Bishop Daniel Conlon assesses it right:
Our credibility on the subject of child abuse is shredded.
The good news is that the bishops can only move up in estimation.
I found it interesting that Bishop Conlon conceded that his “close friends,” upon hearing him opine about “an entirely different spirit of openness and
accountability” greeted the sentiments with a big thumbs down. How did he put it? “(A)lmost hostile.” That’s at a dinner, mind you. Among friends. You can imagine what victims, parents of victims, and churched people who attend training and awareness sessions might say if a bishop stumbled across our path in, say, an airport. Then think of the non-believers who have damned all of us Catholics because of the actions of some priests and the inaction of our bishops.
Bishop Conlon seems to have had an epiphany.
You may have a better chance. People — in the church, outside the church, and hanging on the edge — need to know that real progress is being made.
It’s true. Bishop Finn was supposed to go to trial two weeks from Monday. Then it was moved up to yesterday, with a verdict expected today. I really feel for that guy. That recent kerfuffle over what he said or didn’t say to a diocesan employee. Well, it will all get sorted out by a judge. I guess we’ll know in a few hours if we’ll need new fabric for a bishop’s wardrobe or not.
Catholic Sensibility 