One of the most senior Roman Catholics in England and Wales has
said the sexual abuse crisis is overshadowing the positive social
contribution of the church's charities.
At a conference in central
London, the archbishop of Southwark said the paedophile priest scandal
of recent years, coupled with church teaching on issues such as abortion
and homosexuality, had not fostered good impressions.
The Most Rev Peter Smith said: "Some people's perception of the church is very negative, [that] it's just there to say no.
"I
don't think there is an awareness of the positive social engagement. We
don't go around blowing our trumpet. We've been modest and humble."
The
conference, at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, drew together a
mainly Catholic audience of politicians, peers, clerics and charity
workers to explore the idea of building a culture of social
responsibility.
One of the issues was also to look at ways of
raising the profile of Catholic social action. Smith, who made the
comments later to the press, was explaining the impact of the abuse
scandal on this mission.
He told journalists: "We need to make
people aware of what we're doing, not to put ourselves on a pedestal,
but to say the church is not all bad.
"Of course the child abuse
crisis has not helped with that. Again it has been taken by some
completely out of proportion. When you see press reports every day of
child abuse, it is something which is unfortunately and tragically
endemic in society.
"It's a misperception of the church. People
think because we're the church and Christians, we're somehow above all
that and perfect.
"We're the same as the rest of humanity. But at
least through our faith and our sacraments and the grace of God we have
the opportunity to do a bit better."
The child abuse scandal did
not figure in the presentation from the main speaker, Baroness Warsi –
the first Muslim woman to serve in the cabinet.
Warsi, fresh from
her 48-hour visit to Pakistan, praised the "huge contribution" of
Catholic individuals and organisations to society and described her
meeting with the pope as "one of the highlights of my time in
government".
Quoting from the Bible – James 2:26 – she credited the Catholic church for shaping 'big society' principles.
"Faith
is not just a belief, it's not just a theory. It's about how we live,
how we shape our lives and how we work together to serve those in need.
And particularly in your case this has meant building social
institutions to put principles into practice.
"Right throughout
the world, the Catholic community's commitment to service and
solidarity, to deepening social engagement is expressed most concretely
through religious orders, charities, chaplaincies, parishes and
schools."