Pope On The Ropes

Meditate, Then Act

By Eugene Robinson - Washington Post, Friday, April 2, 2010

At its holiest time of the year, the Roman Catholic Church is being forced to confront not only the central mystery of the faith -- life after death -- but also a more worldly riddle: What did the Holy Father know, and when did he know it?

Questions about whether Pope Benedict XVI was personally involved, as he rose through the church hierarchy, in sweeping under the rug incidents of sexual abuse by parish priests have put the Vatican on the defensive. A top legal official of the Holy See even felt obliged to argue, in an interview with the Rome newspaper Corriere della Sera, that the Vatican is not legally responsible for any failure by individual bishops to properly handle reports of abuse -- and that, in any event, Benedict is a head of state and beyond the jurisdiction of any foreign court.

A spokesman said that Benedict sees the sex scandal as a "test for him and the church" and is spending Holy Week in "humility and penitence." Another official, Cardinal William Levada, took a much more aggressive approach, releasing a lengthy statement attacking newspaper stories that have sought to investigate Benedict's role. Levada, who is prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- essentially the Vatican's chief enforcer on matters of faith, a post Benedict held for more than 20 years before becoming pope -- singled out the New York Times' reporting as "deficient by any reasonable standards of fairness."

Easter is a time for Benedict, as the spiritual leader of a billion people, to meditate and reflect. Then he must act. It is time for the pope to be comprehensively honest and open about the tragic failure of the church to prevent or punish horrific sexual abuse -- including his own errors -- and he must credibly assure the faithful that such crimes will never be allowed to happen again. Even more urgently, molesters still serving as priests must be defrocked and reported to civilian authorities.

Penance is a sacrament. It is not optional.

Amen.