Sins of omission

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Sep 01, 2004

The leaders of an American Catholic diocese are planning a special ceremony to express their repentance for sins of omission in leadership. "We want the church to be a healthy family, and we can’t be until we move past this," a diocesan spokesman told the local newspaper. "I believe acknowledging our sin in public shows we’re sincere and moving in the right direction.”

At this ceremony, Church officials will confess a failure to:

• protect boys from predatory priests
• instill the basic truths of the faith to children in religious-education programs
• curb liturgical abuse
• respond quickly and honestly to appeals from the laity.

If you've been reading Off the Record regularly, you don't even have to read the story to know that the correct answer is "none of the above." Having failed to address the obvious problems within the Church, diocesan officials are apologizing for their failure to address a social/political problem in society at large.

Oh, one more thing. The newspaper account tells us that for this special ceremony in Gary, Indiana, "the public is invited, but will not be allowed to speak." But will there be an opportunity to make financial contributions to the diocesan leadership? Let me guess.