NEW YORK
The New York Times
Ten years ago, Cardinal Edward Egan, then the leader of the New York archdiocese, famously apologized to his parishioners for the church’s failure to deal with priests who abused children. Now, three years after his retirement, he suddenly feels moved to renounce that courageous move.
“I never should have said that,” Cardinal Egan said in a combative interview with Connecticut magazine in which he offered a heartless and bewildering defense of his time as bishop in Bridgeport, Conn. Court records and the church’s lay investigation showed him at fault in covering up the scandal and protecting rogue priests accused of abusing children.
“I don’t think we did anything wrong,” Cardinal Egan declared. He accused the news media of exaggerating the scandal, despite the American church’s admission of culpability in having to dismiss 700 suspect priests across a three-year period. “The fact that sex abuse becomes overpowering in people’s eyes, that’s a part of life,” said the cardinal. He maintained there was no obligation to report abusive priests, although the American hierarchy promised to do so and Connecticut law has long required it.
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