BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald
December 17, 2017
By Ray Flynn
The Vatican is vowing to closely review the findings of a scathing report released last week by Australia’s Royal Commission that blames “catastrophic failures of leadership” within the Catholic Church for the institutional sexual abuse of children by priests over a 90-year period.
In response to the findings, the Vatican reiterated its commitment to helping the victims find healing and justice but didn’t comment on the commission’s 189 recommendations. They included a request that the Holy See consider allowing voluntary celibacy among clergy members and punishing priests who fail to report those who admit to abusing kids during the rite of confession.
I think most fair and objective people, including many Catholics, would agree that the failure to protect children from pedophile priests was an abomination. They’ll also tell you that the Catholic Church has made great progress in ensuring the atrocities committed by predatory priests are never repeated.
But it’s clear to me that there’s no link between celibacy and the sexual abuse of kids and I believe the sanctity of the confessional must be protected.
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