Two weeks before his retirement, Cardinal Francis George finally released the names of 36 priests who were accused of child abuse. Where was that list years earlier, when law enforcement may have been able to properly investigate the alleged abuses?
These alleged occurrences go back as far as 1960. While no one on this latest list are still actively involved in the priesthood, and many have died, what damage may they have done during the time the Catholic Church knew of the allegations?
By the very act of removing these individuals from the priesthood, it appears the church felt the priests were not innocent. Yet did they ever report this to the proper authorities? That alone seems as if the church may have have been hiding important information from law enforcement.
This delay by the church is unacceptable. It is as much a violation against public trust as the actual acts of abuse themselves.
What else does the church know that hasn’t been brought to the attention of the proper authorities? Must we wait another decade to find out?
And the church wonders why they continue to lose parishioners each year. It needs to look within before guiding others.
— Charles Kliche, Lombard
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