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The Catholic Brand
I think it is important to start this post by saying I am agnostic and a recovered Catholic. I left the Catholic church long before the sex scandals broke. I watched how the church ostracized my Mom after her divorce and was appalled. I started to see cracks of hypocrisy in what they preached and wanted nothing to do with the religion. As an agnostic, I believe in God, but don’t connect with him/her through any formal religion. I fly direct. I respect all religions and have seriously considered both Episcopalian and Judaism as two religions for personal affiliation.
To say the Catholic brand image has taken a beating is like saying Tiger Woods had a fleeting moment of indiscretion. Catholicism gives new meaning — both figuratively and literally — to the term “fall from grace.”
A brand is a brand is a brand. Whether we wear it, drive it, hit a ball with it or kneel before it, the brands we associate ourselves with says a lot about who we are and what we value. I have watched a tsunami of my friends leave the Catholic church lately. I have also watched many friends struggle with their decision to remain a Catholic even as they recite a laundry list of the Church’s views that they disagree with. That short-list is usually pretty consistent: response to the sexual abuse scandal, treatment of gays, marginalization of women, stance on abortion, opposition to the use of contraception and the required vow of celibacy. The magnitude of that short-list makes it jaw-dropping that the Catholic Church still exists. It’s like saying, “Yeah, I’m a member of the KKK, but I really like blacks.” I find it difficult to see how the two can be separated with any credibility.
It takes tremendous courage to speak out or act in disagreement with something as powerful as the Catholic Church. I applaud the East Longmeadow priest who called for the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Reverend James Scahill stated, “Any who deny the truth deny Christ, and we, as people, must reclaim our church. Those in authority must be willing to admit to the truth, admit their horrific crime of cover-up, and beg for forgiveness, and until that happens, there will be no healing.’’ Amen to that! The Vatican knowingly allowed hundreds of thousands — possibly millions — of children to be molested over 100+ years in virtually every country and deliberately chose to protect its pedophiles. Let’s net it out — children were raped. The Church knew it and did nothing about it. I am not sure how people can reconcile the rape of children. What if it were the rape of their children? Would it be different? I hope not. A child is a child is a child. They are innocent and defenseless at the hands of a sexual predator and we, as adults, need to protect them and be their voice when they need to be heard.
I have heard people argue that Muslims are in the same boat as Catholics because their religion is being tarnished because of a handful of terrorist. I don’t see it that way. In the case of Muslims, a few extremists are causing the bad image. With the Catholic Church it is the Vatican — the leaders of the Church — who are responsible for the laundry list of rationalization points cited above. These knuckleheads actually went as far as to blame child abuse on homosexuality. Excuse me? Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who also serves as the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said, “Many psychologists, many psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relationship between celibacy and pedophilia but many others have demonstrated, I was told recently, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia.” Way to go Cardinal….when in doubt, blame the gays.
What is the Catholic brand to do? I’m with Rev Scahill — be accountable, ask for forgiveness and evolve the religion to make it more relevant in today’s world. Gays are not evil. They are creatures of God. Celibacy is absurd. It goes against nature. Women should be treated as equals. Contraception is a reasonable form of birth control. Abortion is a personal choice; put it in the context of rape or incest and it should be viewed as a viable option. And, pedophilia is wrong. The world changes and thinking needs to change with it. There was a day when slavery was considered OK. Thankfully, people stood up against it and perceptions evolved. There has been absolutely no evolution of thinking in the Vatican and it is long overdue.
The essence of goodness that was the foundation of Catholicism is what keeps many of my friends with the Church. They believe and have faith in that essence. The Vatican owes it to them to evolve the Catholic brand. To give them a religion that is 100% reflective of their values and does not need to be communicated with an asterisk of disclaimers. A recent Pew Report cites that most Americans have changed religious affiliation at least once and that within this dramatic religious churn, Roman Catholicism is the biggest loser. The study also finds that four times as many Catholics are leaving the faith as are joining it. The Catholic brand evolution needs to start immediately. If it doesn’t, twenty years from now crossing paths with a Catholic will be as rare as crossing paths with someone who is wearing Vidal Sassoon jeans and a Members Only jacket.
Many brands have successfully evolved and even risen from the ashes. When Martha Stewart finally took responsibility for her issues, the brand began to recover. Tylenol hit a wall with the cyanide poisoning scandal, but the brand quickly recovered based on the immediate actions implemented by Johnson & Johnson. Hell, I think Tiger Woods will rise again — no pun intended. The common denominator in all these cases is accountability. It is rare that accountability is usually not followed by forgiveness at some point. Judging by my friends who remain devout Catholics, the religion still has worshipers who are exceptional human beings but who remain conflicted by the hand the Vatican has dealt them. The Church needs do the right thing and make Catholicism a source of pride again.
What do you think of the Catholic brand image?
April 19th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Love the post. I’m always saying that if I ever wrote a book, it would be how religion (namely Catholicism) is the single most successful marketing organization of all time. Like you I’m “ethnically” Catholic and now agnostic, but historically the Catholic church has impressed me with its resiliency. One example, during the Reformation the Church was far more exposed when their system of Indulgences was exposed as a pay-to-play system for getting into heaven, thanks Martin Luther! The Church PR and marketing teams at the time launched an aggressive brand recovery program called the Counter Reformation, where among other things, they entered new markets and added nearly a quarter of billion new “fans” in Central and South America. Tiger Woods only hopes he could recover so well.
The Church clearly needs adapt, throw away old stubbornness and adapt themselves to today’s buyer, who are not so easily fooled. Old catholic strongholds like Europe and New England are now more liberal and open-minded, and they need to adjust to reconnect with these lucrative clients. They’ve changed before (many times) and can do it again.
April 19th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
happy patriots day ben! i hadn’t heard the term “ethnically” catholic, but i have a feeling a huge percentage of catholics fall into this category. i appreciate the insight on the “counter reformation.” it’s amazing the church’s pr team could be so successful with that campaign and fail so miserably in how they handled the sexual abuse crisis. although it makes sense because it sounds like the counter reformation focused on expanded geographies versus accountability. to me, the glaring warning alarm for the vatican is when the catholics in ireland say they have had enough and that’s exactly what is going on right now. this is going to be an interesting and disturbing story to follow.
April 19th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Good stuff Kel. Christine and I had a conversation this morning on this very topic. As angry as I get at the Catholic church, I feel equally sad for my Catholic friends that are torn up by all of this. There is a good column in the Globe Sunday by Yvonne Abraham on a similar topic:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/18/the_church_i_knew/
April 19th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
nancy, thanks for sharing the link. i had not read the article. it’s funny because my dad who is a devout catholic is stunned that no nun abuse (physical not sexual) scandals have come out. he went to catholic schools and recalls be scared to death of them. he shared a bunch of stories as recently as a few weeks ago when we were all together. i’m sure more will unfold on this subject. btw, i think yvonne abraham did an exceptional job expressing her disappointment. the headline says it all: “the church i knew.”
April 20th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Kel, as a Catholic I have to say my faith has been a guiding force for me…I went to a great Franciscan Catholic college (Siena College) that I loved, the church helped me and my family through the untimely passing of my dad and I’ve always looked to the church in times of need and guidance. I wouldn’t describe myself as a religious person, however I do believe in a higher order to guide my inner compass with soul searching and direction.
Unfortunately, I am so saddened the church hasn’t evolved or adapted as Ben so eloquently stated. It boggles my mind that the church is still holding so close these crumbling tenets that are so absurdly antiquated (abortion, contraception, gays, etc.).
The sex abuse scandal HAS to be the tipping point…if the Vatican doesn’t grab the reins soon and admit they made egregious mistakes (one after another) there will be hell to pay, literally. As the hierarchy works to address the problems of pedophilia and coverups, everyone in the pews are demanding accountability and change.
April 20th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
frank, thanks so much for sharing your personal experience. so many of my friends share a similar conflict. like you, many drew strength and support from the church during personal struggle — death of parent, sick child, etc. and like you, all they are asking for is accountability and evolution in thinking. i hope the vatican has an epiphany that accountability and change will strengthen its following. otherwise, i believe the current path of denial and blame will be the end of them.
April 20th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Kel,
Listen to the first 20 minutes of This American Life podcast: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/404/enemy-camp-2010. It’s about a monk who was made a “fixer” for the Catholic church. It’s really a fascinating behind the scenes look at how methodically and evilly these things get covered up.
April 20th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
i thought i would share this comment everyone who reads this blog. after reading “the catholic brand”post, my 76 year old, irish catholic dad made the following comment on my facebook wall:
“Hi. Just wanted to correct a statement you made. I am a practicing Catholic, however far from being a devout one. I have many issues with the church. My belief is in God, not necessarily with the church. I am appalled with the way they have handled this sex abuse issue. They were more concerned with saving their image than saving the children. They were simply embarrassed by the whole situation and did not know how to handle and resolve it. They swept it under the rug and hoped it would go away.I cannot get over how universally widespread this problem is. The only salvation for the church is to admit their errors, accept responsibility for their actions, ask for forgiveness and try to move on. This has got to start with the Pope. I feel so sad for all the good Priests who are ashamed to wear their clerical garb in public. A lot of them have become hostages in their own rectories. I will always be a defender of my Catholic faith but I will not defend them.”
i think that says it all….
April 20th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
wow monica! that is a smoking gun. the poor guy. he was manipulated and it is haunting. thanks for sharing this with everyone.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
I really like this post. I was baptized Catholic and went through communion and what not, but I went to a summer camp when I was 12 that introduced to a different form of Christianity. I came back from that camp and told my parents that I no longer wanted to be Catholic, and my mom ended up following me on the way out. It’s interesting because a lot of Protestant organizations get criticized for almost over-correcting the Catholic church’s problem of not changing with the times. My church at home plays rock music and plays really cool short movies to compliment that week’s message on a high-techy movie screen. Some people say they’ve gotten too into being cool and lost touch with the fundamentals. I’d almost say the Catholic brand is so into holding on to what they think are the fundamentals (stance on gays and abortion, for instance) that they’ve lost touch with *the* fundamental – which is *love*, and that good essence that you mentioned.
April 20th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
janet, your comment was so insightful. the fact that you made a decision to leave the church at age 12 screams volumes about your wisdom…and about how messed up the vatican’s thinking is that even a pre-teen can see it. your line that “they’ve lost touch with *the* fundamental – which is *love*” really nets it out beautifully. hearts.
April 28th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Awesome post. One word to all of that: AMEN. I am not Catholic, but grew up in a Catholic town and lots of Catholic friends. Interestingly all of my friends who attended Catholic school, not one I know is still a Catholic. In fact, most are still quite spiritual, but have pursued other forms of worship. And this was long before the many child rape scandals. I see the Catholic church like a large plane crashing. It will go miles and miles before losing altitude and crashing. But it feels like we might be seeing the start of the nosedive.
April 28th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
karen, i think you are right about the nose dive. it looks like parts are falling off the plane left and right and it is headed for the ground. interesting that the tv show “lost” had a similar premise. i think the word accurately describes where the vatican is right now…and unfortunately, so are some of its followers.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
As someone who was raised in a very religious household and raised my 3 children under the Catholic Church, I am appalled by how the “leaders of the Church” have handled this scandle. And personally, I think God is appalled too. As you stated, Kel, where is the accountability? Stand up, admit the wrongs, and move on to make the Church a safe place for everyone.
May 4th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Amen sista’ Margaret!