SEATTLE (WA)
Post-Intelligencer
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
The majority on a prestigious citizen review panel has signed an alarming letter to Seattle Archbishop Alex Brunett highly critical of his approach to dealing with the reality of child sexual abuse by priests.
After studying the allegations of priests abusing children in the Seattle Archdiocese, seven of the 10 members of the Case Review Board endorsed the letter. Board member Mike McKay, former U.S. attorney, said Brunett's approach "suggests a lack of diligence."
The board chairman, retired King County Superior Court Judge Terrence Carroll, said Brunett had shown a "tendency to minimize things" on the child abuse issue. McKay said the archbishop tried to blunt the tenor of the board's final report and even refused to publish it until the members threatened to resign in protest. The letter said Brunett was trying to silence "disagreements or potentially unfavorable analyses of Archdiocesan actions."
These allegations are appalling.