BishopAccountability.org
	Carroll: a Ruthless Rush to Judgment By Vincent Carroll Denver Post April 14, 2010 http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_14877200 One week ago, a priest in Denver was accused of sexually abusing a minor in the early 1970s. The very next day he was sackedwithdrawn from active ministry and, as the Denver archdiocese's press release says, stripped of "his priestly faculties." Three days later both the complaint and the archdiocese's response were announced to the world. Now that's taking abuse allegations seriously. Is there any other institution or employer that would act this decisively on the basis of a single, uncorroborated accusation dating back decades? Let's hope not. It's understandable that church officials feel obliged to take such ruthless action given the debacle of the sexual abuse scandal. If they didn't, they'd be accused of a cover-up. But the policy — in place since 2002 — is draconian and would trigger indignation if imposed anywhere else. By contrast, for example, the Colorado Education Association and the Colorado Association of School Boards are fighting a proposal before the state Board of Education today to require districts to notify parents after a school employee has actually been arrested or charged with a serious crime. It's unfair to reputations, critics maintain. So how does the 74-year-old Father Mel Thompson get his reputation back if this single accusation is both the beginning and end of the saga? The same thought apparently occurred to some parishioners at St. Thomas More, prompting Archbishop Charles Chaput to respond Monday to those who "have voiced their frustration with the speed and 'unfairness' of the archdiocesan response . . . ." Chaput explained the sacking of Thompson was necessary "to serve the safety of our people, and to respect the suffering and dignity of victims." Chaput said Thompson "has no previous allegation of any sexual misconduct with a minor in his priestly history; in fact, any priest who did, would not be allowed to minister in the archdiocese." Is there something else in Thompson's file we haven't been told about that raises concern? Whatever the answer, the policy is clear: a single "credible" allegation — which apparently means someone with no obvious ax to grind, who can demonstrate past proximity to the accused — triggers the workplace equivalent of the nuclear option. It's possible, of course, that others will now step forward with credible claims against Thompson, in which case the complexion of his fate will change. But until then, his lightning removal is a warning to other priests of their own vulnerability. They owe that vulnerability to two groups. The first, of course, is comprised of those bishops who covered up accusations or actual knowledge of child abuse while shunting depraved priests from parish to parish in an effort to protect the church's reputation and in the futile hope that the culprits could be reformed. The most reckless of these prelates, such as Cardinal Bernard Law (who resigned in 2002 from his post in Boston only to resurface in Rome as archpriest of a basilica), have never been held accountable for the trauma they inflicted on victims or the damage they did to their church. The other group is an insatiable alliance of victims groups, trial lawyers and professional church haters for whom no reform or apology is sufficient and no compensation enough. This coalition portrays the church as a gaggle of pedophiles, never mentions that "more abuse occurred in the 1970s than any other decade, peaking in 1980" (to quote a 2004 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice) and that alleged abuse incidents for most of the past two decades have been about as low as one could reasonably expect from such a large institution. "Chaput should personally visit every parish where this credibly accused predator worked and beg victims and witnesses to call police and get help," one such critic told this newspaper. In fact, a letter outlining Thompson's case and asking those "with concerns" about his conduct to come forward was to have been read at those parishes on Sunday. That may not qualify as "beg," but its effect should be the same. Contact: vcarroll@denverpost.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.