Apatrick,
You ask a fair question. For my part, I cannot help but fall back on what these bishops themselves teach, and ultimately, what they define as a sacrament. The church has developed a language to discuss the numinous. That language speaks of an outward sign associated with an inward change or grace...

Yes, there is emotion and rationality both required in the assessment of the scandal.  As to where the line between those two might be set in a satisfactory way, I suspect that point varies by individual, and over time. And THAT'S where trust, or lack of it, comes to play.  I think the author of the article is correct in the 3 numbered points in the article: the church's leadership has very much earned our skepticism. I suspect that in many/most human relationships, after there is an injury, it takes more that just time to repair. The offending party must work to restore that trust, assuring both at the emotional level, AND the rational.  The bishops have a lot more to do.