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	Sins of the Fathers The Economist March 10, 2011 http://www.economist.com/node/18335284?story_id=18335284&fsrc=rss ASH WEDNESDAY is the first day of Lent, a season of penance and reflection. Fitting then that on March 8th, the day before it, the Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia faced up to its own transgressions and put on administrative leave 21 priests accused of sexually abusing minors. The mass suspension, thought to be the largest of its kind, follows a grand jury report issued last month by the Philadelphia district attorney’s office. The report revealed that as many as 37 priests accused of inappropriate behaviour around children or sexual abuse of minors were still in active ministry even after the archdiocese learned of the allegations. The report outlined some of the sordid acts perpetrated by priests and how the archdiocese endangered the welfare of children by neglect. “Billy”, a ten-year-old boy, was in effect “shared” by at least two priests who raped and abused him a decade ago. Four years earlier, one of the priests had been secretly sent to a sexual-offender treatment centre run by the archdiocese. He was released on condition that he had no contact with adolescents. But he was assigned to a parish with a school and later assigned to another school, where he raped Billy. Many Philadelphia parishioners think the administrators who swept everything under the rug are just as guilty as the abusers. A week after the critical report was released the archdiocese hired Gina Maisto Smith, a former child-abuse prosecutor, along with a forensic psychiatrist to conduct a review of the 37 cases. Cardinal Justin Rigali, who heads the archdiocese, suspended the 21 priests on March 8th on Miss Smith’s recommendation; they were to be named to their parishes on Ash Wednesday. Cardinal Rigali has said he is truly sorry for the harm done to the victims, which he described as a “great evil”. He vows openness and continued co-operation with the district-attorney’s office, which is investigating the allegations. Philadelphia’s faithful are shaken. James Dailey, a Catholic dad, wonders whether his children will be safe at a school where they could come in contact with priests who have not been properly screened. Catholics had been shocked by a grand-jury report in 2005 that condemned the church for ignoring or dismissing complaints against 63 priests in the archdiocese. The Philadelphia allegations are only the latest in a long line of charges that have rocked the church for a decade, causing crowds to leave already emptying pews. Eight dioceses, most recently Milwaukee, have filed for bankruptcy because they have been besieged with lawsuits related to sexual abuse. Cardinal Rigali has invited the faithful to join him in Philadelphia’s cathedral on March 11th for a penitential service. The purpose of the service, he wrote in his Lenten letter, is “the forgiveness of all sins and…reconciliation with God and in the community.” But for the long-ignored victims of abuse, prayers and suspensions are not enough. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a vocal victims’ group, noted cynically that it took two harsh grand-jury reports and four indictments to get a “prince of the church to finally temporarily take more predator priests away from kids.”
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