UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Eugene Cullen Kennedy | Feb. 20, 2014 Bulletins from the Human Side
The conviction of Philadelphia’s Msgr. William J. Lynn for endangering children by allegedly providing cover for priest pedophiles was recently reversed by a higher court. Lynn, after serving 18 months in jail, is out on bail under house arrest as the district attorney appeals to the state Supreme Court.
The original guilty verdict was, according to The New York Times, “hailed by victims’ rights advocates who have argued for years that senior church officials should be held accountable for concealing evidence and transferring predatory priests to unwary parishes.”
“The revelations of sexual abuse,” the Times noted, “and seeming official indifference have tormented an archdiocese [Philadelphia] that was long known for imperious leaders and an insular camaraderie among its priests.” That defines clericalism, the energy source of clerical culture, that first-class section of the plane from which its members could look back at the everyday Catholics jammed into coach who had to buy their own tickets and pay for the clergy’s, too. That’s how clerical culture understood the phrase, “It is right and just.”
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