BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese's Court Fight Sent Wrong Message The Day October 8, 2009 http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=cd936da1-4ba0-4efe-8498-adce651c59e6 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport made the wrong decision in trying to block access to state court documents associated with a series of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by priests. It contradicted the church's claim that it wanted to learn from past mistakes and end the secrecy that allowed the aberrant behavior to go on far too long. Instead the long fight to keep the records closed came across as the same old cover-up mentality, the same priority of protecting church leaders. People need to know exactly what happened before they can judge whether steps taken to prevent any recurrences are adequate. But thankfully the eight-year legal battle appears at an end. In May the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld a lower-court ruling that called for opening the files. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to issue a stay of the decision, meaning it will likely not take up the appeal filed by the diocese. A status conference is set for Nov. 9 to discuss a process for releasing the information. In reality, little new is expected. The depositions by Bishop Edward Egan, who became Cardinal Egan before retiring, were leaked to the Hartford Courant. They showed he knowingly transferred priests accused of molesting children to different parishes, a troubling policy once seen across the country. While those policies have changed, the reluctance to confront the past forthrightly is troubling. This was an unnecessary court fight
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