鈥淭here is a communications problem,鈥� said Torchia Communications managing director Daniel Torchia.
Even a majority of church-going Catholics (52 per cent) thought the Church鱿鱼视频app performance on the abuse file was sub-par, despite the policies and protocols put in place by Canadian bishops in dealing with abuse over the past decade.
鈥淲e have to look at this through the eyes of humility, for sure,鈥� Archdiocese of Toronto communications director Neil MacCarthy told The Catholic Register. 鈥淲e have to look at this and say this is not something that was made up. When we talk about these cases, as horrific as they are, we鈥檙e not talking about fiction. We鈥檙e talking about things that actually happened. We may take our lumps, so to speak, but there鱿鱼视频app real victims who are going to live their entire lives and they鈥檙e going to be scarred by what has happened to them. Is it uncomfortable for us? And are we going through a difficult period? Yes.鈥�
But if Christian humility means that the Church must also experience humiliation, that doesn鈥檛 mean the Church doesn鈥檛 have a story to tell, MacCarthy said.
鈥淲e have learned very hard lessons,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you look at what resources and the effort it has taken to try to correct those wrongs 鈥� and also to establish new norms that are protective and fostering of a safe environment for anyone who interacts with the Church 鈥� we鈥檙e in a completely different reality in 2019.鈥�
Torchia, whose firm mainly works on corporate communications campaigns but also has taken on Church campaigns, sees some light in the study鱿鱼视频app finding that 58 per cent of practising Catholics say that the Church response to clerical sexual abuse has been 鈥渆ffective.鈥� But that majority among church-goers stands in marked contrast to just 23 per cent of Canadians overall who would characterize the Church response as 鈥渆ffective.鈥�
While internal communications seems to be working to some extent, too many bishops treat journalists as the enemy, Torchia said.
鈥淭here鱿鱼视频app this misunderstanding of what the press is up to,鈥� he said.
Abuse will never be a good-news story, but the Church can鈥檛 hide when questions are asked, Torchia said.
鈥淩espond 鈥� the key word is respond to the interests of people in our Church,鈥� he said. 鈥�
In the Archdiocese of Toronto, Church leaders are not trying to hide, said MacCarthy. The archdiocesan 鈥淪afe Environment Policy鈥� is flagged at the bottom of every page of its website at archtoronto.org.
鈥淭he good thing is that there鱿鱼视频app lots of conversations that are taking place around this,鈥� MacCarthy said. 鈥淭here鱿鱼视频app never been a time where we鈥檝e been talking more about abuse in the Church than now.鈥�
Almost unique to the Catholic Church is the challenge of being part of a universal, global institution, said MacCarthy. Every clerical abuse story, whether it鱿鱼视频app current or historical, whether it鱿鱼视频app American, European or African, is assumed to be a reflection on the Church in Toronto.
Cardinal Thomas Collins, in his 12 years as Archbishop of Toronto, has issued a number of statements on the issue. These have the advantage of presenting a standard, consistent message across the 225 parishes in the Greater Toronto Area, MacCarthy said.
鈥淲e have to be honest, first and foremost,鈥� said MacCarthy. 鈥淲hat I try to do in communicating around this issue is recognize that the Church did not have a good track record of how we dealt with abuse historically. There were lots of mistakes that were made,鈥� MacCarthy said. 鈥淏ut I also try to say to people that if we鈥檙e looking through the lens of 2019 and trying to apply that to 1970, it鱿鱼视频app not realistic鈥�. I also say to people that to suggest that the way things were approached in 1970 is the way things are being approached in 2019 is just not accurate.鈥�