Leading Catholic Voice Says She's Lost Her Patience With The Church

"With the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, sexual harassment is being seen for the treachery it is, and those who perpetrate or enable it are being called to account in life-changing ways.

"But not in the Catholic church," says Helen Drinan, former head of human resources for Caritas Christi, the Catholic hospital system under the Boston Archdiocese's leadership.

In an op-ed published in the Boston Globe, Drinan explains why Catholics have lost patience for the Church's leadership.

In 2006, she oversaw the review of Dr. Robert M. Haddad, then the CEO of Caritas Christi, who was accused of sexually harassing women at work.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, she alleged, decided credible claims of harassment against Dr. Haddad didn't justify termination, though he did resign after more women stepped forward with similar allegations.

Now O'Malley faces deep criticism as he works to regain the trust of local and global Catholics. But Drinan says she's done waiting.

"O’Malley’s willingness to initially ignore multiple accusers to protect a high-ranking official ... renders his current call for transparency, accountability and spiritual conversion tragically ironic," she writes.

Helen Drinan, President of Simmons University and former head of human resources for Caritas Christi.