From The Boston Globe-
Year after year,
we seem to reach new depths of priestly depravity in the Catholic
church’s “ministry” to children in its charge. After 16 years of bad
news on that front, a Pennsylvania grand jury reported last August that
more than 1,000 children had been molested by more than 300 priests in
that state.
And now the attorney general of Illinois, Lisa Madigan,
has revealed that 500 cases of alleged molestation were kept hidden by
Catholic authorities. They were rejected as unproven by their own
investigation. But Madigan says these were not real investigations at
all, since the clerical bodies involved “will not resolve the clergy
sexual abuse crisis on their own.” Civil authorities are needed where
spiritual guidance has been nothing but misguidance.
The
first instinct of bishops in these scandals was to “lawyer up,” and the
first instruction of lawyers was not to show compassion or admit to any
accusation. Large amounts of money are at stake here — millions already
paid in settlements, with more millions to come. Madigan rightly says:
“The priority has always been in protecting priests and protecting
church assets.” I have a priest friend who went to console a family he
knew when their child reported an abuse, but he was told by his
religious superiors to cut it out. He was just lending credibility to
the accuser.
More here-
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