I spent last week in Rome for a bi-annual conference on social communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, where I was asked to give a presentation on the sex abuse scandals and the communications offices of the Catholic Church.

Since I don’t work officially for any communications office in the Church, my role was akin to that of an outside consultant who’s asked to study a specific problem and come up with a solution. In the weeks leading up to the conference, I spent more time studying the sex abuse crisis than I would otherwise have wanted. Before I gave the talk, a few people asked if I was worried that I might be shut down in the midst of my presentation. I had no such concerns even though I planned to be giving a very forthright presentation.

This university is also one of my alma maters, the institution where I did my doctorate in moral theology. While the university is run by Opus Dei, there are no Dan Brown inspired albino monks working to bring about world domination. In fact, it’s one of the few institutions where I’ve experienced so much intellectual freedom.

The conference serves as case and point. Four secular journalists from The New York Times, De Telegraaf (Netherlands), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany), andCorriere della Sera (Italy) were invited to be part of a panel in which they discussed, candidly and openly, the challenges of reporting on the Catholic Church and the Vatican. Many of their comments were hard hitting, most deservedly so in my opinion. But none of the speakers were limited or treated disrespectfully in any way.

I’m at a loss to come up with many other groups that would host a similar panel in which part of their identity runs the risk of being attacked. Normally, such opportunities are relegated to cable news shows or conferences organized by critical groups.

Many of us at the conference openly expressed dissatisfaction with the Church’s handling of the crisis. But as journalist and Vatican expert John Thavis notes in his article, no one named names. There were no personal critiques made of members of the hierarchy, no matter how confusing some of their actions and statements might be.

To me this suggests a unique environment. It’s an environment loyal to the Magisterium. Yet, contrary to some expectations, it does not stifle discussion. We were able to have an open conversation about an extremely sensitive topic. At the same time, the participants were focused on constructive solutions and actions, which helps to explain why the director of the Vatican Press Offices, Father Federico Lombardi, was welcomed when he met with us.

The official format allowed him to take only a few questions. But he stayed on to answer individual questions and engage in conversations when he surely could have made any excuse to get away.

There has to be space in the Church for the faithful to discuss problematic issues. As I mentioned at the conference, if we don’t provide that space for the faithful within the Church, then the Church is effectively telling the faithful to go to other sources, including those biased against the Church.

Baptism and participation in the Catholic Church doesn’t somehow mean we stop thinking, questioning, and struggling. It also doesn’t mean that we don’t share the same concerns as non-Catholics, as evidenced by the variety of participants at this conference.

This past week reinforced, for me, what it means for an institution to be faithfully Catholic. Having these difficult conversations becomes more challenging in cultures influenced by cable news sound bites and tactics. It certainly isn’t easy in the midst of a crisis like the current sex abuse scandals. But they have to take place.