Accountability

Mission Management

Jesuit Fr. William J. Byron is a university professor of business and society at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. He was president of The Catholic University of America from 1982-92. His book Next-Generation Leadership will be published in the fall. NCR contributor Tom Gallagher spoke with Byron about “servant leadership” as the optimal model of leadership for the church.

Most Catholics in the United States and other Western countries now affected by the priest sex abuse scandal understand that in any other organization so deeply damaged by what one archbishop has termed “spectacularly wrong” handling of the problem, heads would have long ago rolled and a serious search for the causes of the tragedy would be well underway.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — In two surprise moves Aug. 13, the Brussels attorney general’s office declared that the June 24 police raid on the offices of the Catholic archbishop in Mechelen were unlawful and that any evidence that may have been unearthed during the raid is inadmissible in court. The same day, the Brussels court of prosecution issued a judgment that all confiscated documents and computers had to be returned.

The attorney general's declaration and decision of the court were made public not by the court but by Fernand Keuleneer, a lawyer representing the Archdiocese of Brussels-Mechelen and Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the retired archbishop.

However, the court of prosecution also ruled that investigations into allegations of the sexual abuse of children by clergy could continue for cases that came to light after police seized documents and computers in June.