ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
December 13, 2018
By David Andreatta
In recently purging another priest from the Diocese of Rochester who was found to have abused children, Bishop Salvatore Matano issued a statement pledging to continue “the many important initiatives we have undertaken” to protect young and vulnerable people.
Among those were the creation of an independent review board to probe sex abuse allegations and advise the diocese; mandatory background checks for clerics and others in the diocese who work with children; and an established code of conduct.
Such initiatives are worthwhile, but they’ve done little to bring justice to victims and even less to restore the shattered confidence in the Catholic Church felt by many of the faithful.
For that, two things need to happen — one plausible, one implausible, and both necessary.
First, the implausible.
There needs to be a public airing of how so many pedophiles got into the priesthood, how so many bishops looked the other way, and how revelations of clerical abuse and cover-ups are still surfacing after journalists peeled back the first layer of the onion 17 years ago.
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