The Pope & Bad PR

Pope Benedict XVI was met with mixed reviews when he arrived in New York. On the one side he had his fellow Catholics ready to here mass and receive communion in Yankee Stadium. The other side not so much; catholic rights activist planned vigils, demonstrations and news conferences to draw attention to issues ranging from the ordination of women and gay rights to sex abuse by priests and the Vatican ban on contraception.

Pope Benedict XVI may not have realized that he and the Catholic Church were facing a PR Crisis. Half the world has uncovered the Church’s dirty little secret of covering up sexual misconduct. The world wants this new pope to take action against these priests. His arrival to New York filled people’s hearts with hope of gaining justice.

However, these hopes were quickly dissipated because all Pope Benedict came to do was say he was deeply ashamed of priests who have been accused of sexual misconduct.

His did not go well with people, so now the Pope has been continuously under fire. Everyone is airing his dirty laundry from childhood to now.

Personally, I think to effectively manage this PR Crisis the Pope must send the message that sexual abuse will not be tolerated. Moreover, he must strategically take action against these priests to show the world that the Catholic Church does not condone sexual misconduct. Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church would really benefit from excommunicating those child-molesters, after all that’s what they are. The Catholic church and him would gain a new credibility from the public