MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: EDITORIAL BOARD , Star Tribune Updated: October 13, 2014
Nothing about the settlement announced Monday in a lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis can erase the years of pain suffered by victims of child abuse.
Nothing written on paper can undo the crimes committed by clergy members who preyed on those who trusted them as spiritual guides, only to have that trust broken by sexual predators wearing clerical collars.
The courageous victims who have pursued justice in the face of decades of stonewalling by the Roman Catholic Church deserve most of the credit for the child protection plan revealed Monday — not the lawyers or church leaders who forged the agreement. “Awareness is a painful process,” Vicar General Charles Lachowitzer said at a news conference in St. Paul. “We are humiliated.”
Humiliation is what too many victims of clergy abuse have felt — sometimes in silence and alone — for far too long. Like them, we want to believe the settlement signals a new era for the church — not only in Minnesota but in archdioceses across the country. But we remain skeptical.
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