BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Adrian Walker, Globe Columnist | January 26, 2006
Disappointment mixed with fury in Senator Marian Walsh's voice yesterday after it became obvious that her bill calling for financial disclosure by churches was well on its way to being crushed.
It was artful, really, the way the opponents of the bill had orchestrated their efforts and convinced nearly everyone that the vote remained close, the better to keep their supporters united and energized.
''This is our process; I accept that," said Walsh, a West Roxbury Democrat. ''But we have a lot of public charities that are accountable to no one."
Not long ago, the clergy sexual abuse scandal was widely believed to have severely diluted the influence wielded on Beacon Hill by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
Yesterday, that theory was forcefully consigned to the recycle bin.