On air: Is the Catholic Church changing for the better?
| 14:12 UK time, Monday, 13 September 2010
The new head of Belgium's Catholic Church has promised to focus on victims of institutionalised abuse, in an attempt to rebuild trust.
It comes after a shocking investigation by an independent body found that alleged abuse had occured in every single diocese of the church over decades.
The Catholic Church has been heavily criticised over the years for its response to abuse allegations in , and . But with this new approach from the Belgian archbishop, should we give them some credit? Is the Catholic Church changing for the better?
Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard has said,
"We want to learn the lessons of the errors of the past. The reflections and conclusions contained in the report [on sexual abuse in the church] will be taken on board," he added.
argues that,
Like all powerful institutions, the church has little capacity to reform itself, but it can embrace pergation as an opportunity for change.... This recognition, gradually, will lead to a new mindset - a humbler, poorer, more penitent church, which hears the voice of the victims not after the rest of society, but long before it, as Christians should.
Is the Catholic Church finally accepting that protecting its clergy is not more important than hearing, and protecting victims of abuse? If so, what is driving that? Is it the Pope, the media, or the victims themselves?
