Mark Silk
Lawyers do what lawyers are paid to do, of course, and in these cases it is to get their clients off the criminal hook. But it's hard to imagine a better way to drive Catholics further away from the church than by such denials and shifting of responsibility. Sure, over the past decade many apologies have been made and new rules and vetting procedures put in place. What's clear from Philadelphia and Kansas City, however, is that when push comes to shove, the apologies can turn out to be lip service and the rules are honored in the breach.
If the powers-that-be were really serious--and I'm thinking about the Vatican here--bishops would be ordered to report any suspicion of abusive behavior by a priest to the civil authorities
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