Reality Check for the Vatican: PR is not the Problem, No Defense for the Indefensible

Reality Check for the Vatican: PR is not the Problem, Catholics, Speak Up and Take Action to Reform the Church
by Bridget Mary Meehan

No Public Relations team, certainly not the U.S. bishops, many of whom were involved in shuffling pedophlies around from parish to parish, can remove the stench of corruption of Vaticangate in the current global sex abuse crisis that is rocking the Catholic Church. The more we learn, the more we realize that children are the victims of heinous crimes, and that this is certainly not a holocaust against the hierarchy, but rather, a systemic failure to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ.("Vatican's lack of tactics frustrate some in the U.S." by Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, April 11, 2010)

Lisa Miller is right on when she writes:"The cause of the Catholic clergy's sex-abuse scandal is no mystery: insular groups of men often do bad things. So why not break up the all-male club?" (Newsweek: "A Woman's Place is in the Church")

In the midst of the male-inflicted chaos, Roman Catholic Womenpriests bring hope as we lead the way to a renewed priestly ministry in our church. We serve in grassroots inclusive communities united with the people we minister with and directly accountable to them. There is no hiearachy and we affirm the Spirit of God dwelling in the people of God. Many of our womenpriests are mothers and grandmothers, others are women and men living in relationships in the real world, not cut off or isolated from the ordinary and sacred struggles of life. (www.romancatholcwomenpriests.org)

In my view children are not "collateral damage" of institutional power and must not ever be sacrificed on the altar to "save" holy Mother Church. No Public Relations spinning can ever justify crimes against anyone.

In one example, cited in recent news coverage, of the downward spiral that is gutting the moral authority of the institutional church, Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a letter to the bishop of the Oakland Diocese urging him to reflect on the "good of the universal church" before proceeding with the defrocking of Fr.Stephen Kiesle, a pedophile who had molested two boys, tying them up in a parish rectory. (AP article)

Reality Check for the Vatican, PR is not the Problem, there is no defense for the global sex abuse of children and youth. Catholics must hold the pope and bishops accountable. Cry out as if you had a million voices, it is silence that kills the world," said St. Catherine of Siena, a courageous reformer who lived from 1347-1380, at a time of grave scandal when three men, each claiming to be the pope, shook the church to its foundation. Like St. Catherine, we, the people of God, need to speak truth and take action to reform the church. Forget PR spin to defend the pope, let's renew the Catholc Church that we love!