The Vatican Still Doesn't Get It

One of the bright lights in the Irish Catholic Church scandal has been Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin (at left), who has been outspoken in demanding accountability and the resignation of bishops who abetted and covered up for sexual predator clergy. Now victims advocates are saying the Martin has been weakened after the recent gathering of Irish bishops at the Vatican. Or at least so reports the BBC. It seems that the fossilized leadership in Rome still doesn't get the fact that a few insincere apologies is not going to make the scandal go away or make people forget the moral bankruptcy that extends to most of the Church's senior hierarchy. This obstinate wrong headed thinking continues now even as the government in Germany is poised to demand that the Church honestly deal with the widening scandal in that nation. First some highlights from the BBC story:

*
The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, met groups representing survivors of clerical child sex abuse on Friday, after his return from Rome. They expressed anger that the church has not yet unequivocally accepted responsibility for covering up abuse.
*
Speaking after meeting with the archbishop on Friday, abuse survivor Marie Collins said she was in "despair" as he did not appear to be as strong in his approach to the issue as he had been before he left for Rome earlier this week. She also accused the Vatican of "clipping" Dr Martin's wings in relation to his response to the abuse, a claim which he denied.
*
Ms Collins said the two most important issues for her were "that the Murphy report conclusions are accepted - that there was a church cover-up and that it was a policy - and the second thing is that the Pope approves mandatory reporting to the civil authorities".
*
Maeve Lewis, director of the support group One in Four, said they were deeply disappointed the church had still not accepted full responsibility for mishandling the abuse.
*
Unfortunately, the Vatican still believe that we are living in the 12th century and that the Church is above the civil laws. Hopefully, the Church will get a much deserved slap down in Germany where one can only hope that the full force of the government's prosecutable powers will be utilized to hold the Church and individual prelates accountable. Here are highlights on developments in Germany from Deutsche Welle:
*
"I expect concrete information from the Catholic Church on measures taken for a complete clarification (of this matter)," German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger told newsmagazine Der Spiegel in an interview which will be published on Monday, February 22.
*
The minister called for an ombudsman to investigate the case, and proposed a meeting between representatives from Germany's 16 states, the church and victims of clerical sexual abuse.
*
Such a gathering would be "a good way to clear up the numerous abuse cases and to offer the opportunity to the Catholic Church to discuss voluntary compensation with victims," Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said.
*
The minister's comments come to a backdrop of a widening scandal involving allegations of sexual molestation at Catholic schools throughout Germany dating back to the 1960s. According to media reports, at least six schools were implicated in the claim.
*
Included are two former children's homes of the Catholic order the Salesians of Don Bosco in Berlin and the Bavarian town of Augsburg, as well as institutions run by Marists, Vincentians and Franciscans. The most prominent of these involves as many as 115 alleged cases of child abuse at a Berlin Jesuit school. The matter is currently under investigation. . . . An association of Catholic lay people, "We are the Church", has also called on bishops to come clean, and admit that cases that have come to light are not isolated.
*
While the Vatican and far too many members of the hierarchy act as if they either have no responsibility or that abuse of minors was some kind of droit de seigneur on the part of priests,
rank and file Catholics - both gay and straight are repulsed by the Church's callous attitude. More than crocodile tears is need to clean house within both the priesthood and the Church hierarchy.