Vatican and US bishops diverge on sex abuse lawsuits [John Allen]

[Catholic_Press]

Analysis

Differing Roman and American sensibilities have long been part of the drama of the Catholic sexual abuse crisis, and perhaps nowhere is that divergence more glaring than in the diametrically opposed strategies the two parties have embraced when slapped with civil lawsuits in American courts.

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[Corki]

While I usually respect John Allen as one of the only sane writers at NCR, he is missing the big picture here.

From the article

In addition, many bishops felt it was pastorally important to avoid prolonged adversarial proceedings with victims and the bad PR such cases inevitably generate.

The Vatican has nothing to gain pastorally by caving to these suits. This is completely different than the reality the Bishops face.

Also, the Vatican is not ignorant of the huge international impact its position makes. The Bishops don’t have to worry about that.

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

If people want to take Catholic dioceses to court, and go ahead and do so, what obligation do those who administer a diocese have to do other than play by the rules of the game that has been thrust upon them? None that I can see.

Throughout North America, we have not been well served by administrations that have been overly concerned about PR. In the words of Blessed Mother Theresa, we were put here to be faithful, not popular.

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[OriginalJS]

I think the article is good. It is interesting that various commentators attack American lawyers representing plaintiffs for the tactics they use, but the same commentators have no complaints about the Vatican’s American lawyers using all legal tactics available to them. For me, it is like two sharks fighting in a pool. It will be interesting to see which wins, but I don’t have much sympathy for either legal team. The victims get overlooked in it all.

 

[Digitonomy]

The Vatican has nothing to gain pastorally by caving to these suits. This is completely different than the reality the Bishops face.

I don’t see how you can say that. The Vatican would gain a lot pastorally if people in the US started seeing the actions of the Holy Father on their own merits, rather than this news being often overshadowed by the commotion of various lawsuits still underway. The price to make these suits go away may be too high, but if it were possible the pastoral benefit would be real.

 

[wisdomseeker]

That is what happens when people take what belongs to God and keep for themselves.

i remember hearing in the RCIA class the priest saying the reason the Catholic Churches were being built so poorly was because they wanted to save money.

well, where is the money going now?

we no longer talk about God’s Justice. to me this is a punishment from God, and no one cant tell me otherwise.

 

[Corki]

I don’t see how you can say that. The Vatican would gain a lot pastorally if people in the US started seeing the actions of the Holy Father on their own merits, rather than this news being often overshadowed by the commotion of various lawsuits still underway. The price to make these suits go away may be too high, but if it were possible the pastoral benefit would be real.

You are purposely misinterpreting what I said. Pastors and Bishops are responsible for the* individual care *of the souls in their charge. That is a pastoral responsibility. The Vatican is not. The Vatican’s pastoral responsibility is not based on individual relationships with individual Catholics. It’s charge is for the good of the whole Church. What you are referring to is a “feel good,” PR, benefit. The Vatican is not in that role and shouldn’t be.

 

[Digitonomy]

You are purposely misinterpreting what I said. Pastors and Bishops are responsible for the* individual care *of the souls in their charge. That is a pastoral responsibility. The Vatican is not. The Vatican’s pastoral responsibility is not based on individual relationships with individual Catholics. It’s charge is for the good of the whole Church.

I think I see what you are saying: there is no individual pastoral benefit for the Vatican in caving to these suits, since individual pastoral care is not really its responsibility. That’s fair enough.

However, I think it’s a false dichotomy to suggest that the Vatican has the responsibility for the big picture while the bishops are only responsible for individual pastoral care. I know you didn’t say that, but it seems to be the tack your argument is taking. A big part of the pastoral responsibility of the bishops is to keep the diocese healthy by addressing PR problems like these lawsuits that make the faithful feel more negatively about the Church, that make them less likely to attend mass and participate in the sacraments and life of the Church, less likely to contribute their time, money, and resources to their parish and other Church projects, less likely to evangelize to their friends, neighbors, relatives.

Bishops handle this particular aspect of the job not usually by meeting with individual Catholics to encourage them and answer doubts they may have. Instead, the approach is usually on a larger scale, whether in letters to be read during mass, or by addressing issues through diocesan and secular media. Interestingly, this approach is similar to that used by the Vatican, because the broad pastoral care of large numbers of Catholics is a responsibility shared by both levels of the heirarchy.

Corki:

What you are referring to is a “feel good,” PR, benefit. The Vatican is not in that role and shouldn’t be.

I think I disagree with you, but I’m not entirely sure what you mean. I’ll make the extreme case and say I don’t believe the Vatican distinguishes between PR efforts that feel good and other types, and only practices the second.