{"id":1849,"date":"2002-04-20T12:16:06","date_gmt":"2002-04-20T17:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=1849"},"modified":"2002-04-20T12:16:06","modified_gmt":"2002-04-20T17:16:06","slug":"cardinal_apolog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/04\/20\/cardinal_apolog.html","title":{"rendered":"Cardinal apologizes … kinda"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s become an old standard to issue a formal “if” apology<\/a>. You know … “Well, if <\/i>I did something wrong, I’m sorry.” Having, ahem, used this old standby myself more than once over the years, its main flaw is that it is primarily a form of appeasement, not a real admission or acceptance of wrongdoing. It may be sincere, it may be simply pragmatic. But better, if you’re going to go that route, to be up-front about it. “I know you’re torqued by something I did. I don’t agree that it was wrong, or understand why you think it was, but I certainly did not intend or even expect that you’d be angry about it, and I’m sorry that you are. Let’s talk.”<\/p>\n

Heh. Easier said than done. But I digress.<\/p>\n

Egan, the former bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and currently head of the New York Archdiocese, said that over the past 15 years, \u201cI consistently sought and acted upon the best independent advice available to me from medical experts and behavioral scientists.
\n\u201cIt is clear that today we have a much better understanding of this problem. If in hindsight we also discover that mistakes may have been made as regards prompt removal of priests and assistance to victims, I am deeply sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, that’ll appease the folks out there. “We’re not saying we made mistakes. But if mistakes were made, we’re sorry.”<\/i><\/p>\n

Actually, though, it’s the first sentence that’s the most telling. Even if true (I’m not sure what experts the Cardinal says were telling him to leave accused abusers in positions of contact with children and youths), who is missing from that equation of folks that were consulted.<\/p>\n

I mean, who would you expect a high-ranking church member to consult over what to do about this?<\/p>\n

I really have to wonder why “prayer” and “God” are not part of the calculus that’s now being mentioned as the inspiration for diocesan policy in these matters. Not that it can or should be the only basis used (God is all to often reluctant to provide a written set of recommendations, complete with executive summary and footnotes). But you’d sort of think that getting back to the moral <\/i>basis for Church actions, it would have been, oh, I don’t know, helpful?<\/p>\n

In the letter, Egan added \u201cI will do everything in my power to ensure, as much as is humanly possible, that such abuse by clergy will never happen again. You should expect nothing less of me, and the leaders of our church,\u201d Egan said.<\/p>\n

Yeah, but, more than that, the folks in his parishes should expect nothing less than diligent, forthright, and open actions when these matters come up, and in their disposition.<\/p>\n

I mean, really. You don’t want to get into a position where a single accusation, unfounded, can ruin someone’s career and vocation. But where folks are understandably upset is where there was enough evidence to warrent hush money and relocation and therapy … and nothing further was done. <\/p>\n

That <\/i>is the “abuse by clergy” that must “never happen again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s become an old standard to issue a formal “if” apology. You know … “Well, if I did something wrong, I’m sorry.” Having, ahem, used this old standby myself more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fourth-estate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":130424,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/14\/how-to-apologize.html","url_meta":{"origin":1849,"position":0},"title":"How to apologize","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 14-Apr-16 11:03pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Apologies apparently have six common elements:- an expression of regret- an explanation of what went wrong- an acknowledgement of responsibility- a declaration of repentance- an offer of repair- a request for forgivenessGenerally speaking, the more of those you include, the better it works, but the the research below finds the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132307,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/15\/its-not-wrong-if-everyone-knows-youre-doing-it.html","url_meta":{"origin":1849,"position":1},"title":"It's not wrong if everyone knows you're doing it!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 15-Dec-16 8:11am","format":false,"excerpt":"Yeah, I saw this quote yesterday and couldn't quite believe it. It's from RNC spokescritter Sean Spicer, who's been working closely with the Trump transition team. 'Conflicts of interest arise when you\u2019re not \u2013 when you\u2019re sneaky about it, when you\u2019re shady about it, when you\u2019re not transparent about it.'No,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":127914,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/09\/being-the-bush-cheney-administration-means-never-having-to-say-youre-sorry.html","url_meta":{"origin":1849,"position":2},"title":"Being the Bush-Cheney Administration means never having to say you're sorry","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Sep-15 8:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"There's certainly one trait that President Bush and VP Cheney shared and continue to share: never admitting to a mistake. Even clear mistakes. 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Dick Cheney's Alternative to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9535,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/06\/12\/sorry_wrong_num.html","url_meta":{"origin":1849,"position":3},"title":"Sorry, wrong number","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 12-Jun-06 5:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"See a message from Jackie in my inbox, with a subject, \"spending time with you.\" Always wanting to reach out to one of our dear friends, I open it ......","rel":"","context":"In "Spam"","block_context":{"text":"Spam","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/computer-security\/spam"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46151,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/29\/so-for-those-who-think-im-simply-a-partisan-hack.html","url_meta":{"origin":1849,"position":4},"title":"So for those who think I'm simply a partisan hack","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 29-Oct-14 4:13pm","format":false,"excerpt":"... I'm more than willing to say that the actions of the Kentucky state Democratic Party here were absolutely wrong. (As were those of the local police who provided an unredacted arrest record.) Originally shared by +Boing Boing: Hey! Did you hear the one about the political mailer that includes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133471,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/12\/for-its-beer-beer-beer-that-makes-you-want-to-cheer.html","url_meta":{"origin":1849,"position":5},"title":"For it's beer, beer, beer, that makes you want to cheer","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 12-May-17 9:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't say that I am at all sorry to be living in that nice, dark blue rectangle in the middle of the country. 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