MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
By:
Margery Eagan
Here’s the great paradox of Pope Francis. His sincere and humble outreach to the poor and marginalized has inspired millions. Yet his embrace hasn’t extended to the very group his fellow priests, and the church itself, tormented by their crimes and cover-up: survivors of clergy sex abuse.
And the news that the Vatican has defrocked 400 priest abusers over the past two years changed nothing.
It was Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict, who defrocked them. We’re still waiting to see if Francis finally brings to justice the priests and the bishops who covered for them.
Four hundred is but a tiny percentage of the likely thousands of predator priests worldwide. To put it in another perspective, there have been 276 priests accused of sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese alone, according to BishopAccountability.org, a website that tracks the church’s continued mishandling of the abuse crisis.
Defrocking only means these abusers aren’t priests anymore. They can certainly molest again. We don’t know their names or if they’ve been reported to police. For all we know, one could be living next door.
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