MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
Saturday, January 18, 2014
By:
Raymond L. Flynn
Vatican representative Archbishop Silvano Tomasi’s testimony yesterday before the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child was painful for all to hear. It is depressing to learn about the sexual abuse of children and there is no explanation that is acceptable.
This is a crime and as many people have said, this is a matter for law enforcement authorities to prosecute, not church officials. The pain that these children and their parents experience defies explanation. The only resolution is full disclosure and transparency. Church leaders owe this to the public and the good name of the overwhelming majority of decent and faithful priests.
Pedophile priests have been a problem for many years and only a fundamental change in church policy can put this problem behind the church. Nobody wants to see swift and decisive action more than faithful Catholics. This is not just a matter of forgiveness, but of justice and the protection of children.
Catholics have always felt that such a serious and sensitive matter as sexual abuse of children could not be effectively dealt with in-house by church personnel. The process must be more open and accountable to the public and press. Until that happens, we will continue to hear about these shocking revelations. A more sexually permissive society is no excuse for even one case of sexual abuse of a child by a priest.
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