BishopAccountability.org
	Victims of Priests Don’t Like New Bishop By Tom Borthwick NEPArtisan February 25, 2010 http://nepartisan.com/?p=812 SCRANTON (PA) -- The appointment of the new Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, Monsignor Bambera, has drawn the ire of SNAP, which is the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests. Why? Turns out that, according to the group (this comes courtesy of the Times Leader), "Under oath, Bambera admitted that barely a decade ago, he refused to report a credibly accused predator priest to police, in violation of his diocese's own child sex abuse policy." And then it gets better: "He also admitted relying on the word of an accused priest without even questioning that cleric's alleged victim. This decision raises a troubling question: Is it that hard for the Vatican to find good, smart priests who have not concealed horrific crimes against kids?" Nice. It is no secret that the Catholic Church, worldwide, has a sordid past, both recently and in history. Appointing somebody who admittedly believes the reputation of the Church is more important than justice and truth might need to rethink the master they supposedly serve. Last I checked, Christ didn't care too much about reputation, and cared more about doing right. As an atheist, I'm very suspicious of religion, but not dismissive of the philosophical teachings of Christ, whom I find brilliant and a role model, whether or not he existed in the form presented to us. He advocated helping the poor and needy, he preached of the obligation of the wealthy to give up their wealth, and he preached that people should treat others with the dignity and respect that they wanted afforded to themselves. So when a supposed follower, so devoted that they swear celibacy (not required by Jesus, by the way), decides to hide truth in favor of maintaining an image, it disgraces the institution.
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