May 22, 2004
Column #1,186
Catholic Bishops Acquiesce To Lay Leaders
Catholic bishops have rarely, if ever, been forced to
yield to other leaders, an experience common to us all, whether
we're a employee with a boss, or a governor facing voters, or a corporate
president and his board of directors.
On Monday, however, the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops reluctantly yielded to the National Review Board that the bishops
created in the wake of the priest sex abuse scandal.
Only a week earlier, the bishops were accused by NRB's
Chair, Justice Anne Burke of the Illinois Court of Appeals, of being
"manipulated" by the bishops as a public relations cover.
In March, the NRB of distinguished Catholic lay
leaders, released the results of audits conducted in every diocese,
revealing that 4,392 priests had sexually abused 10,667 children. The NRB criticized bishops who "all too often treated victims of clerical sexual
abuse as adversaries and threats to the well-being of the Church, not as
injured parishioners in need of healing." But NRB praised the bishops for
allowing an annual audit on the issue.
However, on Feb. 2, New York Cardinal Egan wrote to the
Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the Catholic bishops, that New York
bishops did not want another audit until it has been agreed to by all of the
bishops at a November meeting. Dozens of bishops did the same.
Bishop Gregory did not tell the NRB about those
requests before the Feb. 27 meeting at which the results of the first audit
were given to the press. But in March he told the NRB that the second round
of audits would be delayed until approved by bishops in November.
Justice Burke responded with a livid letter to Gregory:
"It is hard to reach any other
conclusion than that the failure to tell the NRB of these matters in a
timely fashion was to make sure that they did not come up in any discussions
with the national media on Feb. 27. In short , we were manipulated...We are
very disheartened by this apparent decision to go back to `business as
usual.' To place everything on hold for eight months will undoubtedly have
adverse repercussions.
"Those who said that the bishops were never serious
about breaking free from the sins, crimes and bad judgments of the past will
be vindicated. A decision to backslide...will reopen the wounds of
deception, manipulation and control - all the false ideals that produced
this scandal."
Her letter, which was edited and approved by the entire
Review Board, said people of faith were willing to give bishops the benefit
of doubt because they appeared to have turned a corner. "It would be
shameful if we were now to discover that we were wrong about the commitment
of our bishops."
Her letter and others from Cardinal Egan and others who
wanted to put on the brakes, were published by the National Catholic
Reporter.
That "jolted" the Catholic bishops, Justice Burke told
me. Bishop Gregory and his top committee met in a
teleconference on Monday with Justice Burke and several other NRB members. NRB told the bishops their delay "would render us immobile."
Faced with a revolt of such Catholics as Bob Bennett,
President Clinton's attorney in the Lewinsky affair and Norman Panetta,
Clinton's Chief of Staff, the bishops backed down.
They pledged to discuss the matter in June rather
than waiting till November, which
allows the 2004 audits to take place this summer, as scheduled.
The entire incident reminded me of the bishop's clash
with the first NRB Chairman, Frank Keating, former Governor of Oklahoma.
When all of California's bishops, led by Cardinal Mahoney, refused to
acquiesce to the audits, Gov. Keating said they were acting like the Mafia.
Mahoney forced Keating to resign. This year,
however, Cardinal Mahoney was quite willing to have the auditors, former FBI
agents, come and take a look his handling of the scandal. Why? He wants to look cooperative as he handles 500 civil suits and a Grand Jury.
These princes of the Church are discovering what the
rest of us have known all along, that everyone's power is limited and we are
all subject to authority.
It might teach them some humility. However, don't
expect any to resign, which many should do, since they moved pedophile
priests from one parish to another.
However, Catholics can rejoice that the big boys have
egg on their face.
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