Robert George's all-or-nothing take on the abuse crisis is wrong-headed

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/distinctly-catholic/robert-georges-all-or-nothing-take-abuse-crisis-wrong-headed.
MGB: I wish we could ignore Robbie George and First Things, but I guess that is impossible, even though he offers no new ideas.  We tried as a Church to enforce fidelity. St. Pius had a whole network of spies who assured that bishops and universities were loyal. That mess may have been what lead to the Second Vatican Council, where all of those measures were junked.  No pass. If you want different behavior, we need changes in structure, not attitude.

The days of Medieval Lord Bishops should have been over a century ago. Even the Church recognizes the need to set up 501(c)(3)s for some purposes. We need many more - like each parish and diocesan organization, both controlled by laity through elected lay deacons (few vows) or by direct democracy. Indeed, for many things, the era of democracy needs to replace the era of hierarchy. Of course, the good people of southern Illinois might still elect Paprocky. They roll that way.

 Dolan could never survive in New York if the people elected bishops unless he changed his roll. His pronouncements on sex come from his own obvious asexuality.  Such a rare sexual orientation should not be making rules for what they are psychologically unable to understand. He has an likely will protect other asexuals, as have many bishops. The bad old days of this being common have passed. If priests are still abusing minors, they are not getting caught.

This debate is almost entirely reactive to ancient history. The cause of the lingering crisis was not fidelity, it was listening to the lawyers who told the bishops how to protect the Church rather than improve the Church. Like the concept of giving more money to families through the tax system, more democracy is a concept that is good on its own, even if it has the added benefits of reducing abortion.

Unless we wish to change structures, the current spasm of publicity is entirely unhelpful (except for the Pennsylvania prosecutor who thought empaneling a grand jury on old cases was a good idea). As to the example, priests should not be in bars where someone will pick them up or they will pick someone else up, even if we let them be openly gay and be married or female. There is a line between fidelity and not being stupid. Stupid people should not be priests or bishops, which eliminates Paprocky from the priesthood.

On divorce, it was almost easy for men. The innovation is that women are now allowed the same ease. That is not a crisis, except for men who want them to return to their subservience.  Not a chance.