ALLENTOWN (PA)
The Morning Call
September 20, 2018
By Paul Muschick
Sexual abuse of children by priests finally is being taken seriously in Pennsylvania, and hopefully elsewhere, since last month’s grand jury report exposed the enormity of the problem and the extent of the cover-up.
The change in attitude is long overdue. But let’s be careful not to overdo it.
As new investigations are launched based on the flood of complaints made after the grand jury report, let’s not forget that accused clergy are entitled to due process. They shouldn’t be presumed guilty by association.
Last week, two priests who had been accused were cleared.
The Berks County district attorney cleared the Rev. David C. Gillis, an Allentown diocesan priest serving in Cocoa Beach, Fla. He had been suspended after a complaint to the state’s child abuse hotline by the father of a woman who said she had been sexually abused as a child. The woman told investigators she wasn’t abused by Gillis. The church lifted his suspension last week and allowed him to return to church duties.
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