At last: one bishop holds another accountable

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 16, 2013

This is unprecedented—a giant step forward in the Church’s response to the sex-abuse crisis!

For more than a decade we’ve been learning about the failings of Catholic bishops. In some cases the prelates were guilty of personal misconduct; in other case they were only guilty of covering up the misconduct of others. (But a cover-up is a form of misconduct, too; isn’t it?) How many bishops have resigned in disgrace? I’ve lost count.

But until now, I have never heard an incoming bishop say anything critical about the man he replaced. Even when the outgoing prelate’s misconduct was a matter of public record, his newly appointed replacement has typically made a point of saying something kind about his predecessor’s ministry—or, at worst, saying nothing at all. So the polite fiction has been maintained that sexual abuse is something that "just happened," and the bishops who presided over a pastoral catastrophe have escaped accountability.

Now at last, an archbishop-elect in Scotland has frankly acknowledged the truth: that his predecessor’s leadership harmed the Church. Archbishop-elect Leo Cushley did not elaborate on the problems caused by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, which are already well documented. But he did say that the cardinal’s presence in Scotland would not be helpful to the Church. The incoming archbishop recognized that his predecessor was, and is, a problem. Recognizing the nature of the problem is a key step toward a solution.

As I’ve been saying for years, the sexual abuse of children was only one aspect of the crisis that has shaken the Church. The other aspect, equally damaging, was the complicity of bishops. The Catholic hierarchy has often acknowledged the former, but not the latter. Until now.