UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary
Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 3, 2012
Let’s talk about Joliet, IL and Fall River, MA, two dioceses with bishops who, were it not for public embarrassment, were more than happy to throw child safety under the bus.
In Joliet, Bishop Dan Conlon (the head of the USCCB committee on child protection, by the way) was going to reinstate a priest suspended two years ago for credible allegations of child sex abuse. In fact, not only were the allegations credible, but no one within the church denied that the abuse had taken place.
Instead of following the polices of the organization he heads, Conlon told the press that the Vatican was “forcing him” to reinstate Fr. Lee Ryan. Ryan was going to minister to shut-ins. In their homes. With their children and grandchildren. Unsupervised.
Conlon finally reversed his decision after huge backlash. We have yet to hear if the Vatican is mad.
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