SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle Times
Editorial
Ecclesiastical process is a tiresome, worn-out dodge used by American Catholic bishops to paper over virtually every step of the sexual-abuse scandal by priests.
Two years ago, Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett offered a pithy observation that suggested he shared the frustration of the laity with bishops who spoke one way and acted another: "Our people are waiting for some kind of sign at all that we recognize we have some culpability in this matter," he said.
Now it appears Brunett is backsliding himself, delaying the release of a half-dozen names of offending priests until after the Vatican has looked at their cases.
The archbishop rightly has been challenged by the diocese's own independent review board, which looked at local cases of priests accused of sexual abuse. Brunett is trying to shoulder aside a distinguished and credentialed panel of Catholics and non-Catholics worried about the future of the church and the treatment of the scandal's victims.
Posted by kshaw at December 23, 2004 08:36 AM