Heartbreaking comment from Tom Doyle on the current sex abuse crisis within the RCC. See The Progressive Catholic Voice for full interview.
Tom Doyle: To begin the process of restoration, I believe that the current pope needs to stand up and make a public apology. Not that those mistakes were made in the past – they always do in the past tense and there’s a subtle message there that this is in the past and not now. The pope should say: “I’m sorry for what I did in my negligence to allow this to happen. I’m sorry that I did not fire bishops when I knew they were covering up.”
But I don’t believe that will happen in my lifetime.
Rubén Rosario: Why?
Tom Doyle: Because to protect their own self-identity, they will cling to the premise that they are appointed by the Almighty and are the vicars of Christ and the essence of the church. They believe this will dissolve their power. It’s all about control, and it’s all about power.
Rubén Rosario: You spent a month counseling or meeting with scores of alleged clergy abuse victims in Ireland. How did that go?
Tom Doyle: Yes. I cannot put into words the anguish and the pain of what these men and some women went through. Once I gained their trust, I apologize. I tell them how sorry (I am that the church) covered up. And every time, without exception, many with tears in their eyes, they said to me: “You are the first one from the church who has ever said that to me.”
Rubén Rosario: So you apologize for a church that once you believed in but that has basically relegated you to outcast status?
Tom Doyle: Yes. But I do this because I know how important (a church apology) is to these people.
APOLOGIES FOR SEXUAL ABUSE?
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