In October and November, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles' bank accounts shriveled by another $70 million to pay damages to 52 men sexually molested as children by Catholic priests. Dozens more Los Angeles cases await settlement for yet more millions of dollars, not to mention who knows how many in other U.S. dioceses.
"Oh sure," mused Cardinal Roger Mahoney, with the regal air of a man only vaguely and aloofly concerned about criminals in his midst and diocesan assets evaporating. "We could have used the money for other pastoral works."
Yes, indeed. But because Cardinal Mahoney and other princes of the U.S. church denied that priestly ranks were crawling with criminal pedophiles, then covered up the atrocious behavior, Catholics now are paying a horrific price. Their towering egos prevented them from admitting mistakes and dealing with failures promptly.
Denial is the major character failing of men and women in leadership roles. Their hunger to be known as infallible and flawless triggers a psychological mechanism blinding them to the need for remorse, shame, regret and contrition.
Business and industry are cesspools of denials.
Japan's Toyota has overtaken Ford in car sales. Ford executives, of course, blame costly union contracts for their woes (didn't the brass sign the contracts?) rather than accepting the blame for lousy auto design, gas-guzzling mileage performance, poor marketing and customer dissatisfaction. Denying incompetence.
Notorious CEOs who swindled shareholders and employees and are in the slammer today tried vainly to persuade juries they, with their multimillion-dollar salaries and bonuses, didn't know what was going on in their own companies, and blamed disloyal underlings for frauds. Denying guilt.
President Bush's legacy of denial is unparalleled: denial of global warming, denial that tax policies have rewarded the wealthy and penalized the deserving, denial that civil liberties have been throttled by police state executive decisions, denial that insulting foreign allies has isolated the United States, and, finally, denial that the Iraq war has been lost.
Unremitting denial of reality cost Republicans control of Congress. They easily could lose the White House in two years as well.
This president is alarmingly out of touch, pampered by fawning courtiers who dare bring only "good news." His days are immersed in the delusion that "victory" in Iraq is within reach.
Bush is leaving a once-solvent nation in hock to foreign powers, tens of thousands of families mourning battlefield dead or caring for young soldiers maimed or scarred for life and historians wondering whether George W. Bush's strange behavior has more disturbing explanations.
Pat Murphy is the retired publisher of the Arizona Republic and a former radio commentator.
