no other public institution

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 14, 2009

In conversation with John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter, Archbishop Wilton Gregory looks back on those halcyon days when he was president of the US bishops' conference, and that weighty body was coping so successfully with the sex-abuse scandal: 

I think that the bishops of the United States have taken bold steps. I don’t think there is another public institution in the world that has taken the public steps that the church in the United States has.

True. No other public institution has handed over $3 billion to settle lawsuits brought by sex-abuse victims. No other public institution has seen its leaders profess to espouse a policy of open disclosure and accountability, while fighting against exposure of relevant documents and shirking responsibility for decisions. No other public institution has failed to remove the leaders whose policies brought on a decade of disgrace.  

(Just by the way: Is the Church a "public institution?")

The "Dallas Charter," approved on Archbishop Gregory's watch, called for the removal of any priest credibly accused of sexual misconduct. The current president of the US bishops' conference, we now know, kept a priest in place long after he was credibly accused of sexual misconduct. That priest was ordained, despite accusations of misconduct during his seminary days, in large part because he was championed by a senior cleric who is now the vice-president of the bishops' conference, and heir apparent to the presidency.

No other public institution...