Bungling of abuse scandal weakens the Church’s voice
Churches, especially at the denominational level, encounter the same types of public relations challenges that any large organization faces. Public accountability, building trust with customers (primarily the people in the pews and those they are trying to reach with the gospel) and developing and protecting a "brand" that is appealing and respected—these are all things that matter whether you're a church selling salvation, a government pitching re-election or a company selling widgets.
Inevitably, large organizations like church denominations also represent targets for media scrutiny. It's a given that the larger the organization, the more potential there is for scandals to be dug up simply because such organizations have a lot of people in positions of trust. Human beings are notoriously susceptible to unethical behaviour, and any good reporter will find lots of potential for uncovering bad behaviour in a church, a government ministry or a corporate boardroom.
In watching the almost daily barrage of revelations concerning the Roman Catholic Church's latest sex scandal (this time involving child abuse by priests), it's evident that church groups are among the very worst when it comes to public relations and handling a crisis. First, the Catholic Church leadership tried to bury the story. When that didn't work, it tried to dismiss it as a tempest in a teapot. When that failed, it blamed the media for creating controversy (always a bad idea no matter how credible the accusation because the media always gets the last word). When church leaders finally tried to apologize, they were dismissed by angry victims and sceptical media.
Sex scandals are not confined to the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant churches have seen their fair share of such failings, as have other faith groups. And while government and corporate leaders also fall to such controversies, it seems that when it comes to faith groups, media rightly reserve a special kind of venom for abusive clerics.
One of the reasons why churches are such an easy target for media scrutiny is because, unlike governmental and corporate groups who hire high-priced consultants to "control the message," church leaders (or their own PR advisers) seem unable to strategically plan their way out of PR nightmares.
Having been drawn and quartered across the world for its terrible job of handling the child abuse scandal, the Vatican did not plan a strategic retreat and lick its wounds. Incredibly, the Vatican's second-in-command, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, actually tried to blame homosexuality for the child abuse. Whether or not persons with same-sex attractions are predisposed to predatory behaviour (a view disputed even by many Catholic social workers) is a question for scientific debate, and should not be used as an excuse for the sick actions of priests.
But the real tragedy in opting for this public relations tactic is that while the Church's core group of believers—loyal, conservative Catholics—may agree with the view, moderate and liberal Catholics won't. Indeed, no one but die-hard Catholics can ever accept that the Catholic Church leadership sought to deflect controversy by trying to victimize another group—homosexuals—to justify the sick conduct of its own priests, many of whom were protected by a Church hierarchy that will not address what is obviously a serious problem within its own ranks.
Because of the Roman Catholic Church's poor handling of the sex abuse issue, its voice is further diminished and discredited. Evidence of this was apparent by the response to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' recent attempt to wade into the Omar Khadr affair. The bishops' call for the Toronto-born Guantanamo captive's repatriation was largely dismissed, not only by the federal government, but also by media who either ignored the bishops or reported it in a predictably dismissive fashion.
Why should anyone care what the bishops say about a child (Khadr was 15 when he is alleged to have thrown a grenade that fatally wounded an American soldier in Afghanistan)? If the Church is not credible when it comes to its own child abuse problems, why would anyone give the bishops the time of day when they speak out about a confused teen's rights as a Canadian citizen?
Churches must have a role when it comes to protecting children from any kind of abuse. They are charged with speaking out for the most vulnerable. But that role must be earned, especially in a post-Christian society. That is something the Roman Catholic Church and many other Christian denominations don't seem to get. Churches need to be accountable, regain the lost trust that church scandals have eroded over the years and develop a "brand" that is the face of Jesus, not old men in clerical robes.
Read more ChristianWeek coverage of this issue at here.
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