Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Editorial: Release of clergy abuse records may help rebuild trust | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com

In 2000, the American Religion Data Archive reported Green Bay to be predominantly Catholic (71.5%), with Lutherans composing an additional 16.4%. The remaining 12% are almost entirely Protestant denominations. There is also an Islamic mosque and an Unitarian Universalist Fellowship located in the city.--WIKIPEDIA

this is only a tenth of all the information given to victims’ attorneys during litigation.

But those 6,000 pages confirmed what many had talked about — some priests preying on parishioners, officials publicly denying it while privately covering it up and moving abusers to other parishes. And they included some revelations, such as payments to priests and the legal, but questionable, transfer of $57 million to a trust that would provide “protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”….

The records may have been made public as part of a deal in federal bankruptcy court, but insight into the level of abuse and how it was handled has been long overdue.

With a full accounting of what happened, guilty parties can be held responsible and victims can be fairly compensated.

More records should be released. Those made public by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will hurt the church, but in the end they may repair its reputation and help rebuild trust.

Click on the following for the entire editorial:  Editorial: Release of clergy abuse records may help rebuild trust | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com

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