Enough with the Excuses

I have not said much about the latest Catholic scandals because mainly they make me sad. But I am really getting irritated with the Vatican's defense of itself. The latest from Rome is a claim that the scandal about the sexual abuse of children is an "anti-catholic hate campaign" launched by proponents of abortion and same-sex marriage. I don't doubt that some liberals are gleeful about these events, but this kind of response continues the pattern of church behavior over the decades. When a child is sexually abused, we should all be thinking about the child. The leaders of the church give the impression that they care about everything but the child -- they care about the priest himself, which I personally find laudable, but even more they care about the reputation of the church and scandal that would erupt if these things became known. That, to me, is horrific. Defensiveness is unbecoming people who claim to be moral leaders. Consider this from the editor of a major Catholic publication, which Andrew Sullivan dug up:

Since when have secularists and dissenting Catholics been experts on the protection of children? These self-appointed reformers of the Catholic Church preside over a debased culture that abuses, aborts and corrupts children. That a reckless and depraved liberal elite would set itself up as moral tutor to Pope Benedict XVI is beyond satire. Here we had on display during Holy Week the spectacle of the Vicar of Christ receiving moral instruction from Barabbas. Who turns orphans over to homosexual couples at adoption agencies? Who sends Planned Parenthood propagandists into schools? Who clears the streets of major cities for "gay-pride" parades with the North American Man/Boy Love Association in tow? It is the liberal elite who champion these child-corrupting practices.

As a proud spokesman for the depraved liberal elite, I find this outrageous. The pope has every right to work for his political and moral agenda, but nobody with even a half open mind will hear these words anything but a desperate attempt to distract attention from the crimes of the church hierarchy. Sure, newspapers are reporting the story, but does anybody think that the abuse of thousands of children by priests is not news? On what basis could the news media avoid reporting the story? Yes, some liberals are gleefully calling churchmen hypocrites, but when you enter politics, you make enemies, and it is rather the nature of things that your enemies will celebrate your defeats. That is a pointless distraction from the real issue, which is what to do for the people who were abused, and how to prevent similar events from happening again. The experience in America has been that healing only begins after everything that was done has been exposed, and the church has recognized its sins and tried to atone for them. Cover-ups and defensiveness will only prolong the agony for everyone.