PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JANUARY 09, 2014
First, we should all thank Billy Doe, his family, the police and the prosecutors whose courage made Lynn’s conviction possible. And we should thank prosecutors who plan to appeal this ruling. We of course hope the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will overturn it. And we call on Philly Catholic officials to keep Lynn permanently off the job or at least until this case is finally resolved.
Literally thousands of U.S. Catholic officials have done precisely what Msgr. Lynn did and were never even charged or exposed, much less convicted. And we believe that hundreds or thousands of chancery officials across the U.S. are doing – right now – exactly what Msgr. Lynn did.
Survivors live every day knowing of these horrific injustices. So this one court ruling will not deter us from fighting to protect kids and expose criminals by this one ruling. It’s a setback, no doubt, one of thousands. But the long-term trajectory of this crisis is encouraging.
We remind ourselves that 15 years ago, Msgr. Lynn would never have been arrested, charged or convicted. . (In the last few days, I’ve reminded at least half a dozen survivors that Martin Luther King reminds us that “the moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice” and that every single one of us who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups must help that arc bend by sharing every single bit of knowledge or suspicion we have with law enforcement.)
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