Philadelphia Catholics Said to Be in Crisis over Cardinal Rigali, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 30, 2011

Philadelphia Catholics Said to Be in Crisis over Cardinal Rigali

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 30, 2011

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/deb-peterson/article_a39ac40e-a355-11e0-807c-0019bb30f31a.html

Cardinal Justin Rigali

RIGALI'S RULE: An article in the current issue of Philadelphia magazine entitled "Catholics in Crisis: Sex and Deception in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia," offers an explosive look at the church and at Cardinal Justin Rigali's reign in that city.

Rigali was Archbishop of St. Louis from 1994 to 2003, after which he was ordained a cardinal and named to succeed Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua in Philadelphia. The article details the district attorney's release in February of a grand jury report about local Catholic priests sexually abusing minors.

Philadelphia was rocked by a similar report in 2005, which had included information about Bevilacqua directing a cover up of the abuse -- and then how the abuse had continued. The February report was similar and said the archdiocese had allowed 37 alleged pedophile priests to continue ministering to children.

Rigali denied the report was true but after an internal examination dismissed 21 of the priests, according to the magazine article.

Author Robert Hubner describes Rigali as "timid" and writes that the Cardinal is "is particularly unsuited to deal with a problem so scandalous and unseemly."

He adds that Rigali "has inflamed the crisis by not stepping up, by not radically changing the way abusive priests are handled ..." and says further that "radical change is diamatrically opposed to Rigali's nature."

Hubner says another reason Rigali may not effectively be dealing with the crisis is that the cardinal, now 76, "appears to want to get back to Rome -- where his gray presence is suited for behind-the-scenes work."

In the comments section of the online posting of the story, St. Louis' David Clohessy, director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), asks for anyone with information about clergy sex crimes to contact his organization.