Boston was the epicenter of the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal, and the church's handling of the problem there will shape its image nationwide. Last week, the newly appointed archbishop, the Rev. Sean P. O'Malley, did two remarkable things. First, he apologized from the heart for the pain that abusive priests - and as important, the church hierarchy - caused to hundreds of young people and their families.
O'Malley's contrition, made at his installation Mass, was the most open acknowledgment by any ranking leader that the church's conduct was indefensible. "The whole Catholic community," he said, "is ashamed." He welcomed abuse victims to the service, telling them "the healing of our church is inexorably bound up to your own healing; you are the wounds on the body of Christ."
The following day, O'Malley took action to match his words. He replaced the lawyers who worked for his disgraced predecessor, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, with an attorney known for settling abuse cases swiftly. With 500 claims against the Boston archdiocese, the move was smart, fiscally and politically.
The archdiocese and its parishes need to see an end to this scandal. The victims need to get on with their lives. The sooner the church resolves its problem in court, the quicker it can focus on how the abuse occurred and begin regaining its moral authority.
Two days on the job hardly make a record, but O'Malley made a noteworthy start.
