Archbishop O'Malley shows how to lead

Boston Herald ^ | August 11, 2003

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The $55 million settlement offer from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is not the end of the scandal of sexually abusive priests in the Boston area.

Surely, though, it is the beginning of the end. For that the community is most thankful, and there is only one person to thank: the new archbishop, Sean O'Malley.

O'Malley showed what a difference a savvy new hand on the tiller can mean. Organizations of all kinds know much can be accomplished by a dramatic display of difference from a discredited previous leader.

New legal counsel produced the offer, said to have been the first real offer from the archdiocese, within 10 days of O'Malley's accession. If that weren't signal enough that the old order at Lake Street is gone for good, the archbishop simultaneously signaled the downgrounding of ``Lake Street'' itself as a symbol.

Instead of living like his predecessors at the chancery at that somewhat isolated, somewhat lush Brighton address, he will live with other priests at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the bustling South End.

He wrote in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot, ``The parish is the venue of the pastoral life of the diocese and living in a rectory is a statement about this reality.'' There is no need to criticize predecessors to make the point that O'Malley is determined to live plainly, consistent with the traditions of his order, the Franciscans.

There's a lot wrong with the provisions of the American legal system that call for monetary compensation of victims in cases like these 542 in Suffolk Superior Court. But it's the only system we have and it's there to be used.

The already severe damage to the church has mounted every day the settlement talks have dragged on. There was no way the talks were going to disappear from the headlines. And the church came across as truculent, which not only embittered the plaintiff families directly, but also repeatedly promulgated an image of an uncaring church, and kept irritating widespread psychic scars among the faithful that ought to have been healing.

Long before now the archdiocese should have resolved to sell the Brighton property and anything else needed to get funds to settle. If insurance companies didn't live up to their obligations, they could be sued later.

It may still happen. There are apparently well-founded reports that wealthy Catholics have put up the funds to get O'Malley's task of healing under way without delay. The Lake Street property is said to be not for sale, but surely it can be counted as a reserve asset that can be converted into cash if necessary.

O'Malley's performance as a leader so far has been stunning.

Yes, the victims' lawyers are quite correct that much work remains before a settlement is nailed down.

But the tone of the cautious comments from the lawyers is quite different - far more hopeful - than anything that has gone before. We look forward to a prompt resolution of the courtroom phase of this most lamentable episode in the history of the Catholc Church in America.