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	The First Response to Priests" Sex Abuse By Steve Chapman Chicago Tribune April 13, 2010 http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/steve_chapman/2010/04/the-first-reponse-to-priests-sex-abuse-.html A lot of what goes on in the Catholic church, or any church, is mostly the business of its leaders and its faithful. If the church doesn't want to allow priests to marry, or if it chooses to refuse communion to advocates of abortion rights, people outside the fold really have no right to interfere. But sexual abuse of children by priests is not a matter of sin or heresy. It's a crime. And yesterday -- finally -- the Vatican agreed it should be treated that way. Such behavior is beyond the scope of the church's responsibility. Violations of criminal laws are not matters merely for internal discipline. When a bishop gets a report that Father Flanagan has been molesting 2nd-graders, the first thing he should do is not sit down for a talk with the priest. The first thing he should do is call the cops. That's the official policy of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, adopted in 2002 following scandalous revelations about the coverup of child abuse by clergy. And I gather it has been followed as a general rule. But the Vatican has been so quiet on the issue that when I asked a spokesperson for the American bishops a couple of weeks ago if it had the same policy, she didn't know. Now, we all know. It said on Monday that "civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed." Saying that church officials shouldn't violate the law to protect accused abusers may not sound like much, but it beats the old policy of equivocation. It would be even better, of course, if the rule were to report allegations even if the civil law doesn't require it. God and the Pope can deal with sinners. But for criminals, I'd rather trust the state's attorney.
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