{"id":1196,"date":"2020-08-31T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1196"},"modified":"2023-11-11T18:11:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T23:11:28","slug":"part-2-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laydob.com\/?p=1196","title":{"rendered":"How laity can step up their response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Diocese of Buffalo PART TWO: Accountability is a fundamental expectation."},"content":{"rendered":"

An institutional sexual abuse crisis of this magnitude in the Diocese of Buffalo demands that every piece of the apparatus be examined and reconsidered. <\/em><\/span><\/span>Laypeople who agree to the enormous responsibility of advisory roles for our bishops are not exempt from scrutiny. <\/strong><\/span><\/span>This series of posts examines our diocesan lay advisory groups through the\u00a0lens of a\u00a0particularly egregious clergy sex abuse case the diocese tried to cover up for 14 years. These lay groups are the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Bishop’s Council of the Laity and the\u00a0organizing committee\u00a0of The\u00a0Movement\u00a0to Restore Trust. We may not be able to change clergy or\u00a0hierarchy, but we can change ourselves and the lay groups who advise our bishops on our behalf. <\/i><\/span>This series of posts offers rationale and principles for establishing effective reform of laity’s response to this crisis.<\/i><\/p>\n

Listen to PART TWO\u00a0<\/span>Audio read by the author.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Click Here<\/a><\/span> to access audio or footnote features <\/span>through Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Upon hearing details about an abuse case the diocese tried to cover for 14 years, a state sex offender investigator for the Attorney General expressed shock and\u00a0abhorrence. Upon hearing the same details, a huge segment of our diocesan lay advisers to the bishop responded with\u00a0peevish silence.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Surely we can all agree that clergy, especially those who agree to take on responsibility as diocesan officials, must be above reproach and demonstrate unassailable moral and professional conduct.\u00a0After all, they reflect the person of Christ in all that they say and do, including how they conduct the affairs of the Church.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0Not holding them accountable for their decisions and actions would certainly be a doomed strategy to instill trust in the diocese, not to mention maintain the integrity of its operation.\u00a0<\/strong>If we do not have faith in the integrity of people within the system, how can we have faith in the system itself and what it produces? And if credibly-accused bad actors are not handled appropriately and responsibly, the entire standard of operation is called into question.<\/p>\n

Let’s examine this idea of accountability through the lens of one case.<\/p>\n

THIS.<\/p>\n