The Catholic Church is in crisis. It needs a thorough house cleaning — of any and all clergy (no matter what their status in the church) who contributed to the cover-up of this scandal of abuse within its ranks.
Since many of these men can no longer be held accountable in the civil court, perhaps the church should beef up its ecclesiastical court to subpoena, try and convict them.
Many seminaries throughout the country are empty (in part because of the actions of the abusers), so these buildings and grounds could be repurposed as Ecclesiastical Incarceration Centers. Once convicted, the abusers/abettors would be permanently removed from all interaction with the public at no additional cost to the laity. They could face each other every day and ask, “Father, have you no sense of decency? Have you no shame?”
Oh yes! There will be a temporary shortage of Catholic clergy, but this can be remedied by welcoming those priests who resigned to get married back into full priesthood while women study toward ordination to replace the abusers.
— Mary Ann Kehl, Wilmette
