THE PRIESTHOODS DARK VALLEY  - Link to Mathew Schmalz article in the Washington Post

While not following the public declarations closely - you know, those pronouncements of denial or relativistic guilt when a new priestly horror comes to light -  I have spent some time observing the Catholic Church's efforts to manage an epidemic of wordless acts.   Schmalz highlights the idea of created narrative - the stories that may sell or absolve the institution while attending to the guilt.  It is stunning how, in these conversations, the experience of the individual is erased within the wider picture of cultures and dominatnt discourses:  I suppose as with any horror, the only way to manage the imagery is to eliminate the instance, especially if one has invested a life time of belief in the organization and the litany it has produced.  

"The sexual abuse crisis in Catholicism is about many things, of course. But in terms of public discourse--whether it be official Vatican pronouncements, anti-Catholic polemics, or media reporting--the fundamental issue is one of narrative or, more simply, which story one chooses to believe."