David Diaz

What’s often been described as the “pedophile priest” scandal has hovered over and around the Catholic Church for many years now. While certain cities have done what they could to move past the huge international PR crisis, several dioceses have been repeatedly targeted as major contributors to the crisis. Last week, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was added to that list, as 71 priests and other church members were identified as having been accused of child sex abuse. These allegations go back 70 years, so there’s a lot of blame to go around.

With a lot of blame comes a lot of finger pointing. In this case, the Harrisburg Diocese has announced it would be “holding accountable” the bishops in charge of that diocese over the time in questions… That’s seven decades of leadership being called out. Announced punishments include having their names removed from all church properties.

Current Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer took the opportunity to speak directly to his parishioners, as well as the huge numbers of angry and disaffected Catholics for whom the sex abuse scandals are an ongoing embarrassment and outrage. In his remarks, Gainer addressed the long-term impact of childhood abuse, saying, “Many of those victimized as children continue to suffer…”

That’s a fact many victims and victim advocate groups have been promoting for years, especially since allegations of widespread abuse finally became public knowledge. Currently, there are six dioceses in Pennsylvania that are subject to an ongoing grand jury investigation. Harrisburg is the second diocese to speak out, hoping to capture some of the message momentum before the grand jury reaches its report.

What’s in that report and when it will be released to the public are currently unknown. What is known, is that the report is nearly 900 pages long, and a large number of current and former priests are desperate to keep its content under wraps. Numerous suits and challenges have been filed to keep the report private. So far, that tactic has worked, but it seems the Harrisburg diocese does not believe it will continue indefinitely.

Sooner or later, one of two things will happen: either the report will be released, and the leaders of each investigated diocese will be tasked with addressing myriad specific facts within the report; or, the report will not be released and the public will continue to speculate as to the nature and extent of the crimes, if any, contained in the report.

At this point, from a PR perspective, it’s tough to say which would be worse. If the specific facts are released, the parties could then address them. However, if the facts are left to the imaginations of the general public, especially in light of all the other uncovered facts and allegations being made against the Church by victims and alleged victims across the globe, the stories people make up and spread as speculation could be even worse. 

Given that fact, it’s not a bad idea for a diocese, that certainly knows what’s in the report, to try to get out ahead of the PR storm that could be coming. 

About the Author: David Diaz is a senior executive at Davenport Laroche.