A Historic Confession

Pope John Paul II’s sweeping acknowledgment of errors by the Roman Catholic Church over 2,000 years may not have been as comprehensive as it could have been or as detailed as many would like. Nevertheless, it was a remarkable statement that sets a constructive tone for the future and invites reflection. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and other leaders of the American church also have been making significant gestures in recent days in conjunction with this papal initiative.

We live at a time when institutions are rushing to keep up with the pace of technological change. It was breathtaking that one that is faith-based and counts its history in millenniums would pause to examine its own conduct within the sweep of human affairs. The very scope of such an undertaking presented the church the challenge of taking stock of its past behavior and shortcomings. People of goodwill could evaluate the completeness and appropriateness for the modern world.

Sunday’s apology and request for forgiveness left out any specific mention of the actions of individual Catholic leaders, most notably the silence of Pope Pius XII in the World War II era and his failure to speak out against the horrors of the Holocaust. An acknowledgment of injustice to women provided no hint that the church eventually might ordain women, as some would like to see. There was no overture by the pope to gay Catholics who might hope to hear from Rome a fuller reconciliation with their faith.

A public confession draws as much attention to what is left unsaid as to what is said. But the pope’s initiative was significant for its broad suggestion of institutional misconduct and had to be drafted with an awareness of Vatican politics and around the delicate question of fallibility. Its acknowledgment that crimes had been committed in the name of belief is of enormous consequence, since this charge always is high on any list of indictments of organized religion. Other faiths are invited implicitly to examine their culpability or silence on zealots.

This papal statement came during Lent, a time when the faithful are given to self-examination, an exercise in part to clear the cobwebs and provide clarity and focus. Through this admission to the entire world in an age of science and skepticism, and at the beginning of a new millennium, the pope has turned a beacon of conscience on history. It will be no small achievement if it turns out that he has helped all faiths get their messages evaluated and considered on merits by future generations.