In Theory: Can the Catholic Church restore its image?

As a member of the clergy who has spent a great deal of time in dialogue and shared action with those in the interfaith community, I know that it is ill-advised to make judgments about those in other religious groups. And I have known a great many people of compassion and integrity within the Catholic Church. But in the case of the church’s protection of sexually abusive priests, the revelations of cover-ups and payoffs speak for themselves.

There is no justification that I can imagine for the heinous acts of pedophilia by supposed men of God. The lives of thousands of victims have been decimated by the actions of these errant priests. And while I do not want to stereotype all members of the Roman Catholic priesthood as responsible for the misdeeds their colleagues, there is a great deal of damage that has been done to innocent victims, and huge reparations that are due. Nor will any amount of money be able to make things truly right, although the church bears responsibility for providing restorative justice in whatever form is possible.

So what can the Roman Catholic Church do to restore its image in the world? They cannot change the past. The horror of what has been done is irrevocable. But the hierarchical leaders can be as transparent as possible in the present and stop trying to justify their past actions with stories contrived to protect themselves and the sexual transgressors in their ranks. In addition, they must develop safeguards so that such acts of abuse are strongly dealt with and perpetrators are not allowed to continue their unlawful behavior under the protection of the church. In short, they can never let such a widespread atrocity happen again.

It will take many years for the reputation of the Roman Catholic Church to be restored. But my hope is that they will do everything that is necessary to make things right for those who have suffered needlessly, and to show true repentance for their actions. Only then will they be acting in the ways that their faith demands.

The Rev. Dr. Betty Stapleford
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills
La Crescenta

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The first thing it must do is acknowledge that it has done wrong. And then it must ask for forgiveness from all those it has sinned against, and that’s a lot of people.