PHILADELPHIA (PA)
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Gerald Slevin, Open Appeal To Philadelphia Inquirer Reporters II: The Philadelphia Archdiocese Priests Child Abuse Trial, the Pope, Secrecy, Santorum and the Upcoming Pennsylvania Primary
Jerry Slevin has now shared a supplement to his open letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer that I posted on his behalf two days ago. As the trial of Philadelphia Catholic archdiocesan officials continues, Jerry continues to monitor the litigation and news about it, and this is his latest response to what’s now unfolding in Philadelphia:
What follows is Jerry Slevin’s second open letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer:
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This supplements my April 1, 2012 Open Appeal I to you accessible here. Hopefully, this will be of some help to you as you assess the continuing developments in this hierarchical criminal case that is extremely significant for Catholics worldwide.
Yesterday on TV, convicted child sexual abuser, Fr. Avery, was hurried seemingly smiling past reporters into jail accompanied apparently by two well dressed lawyers. Avery’s apparent lack of any remorse for his horrible crime or any obligation to give evidence against others, as well as his sudden plea bargain, mild sentence, hurried imprisonment and general public unavailability, have all been very disturbing to watch, but it is only one example of what appears to be an unwarranted almost veil of secrecy on too many aspects of this important case. Many hundreds of Philly children were harmed by priest sexual predators with at least the tacit knowledge in many cases of bishops and cardinals; many thousands more were at risk of serious and permanent harm. Philly citizens are entitled to get the full story and we are depending on you to keep doing your best to get it.
For video footage from NBC’s Philadelphia affiliate of Fr. Avery’s smiling past reporters as he is whisked into jail, please see here.
To this day, the Philly Archdiocese still does not really require prompt reporting of all abuse claims to the police and apparently has only appointed persons that are accountable to Archbishop Chaput to monitor abuse claims. He is not accountable, it appears, to anyone and has not committed to a truly independent child protection audit procedure. He continues to operate, in the main, secretly as a typical medieval monarch. His cheerleading at a private priests’ party several months ago for Monsignor Lynn and some suspended priests under suspicion of misconduct with minors suggests he has failed to get the true child protection message and merely mouths, like the pope, pious platitudes about children.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.