'Mistakes were made'

The quote is from a statement by Jerry Topczewski, speaking on behalf of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, when asked to comment about the just-published transcript of a deposition of former Archbishop Rembert Weakland. See Deposition of Archbishop Emeritus Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B. (complete transcript)

Wikipedia explains,

"Mistakes were made" is an expression that is commonly used as a rhetorical device, whereby a speaker acknowledges that a situation was handled poorly or inappropriately but seeks to evade any direct admission or accusation of responsibility by using the passive voice. The acknowledgement of "mistakes" is framed in an abstract sense, with no direct reference to who made the mistakes.

For further reading, see Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts, by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (reviewed at Amazon).

Mr. Topczewski's statment is included in Marie Rohde's story in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, headlined Weakland spreads the blame.

At WTMJ-TV "NBC 4" More Weakland Deposition Video Released, by Mick Trevey and Katie DeLong

At WITI "Fox 6", Milwaukee Catholic Sexual Assault Scandal Unravels

At WISN-TV "ABC 12" Milwaukee DA Reviewing Clergy Abuse Deposition

At WDJT "CBS 58" Was Weakland following church orders?

(via SNAP Network)