By Cathy Lynn Grossman
USA Today
December 7, 2011
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2011/12/penn-state-sex-abuse-bishop-dolan/1
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The top U.S. Catholic bishop cheered news today that Penn State will establish a national center to combat and treat child sexual abuse and pledged to help.
Today, in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, The Penn State President Rodney Erickson said the university would create the Center for the Protection of Children to conduct research and provide treatment to sex abuse victims across the country.
N.Y. Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told me in an email today,
I say Bravo! It sounds as if Penn State is doing what the Catholic Bishops did a decade ago, when we bishops committed ourselves to confront the scourge of sexual abuse of children, to research the causes of this terrible cultural and societal problem that tragically touches all areas of society, and to provide education and training to help eliminate this terrible crime and sin.
We have done extensive research, and would be happy to share with Penn State what we've learned, or to participate in this proposed center in any way that we can . We know that the problem of sexual abuse is not limited to any one group, and as I mentioned a few weeks ago in Baltimore, we stand ready to join with others who are committed to combating the problem."At the bishops' annual conference last month Dolan has said he would "exuberantly welcome" a " major national educational campaign" to prevent abuse, and the Church would work with any institutions that work with children to tackle this society-wide problem.
The bishops met just as news of allegations against former Penn State football defensive coach Jerry Sandusky hit the headlines.
DO YOU THINK... good can come from the scandals that rocked the Church and the university?
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