse scandal, which he called a continuing source of shame.
“One would hope that through education and through the joy that we give by our lives that people will begin to see that these fears and this skepticism we have about the church are unwarranted,” Dolan said.
So “the church” endured the clergy sex abuse scandal and people need to realize they have nothing to fear? How about, the Bishops of the church moved around pedophile priests for decades and then mounted a rear-guard action to prevent law suits until public pressure forced them to reluctantly admit to at least part of the truth. Just a guess, but maybe a little honesty would be a good place to start?
I think continuing an “us” vs “them” is probably not a helpful way forward either.
Reply to comment #1.
Deaconmark,
At least the Roman Church is taking action to resolve sexual misconduct issues by its clergy.
On the other hand, ECUSA’s leadership is redefining sexual morality and is in the process of bring about “blessings” of sexual immorality that the Roman Church classifies as ‘sin.’
Oh dear, I’ve used that terrible “sin” word again. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
#1 Deaconmark,
At the risk of starting an off-topic thread, the genuine fear I have is that the sexual misconduct on the part of RC clergy is but a fraction of what takes place everywhere in society and that even though focusing on the RC church was effective (look at the website of nearly any RC diocese now) and — for certain personality types — fun, continuing to fixate on the RC sex abuse scandals is Old Scratch’s way of keeping us from turning to the same messes (perhaps on a larger scale) elsewhere. Most of the RC hierarchy has learned from its mistakes. Have other areas of society even begun to recognize theirs?
As for Dolan, he was called in to his previous diocese to clean up an earlier mess. Does it even make sense to lump him w/ your vague, general category, “the bishops” who “moved around paedophile priests”? Never mind whether you’re being fair. Are you even making sense? Logical fallacy of guilt by association?
The institution is clearly guilty and the individual speaks for the institution. As one who had a family member exposed to a pedophile priest placed in a parish with an elementary school (no less) after previous “difficulties.” (The priest is now in prison by the way.) I don’t see how the failure of other parts of society or churches or individuals mitigates. This Bishop needs to speak clearly and forcefully about what happened and then forward movement can happen.
#5, if you were in any way familiar with Archbishop Dolan, you would know his forceful and clear statements against “what happened.”
The question becomes, “Can bishops say anything at all without prefacing every single remark with a mea-culpa-mantra?” I would say, “yes,” when that bishop has made clear by his years of service in St. Louis as an auxiliary bishop appointed to deal with the scandal in that area that he does take “what happened” seriously.
The institution was guilty. No question. To say that it *is* guilty is quite a charge. Can you prove it? (Perhaps I should make that a rhetorical question, since this wouldn’t be the forum for a full discussion of the issue.)
Why does this particular bishop need to speak clearly and forcefully about what happened when so many bishops, including the bishop of Rome, have already done so and continue to do so by setting up very clear procedures, processes of independent assessment, etc.? You might have a point if your claim is that Bp X or Y was guilty of this behavior and needs to be dealt with. But to treat Dolan as complicit in all of this w/o evidence is itself an injustice and is not helpful to a man who, as far as I’m aware, has worked very diligently to address this mess. Was he complicit? I’m genuinely interested in knowing whether he was? If not, there is still the logical fallacy of guilt by association. An institution doesn’t erase personal responsibility and accountability.
I didn’t and wouldn’t argue that the failure of other parts of society mitigates — at all! You missed my point entirely. What I suggest is that the RC church *is* dealing with it and needs to continue to deal with it. But those who fixate on retribution against the RC church where impressive procedures are in place are now expressing something that isn’t productive and might even be its own kind of injustice when data indicates we need to turn our attention to as-yet undiscovered areas of abuse.
[blockquote]Dolan joked that he had crows instead of butterflies in his stomach at the prospect of taking over the New York archdiocese, which serves 2.5 million parishioners and is the nation’s second-largest diocese after Los Angeles.[/blockquote] I like what he had to say and he will be leading a diocese that is larger than TEC.
As long as the Vatican continues to hide and protect Cardinal Law; despite overwhelming evidence of his terrible leadership and knowledge of pedophile priests, I’m in complete agreement with deaconmark. Sadly, Cardinal Law isn’t the only one they’ve protected. There’s still much of the mess to clean up.
Perhaps some will never forgive the R.C. church for the pedophile priests and the cover ups that ensued. How much repentance and penance is enough? The R.C. church leadership did not fully understand initially that pedophiles are repeat offenders. This is not to make excuses for the church. The financial reparations have been huge. What has been harmed most for the Catholic Church is the moral witness of a great church. Once more, people will point to the church and say, The crusades, the Inquisition and now aiding and abetting sexual misconduct. If the church were a person, would we be more willing to forgive? It will be hard for the church to go on the offensive with the press continuing to remind folks of the past sins. How does the church regain its credibility in the eyes of the public? Satan goes after the church to destroy its witness. Ted Haggard a leader in the Evangelical church has lost his leadership and his witness. Let us all be careful in judging the Catholic church and folks like Ted Haggard that we don’t slip ourselves.
#9, Mark,
Like you, I’m not pleased w/ the Cardinal Law situation, but I’m not as convinced as you seem to be that we have all the facts.
What do you mean by “hide and protect”? Isn’t that what is done to prisoners — hiding them away and protecting them from inflicting further harm? Law was archbishop of one of the most powerful and influential archdioceses in the world. All of that has been taken away. I think I’m correct in saying that he no longer moves anyone around and that he’s under the watchful eye of his brother cardinals in Rome. Though his seems to be a gilded cage (and I do have problems w/ the fact that it appears to be gilded), it nonetheless looks to me like a cage. It also appears to be an exquisite punishment (worthy of Dante) for someone who was once so powerful to be placed in a position that has the trappings of power and influence but none of the substance.
The statement, “There’s still much of the mess to clean up†is vague and sweeping. Precisely what are you referring to? What is your evidence?
And why, again, is Dolan, who has been honest, being told he needs to be honest? The statement, “the individual speaks for the institution†(#5) is yet another sweeping generalization that amounts to nonsense and is taken seriously only in an atmosphere of anti-Catholic bigotry – which is far beneath the standard of this blog. But if those who make the statement actually mean it, Dolan’s forceful and honest statements mean the RC Church – the entire institution – has faced these grievous crimes and has taken concrete steps to do something about it. Not even I am willing to go quite that far just yet.