UNITED STATES
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
From the Journal Sentinel
Last Updated: Dec. 19, 2004
“Trust but verify” was a sound basis for policy when President Reagan applied it toward the former Soviet Union. It would be an equally sound policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to adopt toward the 195 Catholic dioceses across the country. Instead, the conference seems to be moving toward a policy of “just trust,” something that may not be very reassuring for victims of clergy sexual abuse, the general public or parishioners in the pews.
Last month, the bishops decided to reduce the number of U.S. dioceses that will receive full on-site audits of their child protection programs next year. We don’t agree with some critics that this is a signal the bishops are abandoning their promise to deal seriously with clergy who abuse children and with church officials who provide cover for the abusers. We do think that most bishops, like Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan, are sincere in their desire to protect children.
But we’re not sure those bishops realize how much work remains to be done to re-establish public trust in the church, and we suspect the new policy is a turn in the wrong direction.
Posted by kshaw at December 20, 2004 10:39 AM