REGINA: Francis was elected on promises to address the sexual abuse crisis engulfing the Church. What do you think is behind Francis’s seeming inability to take clerical sexual abuse seriously?
LAWLER: Until his trip to Chile early this year, I simply don’t think that Pope Francis had the sex-abuse issue high on his list of priorities. He issued many very good statements, but did not follow up with concrete actions. The commission that he established to handle the problem was underfunded, and other Vatican offices didn’t cooperate; Pope Francis could have solved those problems, but did not.
He established a tribunal to discipline negligent bishops, then abolished it. He said that existing policies were adequate for punishing the negligent bishops, but in practice they were not punished. Still more revealing, he continued to give prominent posts to prelates who have been guilty of ignoring or soft-pedaling abuse.
REGINA: But then the Chile situation blew up in the Vatican’s face, as the mainstream media took up the cry of the victims after Francis scolded them publicly and defended his bishop, and then quickly recanted.
LAWLER: In Chile, we now have a real test case. I have no doubt that the issue has (at last) the Pope’s full attention. It’s still not clear what he intends to do.
REGINA: Some people characterize Francis as always having an ulterior motive, and never quite meaning what he says -- a classical Peronist.
LAWLER: There do seem to be clear traces of the Peron style: the constant state of crisis and disruption, the invention of real or imagined enemies— and for that matter the hostility toward the US.
REGINA: But the vast majority of people seem to have no idea of this.
LAWLER: The public image of Pope Francis is of a warm and relaxed man. The reality in Rome is a good deal different. Morale in the Roman Curia is poor; staff members are afraid. The Pope is unabashed about rewarding his friends and punishing those who he sees as enemies.
REGINA: Aside from the gushing mainstream media, how do you think this pontificate is affecting the Church concretely?
LAWLER: At first there was a clear positive “Francis effect”— a surge in public interest in Catholicism— and that was one main reason for my original enthusiasm. Gradually that effect died away, and now I see a net decrease in interest. Priestly and religious vocations appear to be falling, although there are hopeful signs in some places.
One noteworthy fact: the decline is most evident in the German-speaking countries, where tens of thousands of Catholics leave the Church every year. And yet the Pope seems to be taking advice disproportionately from the German-speaking bishops.
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