In spite of
the fact that the Philadelphia Archdiocese secretly continued to allow three
dozen credibly acused offenders to remain in the public and the active
priesthood, U.S. Bishops admitted today that they were given credit for living
up to the group’s self-imposed clergy abuse prevention program since 2003.
In all, U.S.
Bishop’s own audit of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young
People” says 55 dioceses are not living up to the clergy abuse prevention provisions
they promised to implement and strictly adhere to.
Are we
surprised? Of course not.
This latest
bombshell is just more evidence that Church officials still cannot be
trusted. Indeed, it is a sad and tragic commentary,
that after three decades of scandal, there are those in the Church leadership
who continue to lack the integrity and resolve to accept responsibility for
crimes against their own congregations and live up to promises of reform.
One wonders
what the Vatican will have to say about this latest failure of U.S. Bishops. Will any Church officials suffer consequences
for letting this happen on their watch?
Don’t hold
your breath.
In
Philadelphia, where this report admits Church officials were living a lie, it
took a courageous grand jury criminal investigation to discover and reveal the
deception and fraud perpetrated by these “holy” men.
Ironically,
while the Church just wants the clergy abuse to go away, it is their
mismanagement of the crisis that continues feed the fire of distrust.
Clearly, the
end of this story is a long way off. But
when it does end, it won’t be the church’s doing, it will be the brave
survivors who stood up and spoke out against an institution that cruelly
ignored them—and the Church’s culpability—for too long.
Link to report here: