Alan Dershowitz, profesor en Harvard
habla sobre el escándalo de la pederastia
America’s top criminal lawyer, Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz( http://www.alandershowitz.com/biography.php ) has come to the defense of Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church in a blog post http://frontpagemag.com/2010/04/13/in-defense-of-the-pope/ stressing that media attacks regarding the sex abuse crisis have been unbalanced. He presents the pope as a key part of progress that has been made on the matter.
"This tragedy should not be used as an excuse to attack a large and revered institution that does much good throughout the world. Blame must be placed with precision and praise should be given with precision as well. The eleventh Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Stereotype, must never be forgotten."
In one of the most succinct and perceptive comments to date on the crisis, Dershowitz gives five important traditions in the Catholic Church which have made it difficult to move “quickly and aggressively” to solve the abuse problem.
“The first tradition involves confidentiality, particularly not exclusively the confidentiality of the priest with regard to the penitent. But there is also a wider spread tradition of confidentiality within the Church hierarchy itself.
Second, there is the tradition of forgiveness. Those of us outside the Church often think, perhaps, that the Church goes too far in forgiving. I was shocked when the previous Pope immediately forgave the man who tried to assassinate him. But this episode and other demonstrate that the tradition of forgiveness is all too real.
Third, there is the tradition of the Church regarding itself as a state. The Vatican is, after all, a nation state. The Catholic Church is not big on the separation of church and state, as are various Protestant denominations. The Catholic Church, like Orthodox Judaism, believes that matters affecting the faithful should generally be dealt within the church, without recourse to secular authorities.
Fourth, the Vatican prides itself on moving slowly and in seeing the time frame of life quite differently than the quick pace at which secular societies respond to the crisis of the day.
Fifth, the Catholic Church has long had a tradition of internal due process. Cannon Law provides for scrupulous methods of proof. The concept of the “devil’s advocate” derives from the Church’s effort to be certain that every “t” is crossed and every “I” is dotted, even when it comes to selecting saints.
None of these explanations completely justify the long inaction of the Church in coming to grips with a serious problem. But they do help to explain how good people could have allowed bad things to happen for so long a period of time.”
Dershowitz is a colourful figure who has been a defence lawyer in some of the most publicized trial of the last century, including O.J. Simpson, Claus von Bulow, Patty Hearst, Leona Helmsley, Mike Tyson, and Michael Milken. He has spent most of his career at Harvard, wherehe became the youngest full professor of law in its history at the age of 28. He is a passionate defender of Israel and has been called “America’s most public Jewish defender”.
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