10.  INCOMPETENCE The hierarchy’s handling of sex abuse of minors by its priests demonstrates leadership failure and management incompetence.   The extent of the hierarchy's leadership failure and management incompetence is stunning. Leadership Failure.  I’m a believer in "The Buck Stops Here," the painted glass sign on Harry Truman’s desk in his White House office (interestingly, the words “I’m from Missouri” are on the back of the sign). This famous saying summarizes a critical management principle: the top person in an organization has ultimate responsibility for the problems in the organization. It follows that the pope is ultimately responsible for the worldwide cover-up of sex abuse of minors by clergy. Courageous leadership is absent. St. Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, where are you when we need you? The prototype answer may be in the sandals, beard, and humble demeanor of Sean O’Malley, the Capuchin Franciscan who is the newly appointed Archbishop of Boston. The stage had been set for the recent $85 million settlement, lawyers of survivors of abuse said, by a number of gestures Archbishop O'Malley had already made, including meeting privately with several survivors since taking over. Gary Bergeron, who says he was sexually abused by a priest, met with Archbishop O'Malley three times in a month. "O'Malley is following the laws of the Bible, it's that simple," Mr. Bergeron said. "There is no arrogance, no infallibility [emphasis added]." (Note 9.1). The Bible trumps infallibility. Is this 21st century Boston or the 16th century Germany of Martin Luther? I have a fantasy about leadership based on the authority with which Jesus spoke.  The Sermon on the Mount ends with the following words :
		When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. He wasn’t like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority (Matthew 7.28-29).
	My fantasy goes like this.  A widely known and respected church leader or leaders, say the pope or the American cardinals, known for his/their integrity and authority buys time on the major networks or places a full-page ad in the New York Times and all the other icons of modern politically correct public discourse. The first words on TV or in the ad are:
		We screwed up big time! We sinned. We’re sorry beyond sorry. We’re doing penance. We're canning the bishops who covered up. We’re working hard to turn the situation around. Join us and help us find the solution. We want you to form an independent group to look over our shoulder to let us know how we’re doing. We’re looking forward to your participation. We’ll report to you quarterly on our progress.
	Management Incompetence.   The pope selects bishops not for their pastoral skills or management competence, but for their orthodoxy. The selection is secret (surprise!) and without input from the laity (this was not the case in the early church). The skill level of bishops varies greatly. The record clearly shows that many bishops have poor management skills and little training. No U.S. bishop possesses an MBA. There is no orientation for new bishops, no “Bishoping 101.” Similarly, the quality and effectiveness of the processes and procedures the bishops apply in key areas such as financial and personnel administration are very uneven across dioceses.   There are no meaningful mechanisms for independent assessment of a bishop’s actions, unless dogma is involved. Then Cardinal Ratzinger and company are called in. There were no internal and external watchdogs or independent audits until the Firestorm in Boston. There are no meaningful organizational checks and balances like the U.S. Constitution guarantees for our American government. The national organization of bishops (USCCB) has little power and officers its members little or no support in these areas and clearly has no role in reviewing the quality of their performance.   Over the past couple of years, I’ve watched church officials on TV, in press conferences and in other venues, explaining to a waiting world their story of the sex abuse of minors by clergy. I was appalled at their lack of ability to provide a coherent defense or explanation. Perhaps there is no adequate explanation, but their lack of skill was telling. The power of the media demonstrated for all to see the inability of top church leadership to communicate.   The classic functions of management (Note 9.2) are planning, organizing, controlling, staffing, leading, and coordinating. Communication ties these functions together. The present crisis points out serious management deficits among church officials. The deficits are clear: •        Poor planning for the replenishment of the priesthood with holy, competent, and effective people. •        Lack of processes for organizing effective responses to deal with major problems. •        Lack of will in controlling deviant priests. •        Ineffectiveness in staffing episcopal management positions with strong leaders. •        Inability in leading a successful response to the sex abuse of minors by clergy. •        Inability in coordinating a unified response by bishops. The examples cited above demonstrate communication is abominable. The underlying attitude is: with all this God- given authority, why do we need to communicate? The Mass for shut-ins is enough; sell the pope’s book of poetry on the Website. Lack of Effective Management Structures and Policies.  I remember some management guru once said that the Catholic Church’s three levels of management—the pope, the bishops, and the parish pastor—constituted a model of efficient organization. It is efficient. Is it effective? The answer is obvious: No! Authoritarianism, clericalism, fear, denial, deceit, secrecy, and distrust choke effective structures and policies.     Sullivan (Note 9.3) writes this about church managers’ not addressing the problem of losing priests:
		If a well-managed American company’s bottom line were threatened by losing a large percentage of their junior executives and they couldn't attract sufficient replacements, here’s what would happen: The chief executive and his or her board of directors would immediately call back those who had left and ask them their reasons for leaving. Was their salary insufficient? Did they feel that their chances for advancement were too slim? Did they feel that the executive staff was overly controlling? No reason would be ruled out of discussion. If there was a crisis, they would try to get to the bottom of it. Such an approach would be the essence of common sense as well as a proof of good management. Yet in the Catholic Church, there is no comparable approach. There is no outreach to the thousands of resigned priests, no professional investigation to determine the cause. On the contrary, there is a demand for silence.
	Father Thomas Reece (Note 9.4), in an essay on the impact of the sexual abuse crisis, writes:
		Also important, however, are issues of structure and governance, including greater involvement of priests and lay people in the selection of bishops, more input from priests and the laity in making diocesan policy, and increased authority for episcopal conferences. After Vatican II, new structures were created to enhance the role of priests and laity in church governance -- priest councils, diocesan pastoral councils, parish councils, and finance councils. Only the last, finance councils, were given real power, as could be seen in Boston when they said "no" to a settlement negotiated by Cardinal Law. The others were purely consultative. But even bishops who wanted to use these bodies did not quite know how. Few priests or bishops had the experience or training to work with consultative bodies. Either the bishops tightly controlled the agenda and therefore suppressed initiative and free discussion, or they failed to provide leadership and the bodies foundered. Nor was it only the bishops' fault that these bodies failed. The laity did not understand them. Few were willing to do the homework and the committee work necessary to make consultative bodies work. The problem with democracy in the church is that it takes up too many evenings.
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