PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The News Journal
09/23/2005A Philadelphia grand jury jolted that city's Catholic hierarchy this week with scathing criticism of priestly abuse and ecclesiastical corruption. The grand jury has been meeting for three years, so the extent of the report was not surprising. It's intensity, however, was shocking.
No indictments were handed up because of the statute of limitations on the crimes involved. But the jurors did not temper their language in condemning the priests who abused children. Their harshest words were directed against the leaders of the Philadelphia church, the men who had the chance to stop the abuse but didn't.
Cardinals John Krol and Anthony Bevilacqua were excoriated for their criminal coverups. No amount of apologizing by current leaders will wipe away such betrayal of the church's own teachings.
If the grand jury's findings are correct, and we have no reason to doubt them, it is clear that there were more victims than just the boys and girls who were abused by a handful of priests. The victims include the faithful who believed in the leadership. Other priests especially were victimized by the leadership.