The Catholic Church Wants You to Move on | Sheneman Cartoon
By Drew Sheneman
The NJ dioceses release of 188 priests accused of sexual abuse was a step in the right direction toward transparency and finally healing the gaping wounds left by the massive, worldwide sexual abuse scandal. The Pope has been saying all the right things, as well as openly addressing the abuse scandal, which would have been unthinkable under different church leadership. Transparency and openness are good, but the church’s contrition apparently only goes so far. It stops at the statute of limitations for civil cases brought against it. The church is happy to admit wrongdoing and act contrite, as long as it doesn’t cost them anything. As laws currently stand, victims of abuse have a window of two years from acknowledging their abuse in which to file a civil suit against the church. There’s a bill in the legislature that would extend that window for victims of abuse and make it easier to bring a case against the institution that sheltered and defended their abusers for decades. It’s helpful to remember the lengths the Catholic church went to protect the predators in their midst, shuffling abusive priests from parish to parish knowing full well what crimes they had committed. The issue of sexual abuse among the priesthood was well known within the church, all the way up to the very top of the gilded halls of the Vatican, and for decades nothing was done about it. The church was only ever concerned for it’s own well being and was content to let the victims suffer as long as it was kept out of the headlines. They lost any benefit of the doubt long ago. Extend the statute of limitations and hold them accountable. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.
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