PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change
submitted By Sister Maureen Turlish
On October 15, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced its decision to restore Rev. Joseph DiGregorio to ministry, a priest credibly accused of the sexual exploitation of a minor.
It did so while releasing as little information as possible.
The Archdiocese’s poor record of accountability and transparency began to become known as early as 2002 when then-Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was quoted on CNN as saying, “We all are agreed that no priest guilty of even one act of sexual abuse of a minor will function in any ecclesial ministry or any capacity in our diocese.”
Later, the 2005 and 2011 grand-jury reports highlighted in graphic detail the lack of accountability and transparency shown by Cardinals Krol, Bevilacqua and Rigali.
Is there really a reason why faith should be put in this latest decision by Archbishop Charles Chaput to return DiGregorio to ministry without more information being released to the public? Chaput admitted in his statement that DiGregorio was found to have violated the church’s behavioral standards for priests.
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