Catholic Ministry Still Working out Kinks of Child Molestation Scandals, by Jim Brown, OneNewsNow, April 7, 2008

Catholic Ministry Still Working out Kinks of Child Molestation Scandals

By Jim Brown
OneNewsNow
April 7, 2008

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=74953

In advance of Pope Benedict's visit to the U.S. later this month, Voice of the Faithful — a lay Catholic group formed in response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal — is calling attention to what it believes is a lingering "moral crisis" in the Roman Catholic Church.

Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) seeks the "transformation" of the Catholic Church and "envision[s] a church that is open, transparent and accountable." The group is raising money to spread its message through an ad it is placing in local and national newspapers.

Julie Rafferty, a VOTF volunteer and one of the principal authors of the ad, says many of the issues raised by the clergy sexual abuse scandal have yet to be resolved. She also notes that many bishops who shuttled predatory priests from parish to parish still remain in power.

"Many of the bishops, who were in charge when priests were identified as molesting children ... who transferred priests from parish to parish [are] still in charge. The cost of the clergy sexual abuse scandal has reached over $2 billion in terms of settlements. There's an estimated 11 million young people who were abused. And only one bishop ... ever left his job because of this mess," Rafferty contends.

Rafferty says the "culture [of the Catholic Church] can't be cleared" until all survivors of clergy sex abuse in every diocese "are treated with justice and compassion" and "all bishops are held accountable." She also finds it troubling that the Pope is not meeting with any lay Catholic groups during his U.S. visit, except at large gatherings in baseball stadiums.