MIDLAND (TX)
Midland Daily News
July 20, 2019
By Richard Luczak
To the editor:
My Catholic Church is in a deep crisis over sexual abuse. To stabilize the Church and help to restore confidence and to protect adults and children, I propose the following: All deacons, priests and bishops should be required to submit to a psychological exam (MPPI or better), polygraph testing, drug testing and periodic police background checks in order to stay in active ministry.
The basis for this is last year’s police sting that caught 72-year-old the Rev. Robert DeLand, Diocese of Saginaw, in an illegal sexual assault, which has landed him in prison. As I recall, DeLand was in parish ministry and youth counseling at a local high school, and he was on the diocesan marriage tribunal. There you go — neither age nor stature nor years of service nor popularity, etc., is any barrier to a sexual predator. Hence, I urge the message get out to start demanding this universal testing of church clerics.
RICHARD LUCZAK
Bay City
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