WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post
March 27, 2019
By Michelle Boorstein
U.S. Catholics know they are in the thick of a clergy sexual abuse crisis, but that’s where agreement ends. When the abuse topic exploded in the church in the early 2000s, everyone knew the focus was stopping the shuffling around and coverup of priests abusing children.
In 2019, there’s a void. With that lack of consensus, many parish priests are saying little about the crisis.
Into that space, some Catholic universities are plunging with new abuse-related academic credentialing programs, million-dollar research grants and conferences – all related to exploring clergy abuse. Among the conferences was one this week at the Catholic University of America, which is run by U.S. bishops, about the “root causes” of the crisis. It featured something Catholics don’t see often: Experts with totally different points of view on the topic sharing a stage at a prominent Catholic institution.
The University of Notre Dame will offer up to a $1 million for research related to abuse. Santa Clara University is asking if the West Coast has a particular perspective on abuse, with its large population of Latino Catholics and Catholics from other countries around the world.
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