Peggy Noonan wrote in her column last week about the Pope’s statement on the sex abuse scandals:
So, the pontiff said that the priests who have abused and seduced teenage boys and adolescents had given in to the most grievous forms of “the mystery of evil.” He did not call the guilty priests only disturbed or in need of therapy; he said they had done evil and betrayed God’s gift to them, the gift of the priesthood.
Like all psychological problems, sexual abuse is complex but to say that the offending priests have given in to the “mystery of evil” indicates that the Pope thinks the Church isn’t part of the systemic nature of the problem. He needs to say something to the effect that “We, as a church, are part of this problem and we must act quickly and decisively to rectify it. Here’s our plan.” But maybe when you’re supposedly infallible on the big stuff, it’s hard to acknowledge that you’ve botched things on other matters.
New York City’s Cardinal Egan doesn’t get it, either. In yesterday’s sermon, he vowed that “This evil will be stamped out with all the fervor of the Lord and the Lord’s people” as if he’s not contributed to the problem.
These guys really DO remind me of the Enron execs.