Vatican summit was just pious political theatre

THE RECENT summit of the entire cohort of Irish bishops, the Pope and senior members of the Roman Curia seems to have been little more than a self-serving display of pious political theatre based on a disjointed script played before an increasingly sceptical and despairing Irish public.

While the summit acknowledged that the failure of church authorities has resulted in a breakdown of trust, this same dialogue has resulted in no consequences, no sense of urgency, no concrete initiatives or imaginative departures intended to nurture a positive sentiment from which to progress towards recovery.

Best practice, it seems, is to be bolted on to the remnants of a culpable administration. The Pope’s comment that the current painful situation will not be resolved quickly is a cop-out that will facilitate more empty excuses and buck-passing and breed nothing but inertia and resentment.