There are distressing reports emerging from the state of Pennsylvania in the United States that show the officials of the Roman Catholic church were at least lax, certainly subversive and most probably both criminally negligent and culpable when it came to protecting priests who had been involved in sexual assaults and molestation of more than 1,000 children over which they were in positions of moral leadership or pastoral care.
For these children, there are profound obstacles that must be faced now over the courses of their lifetimes. Some will get through this, others will not, and some will sadly follow the course taken by so many others who have been victims in similar cases, and endure to a litany of broken relationships, succumbing to addictions or indeed suicide.
For the men of supposed faith who used their positions of authority to satisfy their sexual deviances, they must face justice sooner than later. And even then, those legal penalties do not generally match the gravity of their crimes and the grievous damage done. For the Roman Catholic church, this scandal is but the latest of too many over too many years and in too many places. For a religion that places emphasis on forgiveness and the redemption of sinners, its silence has betrayed every victim of priestly paedophilia.
Pope Francis is a leader who generally pricks the moral conscience of his church. Yet, on this issue, he hasn’t been prompt enough to ensure that the perpetrators are rooted out and held accountable. He visits Ireland next week, a nation that knows all too well the dark suffering inflicted by the institution he leads. He would do well to address this shameful issue then.
