PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelpia Inquirer
The kids are not all right. And it's the grown-ups' fault.
In the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, many children were abused by predators into whose pastoral care they were placed.
Then the children were failed by church higher-ups who ignored and, in some instances, helped hide reports of abuse by moving clergy without alerting authorities.
Now it appears that these victims have been failed by the legal system.
That's the disheartening disclosure from a Philadelphia grand jury investigating sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy.
As reported yesterday by The Inquirer, the grand jury - following nearly three long years of work - will detail abuses by more than 50 priests. Out of all those cases, though, not one new criminal charge will be pursued.
The grand jury report by District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham's staff won't be out for some weeks. It's important to reserve judgment until then on whether the decision to file no charges was sound.
To the extent that the grand jury report may document how church officials shielded abusers, and blast them for that, it could provide some justice for sex-abuse victims. Goodness knows, those victims are due at least that vindication.