Responding to the Roman Catholic Church’s deeply troubling problems over the abuse of children is difficult. I do not want to be stirring waters that are not mine to stir. Neither do I want to say anything that causes more pain to those who have been hurt. However there is a lesson for all churches to learn from this most disturbing of episodes and it is to do with power and how it used and abused by church.

The abuse of power by a priest against a vulnerable child is, of course, the most obvious place to start. But no amount of structural change in the church will ever stop a man who has such tendencies from trying to act upon them. Better training in seminaries will not address this issue; nor will stressing a deeper spirituality. The damage to a soul that leads to such behaviour needs deep healing and, thankfully, in Jesus it is available. But a church leader abusing his or her power over an individual church member is not exclusively a Catholic problem. It is far, far wider. And it rests on the concept of a top-down leadership model. In this model the relationship between the ‘leader’ and the ‘member’ is based on power rather than on service. While most leaders undoubtedly use that power well, there will always be some who do not. Take that power away from the relationship and the risk of abusing it disappears.

From that basic level of leader/member we then look up the hierarchy and see even more power in church. This current scandal has exposed the way a hierarchical church can abuse this power in order to cover up the crimes, allowing those responsible to keep on abusing in a different locality. Men innocent of the actual abuse have used their status to silence complaints, enforce compliance, and ‘carry on regardless’. Again, such problems are not confined to  abuse crimes or the RC Church. The potential for covering over a problem is always present in any church that values a top-down approach. With status, power, and high position comes the temptation to hold onto what has been gained – no matter what the cost.

The good thing about hierarchy – some will say – is that there is always someone above you that you are accountable to. But what happens to the man (and it is almost always a man isn’t it) who achieves the highest position? To whom is he accountable? Who within the Church calls Pope Benedict to account today for the failings of his organisation? The Doctrine of Papal Infallibility is a much misunderstood teaching. It does not, officially, cover everything the Pope does or says. But in practice I suspect that this is not the case. A man who cannot be removed from his post is a powerful man indeed. And this is not just an issue for the RC Church but to a host of independent, one-congregation churches as well where the ‘pastor’ can be in a position of almost absolute power over his/congregation.

Servant-hood and mutual submission are the twin spiritual disciplines that would change such a situation. I have no doubt that many adherents of the Catholic tradition fulfil these disciplines in their daily lives. There are parish priests and pastors all across the world that practice them piously and do not deserve to be tainted by recent scandals. But until the very structure of the church adopts them – and removes power from its heart – we may well find that those scandals will continue.