The Catholic Church in Dallas Keeps Trying to Protect Itself. And That’s What Will Destroy It

If a search warrant and police raid being carried out to secure documents from the Catholic Diocese of Dallas came as a shock or a surprise to anyone, it shouldn't have. The truth here is both hard on the church and part of the necessary process for driving toward justice while also ensuring long-term institutional change.First we should say that the diocese is experiencing what it looks and feels like when you lose trust. And if we are being truthful to ourselves, the sex scandals that have rocked the church for years have come at a loss of trust with the diocese in Dallas and in communities across the land.After decades of cover-ups, even with more recent promises of reform and transparency, we will see that the Dallas police are right not to accept that the diocese has turned over every scrap of information.Of course, we would like to believe the church is serious about cutting out the rot of sexual abuse and cover-up that has so damaged it as an institution even as it has done untold harm to victims.  Continue reading...