This author argues that a clerical stuctural order of secrecy has existed throughout the church and so no Vatican order was necessary to cover up the clergy sex abuse scandal. "An explicit Vatican policy that demanded secrecy in the sex abuse matters would be much easier to overturn than a culture which took it for granted."
"No ban may have been intended on denouncing the crimes to civil authorities, but neither was any explicit ban necessary. The denunciations never came. In Catholic terms, the church was structurally sinful."
Try if they like, inevitably the force for an assessment for examination, from inside and out, is only bound to grow. Without such a assessment, the church is likely to continue to implode as the once faithful walk and take their children and money with them. With an honest evaluation, leading to structural change and accountability, there is hope, that an instrument for preaching the light of the gospels will not perish from out lands.
