Gerry and Colleen look into some new developments in the stories surrounding the U.S. bishops' delay of the vote on new sex abuse protocols. They also discuss Pope Francis’ recent initiatives to make “invisible people visible.”
“It is my hope that through the publication of this information, we can work to rebuild trust, always with the well-being of victims in mind,” said Father Ronald A. Mercier.
The tragedy of the last week is that the faithful are left to read tea leaves to understand what their bishops and their pope are trying to do in the first place. The Vatican’s action, which in the past could have been interpreted and explained over time, instead provokes a crisis of faith in church leadership.
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said in remarks closing the assembly that his hope was primarily grounded in Christ as well as realizing that the body of bishops was on the road to implementing protocols to boost the accountability of bishops to laypeople and survivors of clergy sex abuse.
America’s Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell has some ideas about the reasons behind the controversial, 11th-hour intervention from Rome at the U.S. bishops’ November meeting.