BishopAccountability.org
	New Beginning Philly Burbs July 24, 2011 http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/opinion/editorials/new-beginning/article_c8ac1ba7-b582-5f7f-a24d-37ff7ff0b051.html Cardinal Justin Rigali, spiritual leader of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since 2003, has been replaced, bringing to an end to a troubled tenure stained by the continuing scandal of proven and suspected child sex abuse by ordained priests. Rigali, 76, submitted his resignation last year when he turned 75, as required by church law. But Pope Benedict XVI is just now acting on it. Only the Vatican can explain the timing, although Rigali's connection with the arrest of several priests, his suspension of almost two dozen more and the allegations of widespread and systematic cover-up of predatory priests likely had very much to do with it. The sex scandal didn't originate during Rigali's stay. A grand jury in 2005 said two former cardinals, Anthony Bevilacqua (1988-2003) and John Krol (1961-1988), both were aware that priests were abusing children but hid the crimes by shuffling the clerics among various parishes. Rigali, then, inherited the explosive revelation of abuse that had been kept secret for almost a half-century. A second grand jury report earlier this year gave accounts of several dozen priests more recently being kept in assignments that exposed them to children despite "substantial evidence of abuse." Rigali's suspension of priests following the report was generally regarded as a too-little-too-late response, and he found himself implicated in the court of public opinion as one more high-ranking church official who chose to look the other way rather than forcefully confront and expose priests who had betrayed their vows by preying on innocent children. A precipitous decline in parochial school enrollment in the diocese over the past decade — perhaps not caused but certainly accelerated by the abuse cases — also weighed heavily on Rigali. He thus leaves his post under a dark cloud, the good he has done for Catholics in the archdiocese overshadowed by the ungodly actions of some trusted ministers of the faith and their superiors who tried to protect them. Named to replace Rigali is Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, described as a staunch conservative. Clearly, Archbishop Chaput should not automatically be burdened with the baggage of those he follows. But just as clearly, he is coming into a difficult situation.The Catholics he will lead, and those of other faiths as well, should pray that God gives him the strength and guidance to succeed where his predecessors failed.
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