Opinion piece: Catholic Church hierarchy is accountable for child abuse

Letter to the editor, published in The News Journal, May 10, 2007

It is interesting that the only Catholic Church group not maligned and held up for blame or responsibility in a full-page advertisement May 4 was the hierarchy, the bishops. The bishops are responsible for the position the institutional church finds itself in today, no one else.

The bishops and their enablers covered up horrible crimes to save an institution from scandal rather than protect innocent children. Such despicable assaults were always wrong and cannot be blamed on society, homosexuals or the Age of Aquarius.

This advertisement is simply untrue. More than that, it appears to be an attempt to scare faithful Christians into believing that the charitable and good works of the church will stop. They will not; religious people will not succumb to propaganda. They demand honesty and accountability.

Until church leaders admit to pervasive hubris which allowed abusive priests to continue in their perfidy long after their crimes were known by authorities, it will be difficult to re-establish either the institution’s credibility or their own. Absent that, reconciliation and healing will not happen.

I believe the House of Representatives will pass Senate Bill 29 with the support of citizens and religious denominations because it is the right thing to do.

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish, New Castle