It was a coincidence that the report on Lance Armstrong and the response of the Catholic Church to sex abuse were prominent news stories over the same weeks. But deeper similarities between the scandals afflicting cycling and the Catholic Church may offer a broader perspective on each.
Of course the differences are much more significant than the similarities. In contrast to doping in cycling, sexual abuse creates direct victims, the devastation to whose lives is lasting and massive. The betrayal by ministers of the Church in poisoning in people the faith they are committed to nurture is also uniquely abhorrent.
But the causes of widespread abuse in the church and in cycling are similar in structure. They lie in cultures that have undermined rather than supported ethical behaviour, provided occasions for abuse, and promised impunity.
In the Church the prevailing culture commended an ethic not of responsibility but of law, paid honour to priests and religious, afforded them unregulated access to young people, and instinctively defended the institution. It was vulnerable to changing sexual mores and left people blind to the lasting harm suffered by victims of abuse.
Similarly, the ethical commitment of cyclists to refrain from taking unfair advantage in competition was weakened by the wealth and glory that flowed from doing so. The desire to protect the wealth and reputation of the cycling circuit also encouraged administrators to overlook the use of drugs. This slackness and the ready availability of new, temporarily undetectable drugs promised impunity.
The process through which public attitudes to the Church and to cycling changed were also similar. In each case reports of abuse circulated, were initially treated as random, but later led to a diffused suspicion.
The suspicion was crystallised by particular events. Widely publicised and horrific cases of abuse in the United States, Ireland and Australia led to revulsion and to the loss of trust in and within the Catholic Church. This was compounded by the failure of many church leaders to 'get it'. The Armstrong revelations have been a similar catalyst for cycling. The consequences of this broken trust for the reputation of the sport have yet to be seen.
To regain trust, both cycling and the Church have to address the culture that led to abuse, to prevent occasions of abuse, and to ensure strict accountability.
In the Church the primary challenge has been to acknowledge the lasting and catastrophic effects of abuse, and to redress the harm