Can Rome claw back any moral authority?

It is going to take more than a few Criminal Records Bureau checks and public groveling to rebuild a 1500 year old reputation. It will require painful reform of its institutional arrangements in all areas of the priesthood (beyond that of its relationship with young people). But Catholicism has survived because of its flexibility to change. Despite its ecclesiastical commitment that history and tradition fix current church structures, it is its core values (forgiveness and redemption) and its use of symbols (the death of sin and the resurrection of new life) that will ultimately force it to change in the ways it needs too. If it can bounce back from Inquisitors, Conquistadors, and appeasing fascist dictators, it can bounce back from this too.

But the Pope must do more to articulate a moral vision and set an example. He can start by acknowledging (what every major newspaper has called for) that the actions of some of its priests were not simply sinful, but criminal. Whilst for those within the church, the accusation of sin carries the eternal significance of divine judgement, to those outside it is no more than an abstract value proposition that has no material consequences on the “sinner.” If the church wants to rebuild its role as a major care giver to the most vulnerable in society, it must not simply worry about the judgement of God, but the judgement of society as well.

The Catholic Church has always been at its best when it is at its most humble (as Christ in fact teaches!). It is capable of as much grace and service as poison and ugliness. Quite possibly we shall see something beautiful eventually emerge from this mire. I can’t see it yet, but I am looking expectantly...