Leon J. Podles :: DIALOGUE

Accusations of sexual abuse often provoke disbelief and comments “How could he have done such a thing? He done so many good things.”
Parishioners still leap to the defense of priests accused of abuse. In New York:

A Marine Park Catholic church dedicated its Christmas display to a priest accused of sex abuse, drawing outrage from one [...]

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The editor of America, Father James Martin, discusses the grandiosity of narcissists who are abusers. But his words also apply to their enablers:
In my experience, after the conviction or removal from office or ministry, those two qualities merge in the person with terrible consequences. And these consequences make it far more difficult for the institution [...]

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Rick asks the fundamental questions.

What intrinsic deterrents did the abusers overcome to begin their sordid behaviors? What spiritual blindness did the bishop have to see this a clinical problem? These are the core questions. They are both spiritual. Enforcement both internal and external to the Church are certainly factors, but essentially they are not intrinsic. [...]

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While I suspect that many priest sexual abusers and even some bishops may be true, congenital psychopaths with a different brain structure than the average person, most of their failure to feel the pain and damage that abuse was causing victims was brought about by the culture of clerical narcissism, Priests considered themselves other Christs, [...]

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Is there a school at the Vatican where priests and bishops are taught how to offend everyone? 
The NYT reports that the papal preacher, the Franciscan Cantalamessa, compared criticism of the hierarchy to anti-Semitic persecution: 

A senior Vatican priest speaking at a Good Friday service compared the uproar over sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church — which have [...]

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As someone suggested in the comments, it might be better from a moral point of view to have the priest and the people facing the same way. 
I think that main problem with having the priest face the people is that it feeds narcissism to be aware that all eyes are on you, and too many [...]

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Archbishop Rembert Weakland was one of the more loathsome bishops who shuffled abusive priests from one parish to another without warning anyone. The history and details are at BishopAccountability and videos of his depositions can be seen here, here, here, and here.
In his 1994 interview with the Milwaukee Journal, the archbishop was more effusive and [...]

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Benedict, when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, eyed the cult of personality in the Catholic Church (including the cult surrounding John Paul II) with a hairy eyeball. He did not want a cult of personality when he became Pope, and his sometimes unconsidered remarks and actions have guaranteed that there is no cult of personality [...]

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My daughter, a painter who has fled Florida for a northern art school, is visiting us in Naples and noticed the progress of the arts in the town of Ave Maria, Florida. The Naples Daily News reports:
The Ave Maria Gallery and History Exhibit has opened in La Piazza, the town center of Ave Maria, a [...]

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The Vatican and the Legion of Christ have decided to maintain a discrete silence about Maciel. Perhaps a further statement will be forthcoming, as promised, or perhaps the Vatican and the Legion count on the short attention span of the public.

The Legion has admitted that Maciel fathered a child in his old age and was [...]

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On the West Coast a new college chapel:
Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, Thomas Aquinas College, Ojai, California. Architect: Professor Duncan Stroik, School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame. Cost $22 million.

On the East Coast, a new university oratory
Oratory, Ave Maria College, Ave Maria, Collier County, Florida. Architect: Thomas Monaghan, founder [...]

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Like many abusers, Maciel was very charismatic and had many achievements.

Maciel targeted the wealthy, but he also used their money to also help the poor. One report about Maciel’s home town:

The Legion, according to religious observers, was founded with practically nothing in 1941, but flourished as Maciel courted the wealthy — a group that was [...]

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There is, entirely understandably, a lot of bitterness about Maciel.

The problem is not in understanding a scoundrel (history is full of them) but in understanding his enablers.

The Vatican and John Paul II are among the most culpable, in approving constitutions that focus far too much on the personality of the founder, and [...]

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