BOSTON (MA)
The Associated Press
By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of the start of the clergy sex abuse crisis by reflecting on the enduring pain of the scandal, which he said is never “over or behind us.”
O’Malley released a letter to Catholics and five pages of reflections two days before the anniversary of a Boston Globe story that broke news of the scandal. The story sparked revelations about scores of pedophile priests and the church leaders who transferred them between parishes while hiding their crimes.
The reflections touched a range of topics, from the effect on priests to the media’s role in exposing crimes that have forever changed the church.
“As an archdiocese, as a church, we can never cease to make clear the depth of our sorrow and to beg forgiveness from those who were so grievously harmed,” O’Malley said.
The Catholic watchdog group, BishopAccountability.org, said O’Malley’s words sound good, but he’s blocked real reform by refusing to release a more complete list of accused clerics and opposing laws to remove the statute of limitations on child sex crimes.
“Sean O’Malley has mastered the trick of false transparency,” the group said in a statement. “He speaks like a healer but acts like a CEO whose priority is protecting his organization’s image and assets.”
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