Readers React: Loyalty to the ‘institutional church’ is no excuse for protecting pedophile priests

To the editor: In his recent motu proprio, Pope Francis does not address the root cause of why some Roman Catholic bishops were irresponsible in dealing with pedophile priests. (“Pope approves measures to oust, but not prosecute, bishops who botch abuse cases,” June 4)

He failed to recognize that these men have a false sense of loyalty to the church, believing that the image of the “institutional church” must be protected at all costs. History has demonstrated that when any institution becomes an end in itself, it becomes a sure vehicle for unadulterated evil.

While recent scandals have forced the church to purify its procedures of ministry to the young, many bishops have yet to change their way of thinking. Financially wounded, they now make timid pastoral and administrative decisions with the underpinnings of protecting the “institutional church” from lawsuits and financial liabilities, thus once again compromising the church’s mission.

Francis should hold bishops punitively accountable for putting institution before charism, structures before relationships and policies before people.

The Rev. Vivian Ben Lima, Woodland Hills

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