Vatican Reaction to Abuse Lawsuit Instructive

The reaction to the soon to be dismissed lawsuit against the Vatican was very instructive as to how the Vatican and Church officials view the sex abuse crisis. Yesterday, we heard from the Vatican’s chief spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi and the Vatican’s US lawyer Jeffrey Lena. We also heard from the Catholic League’s rabble rousing, pugnacious Bill Donohue. Interestingly, none of them feigned interest in the welfare of those who’ve been victimized by the sexual abuse of priests. Not one of them mentioned the human tragedy behind the lawsuits. Not one of these religious men seemed to care how their reaction would further hurt and alienate survivors of sexual abuse. Let’s take a look back and review what we heard from these men yesterday- Jeffrey Lena: the lawsuit always “lacked merit. The theory crafted by the plaintiffs’ lawyers six years ago misled the American public.” Fr. Lombardi called the voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit “good news”. How can the cover-up and secrecy surrounding child rape be termed “good news”? Finally, in a statement devoid of any grace or class, Catholic League bloviator released a statement which in part noted, “That’s right—once they got their check, they cashed out.” Donohue was referring to the survivors of sexual abuse. In another part of his remarks he refers to some abuse as “trivial”.
If the Bishops were smart, they’d distance themselves from Donohue and call for a public apology to the survivors of sexual abuse. Donohue, in his outlandish attempt at protecting the institution of the church, has boorishly stepped outside the bounds of propriety and decent behavior.