SYRACUSE (NY)
Syracuse.com

February 17, 2018

By Dave Pasinski

“The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.” This poignant phrase from T.S. Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral” sets a high bar for the motivation for any worthy action. Yet, since the time of Sigmund Freud, most psychologists would recognize that nearly all actions have roots that are ambiguously intertwined.

Therefore, as The Post-Standard editorial stated well, the fact that the Diocese of Syracuse is now attempting to make a good-faith “reparation” for the exploitation of the many known victims of clerical sexual abuse is an important step, even as serious questions of motivation and justice persist.

It is certainly understandable that victims, their advocates and many others of good will may also question the motivation that accompanies this program. If it is an attempt to simply close a window that would…