A Clergy Ill-Prepared to Deal With Scandal

"Let me suggest a Lenten exercise that may help our church's leaders appreciate the magnitude of feeling of those whose children have been abused and the public outrage over the failure of accountability. Let Cardinal Law contact the mothers and fathers of the victims. Let him speak to them face to face, as an equal, not as a pastor. He should not defend the actions of the archdiocese as a litigant; his lawyers can do that. Instead, he should meet these families, in their own homes and in groups small enough for conversation, to learn how others see what he has done and failed to do."