MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Rev. Richard Partika, Duluth News Tribune

This is not intended to justify or excuse any of the scandal caused by some priests. My only purpose is to give some clarity and balance to the way these things are reported. I am not a scholar, and, unlike most of today’s priests, I do not have any academic degrees. I am just a bystander who cares about fairness and sanity.

Let us start with numbers. Considering all the priests, only a very few are abusers. And I readily agree that even one who’s abusive is far too many.

So let us try to learn how some get into the priesthood. Let us realize there are many seminaries in the country, some diocesan and others run by religious orders. Let us assume for lack of knowing the exact figures that the average class ordained each year is…