SAN DIEGO (CA)
Union-Tribune
By Jennifer de Poyen
UNION-TRIBUNE ARTS CRITIC
October 9, 2005
A few years ago, when revelations of sexual abuse catapulted the Catholic Church into deep crisis, Dakin Matthews started scribbling in his notebook.
Much of the news coverage centered on the errant priests and their traumatized victims. But for Matthews, those accounts mostly skirted the fundamental question of how and why church leaders came to protect the small but pernicious group of men who preyed on children in their charge.
"Beyond the horrors and devastation of the abusers' actions, the really shocking thing was that just about a hundred percent of Catholic bishops participated in the cover-up," Matthews said during a recent conversation at the Old Globe, where his "Prince of L.A." – the play that resulted from all that soul-searching – is on view through Oct. 30.