Make the Connection: Improve Your Communication at Work and at Home

85. Communication Crisis for the Catholic Church

• Apologize to anyone who has been hurt by your mistake, particularly your customers and stakeholders who have invested in you and your organization based on their belief that you would do the right thing. • Don’t offer detailed explanations or excuses for what you did. No extenuating circumstances or crying the blues about your terrible childhood. • Take full responsibility for your actions without blaming others , even if others contributed to the mistake or problem. • Don’t quibble over the details (like Bill Clinton debating the dictionary definition of “sexual relations”). Lawyers too often play word games that may be helpful in the court of law but become problematic in the court of public opinion. It may be too late for Martha Stewart, but it’s not too late for the rest of us who make mistakes every day. Chapter 85 COMMUNICATION CRISIS FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH The Catholic Church has become the latest poster child for how not to communicate in a crisis. Thanks to Church leaders’ inept handling of the ongoing pedophilia problem among certain priests, Enron and Arthur Andersen have gotten some breathing room. The question of how to communicate when you or your organization has clearly done something wrong is addressed elsewhere in this book. The Harvard Business Review has dozens of case studies on crisis communication. Yet, officials in the Church have ignored the most fundamental rules of communication and are clearly paying the price. The first rule of communicating in a crisis is to act quickly and decisively without mincing words. However, it took the Church too long to 182 MAKE THE CONNECTION acknowledge that there was a problem with certain priests who had sexually abused children. Further, because the Church took so long to go public, it appeared that Church leaders didn’t acknowledge the seriousness of the problem and were not that anxious to do anything about it. The next rule of crisis communication is to speak in a unified voice with a clear and credible message. That’s not what happened here. While the Pope is supposed to be the CEO of the Church, what he was saying on this issue was often contradicted by individual bishops.Some Church leaders said they would turn over any priest who was accused of sexual abuse to civil authorities.Others said they would continue to handle the issue internally and only disclose the name of an accused priest when they thought there was “credible” information. Mixed and contradictory messages in a time of crisis produce nothing but more problems and confusion. When in a crisis, it is important to be proactive (as opposed to reactive ) in your communication, which often allows you and your organization to set a context for the public debate instead of allowing your critics to do it. TheVatican as well as diocesan officials expressed concern for assaulted children only when case after case was exposed in the press. Not only did the Church fail to show enough concern and empathy for the victims (another must when your mistakes have caused innocent people to suffer), but it engaged in scapegoating and blame-shifting. Church leaders implied that they were being victimized and targeted by the media, who they said were exaggerating the problem. Another important rule is to not let the lawyers control what you say in public. Lawyers are obsessed with limiting liability and preventing possible jail time. Lawyers advise their clients, be it the Catholic Church, Arthur Andersen, Enron, or Bill Clinton, to be less than candid using vague and ambiguous language. They argue about things like the definition of “sexual relations.” They play word games. The problem with this legal strategy is that most people know that something went wrong and that someone must be held accountable. Lawyers often tell their clients not to apologize in public. That’s terrible advice. The Church should have started apologizing fifteen years ago on this issue, but apologizing in a crisis isn’t enough. The key is to acknowledge responsibility and make a commitment to take clear, corrective action to rectify the situation . The longer it takes for you to do that, the bigger the hit you are going to take in public. Communicating withStrength in Tough Situations 183 Bottom line? Catholic Church leaders have only one choice. Disclose , acknowledge responsibility, apologize to victims, and pray that Catholics and others are willing to give them a second chance. Chapter 86...