OPPORTUNITY SHUNNED

by RAY FLEMING
ON Easter Sunday in Rome's St Peter's Square the Pope speaks by television to one of the biggest global audiences imaginable. Why, therefore, did Pope Benedict on this Sunday not show in his Urbi et orbi message even the slightest sign of concern or regret over the child-abuse scandal which is in danger of engulfing the Roman Catholic Church? His silence inevitably makes him seem to be either oblivious to the crisis or in denial of it. It is possible that he feels his recent unprecedented letter of apology to the Irish Church should be sufficient for the rest of the world but he must know that the Archbishop of Dublin has described the overall response of the Vatican to be “hopelessly inadequate”. In fact, it has been worse than “inadequate” -- it has been counterproductive. On Sunday Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, broke with precedent to dismiss criticism of the Pope's handling of the crisis as “the petty gossip of the moment”. The Pope himself has taken a similar line, speaking of the “chatter of prevailing opinions”. One does not have to be a Catholic, or indeed to profess any religion, to regret the inability of the Pope and his advisers to recognise the genuine concern of millions of people who see the Roman Catholic Church -- a formidable force for good in the world -- inflicting this damage on itself.