What you do, do clearly

The Churchmen were accompanied by the high hopes of most Catholics, who saw the gathering as a chance to begin to correct a worsening situation. Wise observers did not expect instant solutions because important things often take time to resolve: The U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks did not happen overnight and continues eight months later; and labor negotiations can go on for months, sometimes years, before contracts are agreed to.

In the wake of the Vatican meeting, the problem is not that the participants have still more work to do; the problem is that they failed to make clear what work they did:

* After press reports indicated prior to the meeting that the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston would at least be discussed, the Churchmen said it never came up, leading to the natural rejoinder: "Why not?" Self-confessed as the cause of the need for the Vatican meeting due to his mishandling of abuse cases, Cardinal Law and his future certainly should have been topics.

* Many of the Churchmen failed to appear at the final press conference. They said they had other appointments, but it is difficult to imagine what could have been more pressing than telling their followers where they are leading us.

* Rather than clarifying the meetings, the closing statement clouded the issue even more through the misguided use of canonical vocabulary like "notorious" (see page 3), a word choice one observer called "idiotic."

The U.S. bishops are scheduled to meet in June to deal with this subject once and for all. What they decide will probably be complex because the issue is complex, but their decision must be communicated in plain English. If not, the situation they seek to heal will worsen.

(05-02-02)