It can’t happen. It can’t happen. It happened.

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 30, 2018

In November 2003, Kim Lawton of PBS interviewed then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan about the American bishops’ response to the abuse scandal.

Lawton: Some groups fear the bishops’ energy and commitment may fade.

Archbishop Dolan: Can’t happen. Can’t happen. We never, never, Kim, want to go through what we’ve had to do. We just can’t do it. We can’t do it personally. I think we bishops will collapse if we ever have to go through this again. And we can’t, we just can’t, in justice, put our people through that again. So, I don’t think there’s danger of us forgetting.

So now, roughly 15 years later, why are we talking about the bishops’ failure to take action?

• Cardinal Dolan was wrong. There was a danger that the bishops would forget. They have an extraordinary facility for forgetting.
• The bishops haven’t forgotten, but they still don’t quite understand why everyone was so upset in 2003, so the new uproar this summer has caught them by surprise—again.
• The bishops haven’t forgotten, but they lack the ability and/or the determination to resolve it. The shepherds can’t guard the flock.
• The bishops haven’t forgotten, but they didn’t see a connection between the molestation of boys under 18 by ordinary priests and the molestation of young men (mostly) over 18 by an archbishop.
• The bishops haven’t forgotten, and they’re willing and able to take effective action, but as a group they’re so thoroughly out of touch that they were unaware of the McCarrick scandal even when scores of clerics, reporters, and ordinary lay Catholics were aware.

Now I have three questions:

1. Which, if any, of the above explanations would restore your confidence in the American bishops?
2. Which, if any, of the above explanations is an argument against multiple resignations?
3. Which, if any, of the above explanations is an argument against a Vatican visitation, an independent commission, or some other official investigation that could ask the right questions, demand candid answers, and assign responsibility?