'Unindicted Co-Conspirator': a Deserved Label

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
January 28, 2012

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_778751.html

A prosecutor calling the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia an unindicted co-conspirator in child sexual abuse is an overdue rebuke of systemic church sickness.

During a pretrial hearing involving a priest and a former priest accused of pedophilia and a monsignor charged with "conspiring with priests and church officials to keep priests accused of sex abuse in ministry and parishioners in the dark," the judge asked if prosecutors consider the archdiocese an unindicted co-conspirator, The Associated Press reports.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Cipolletti replied, "Certainly. It's not like there aren't other people (in the archdiocese) involved. There absolutely are."

"Other people" include 63 Philly priests named in a 2005 grand jury report on pedophilia but not charged due to "legal time limits."

And Cardinal Justin Rigali and predecessor Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, whose handling of pedophile priests was blasted in a February 2011 grand jury report that found insufficient evidence to charge them.

The Philly archdiocese deserves unindicted co-conspirator status for denial and delay that enables pedophiles, helping them elude charges. Prosecutors must bring to justice all priests and church officials culpable for such horrific crimes.