A New Scapegoat

By Barbara Dorris
SNAP
February 1, 2013

http://www.snapnetwork.org/ca_a_new_scapegoat

Vindictive victims, greedy lawyers, salacious reporters, inept therapists, unfair laws - these are among the many targets of Cardinal Roger Mahony's favorite hobby - blaming others for his archdiocese's on-going clergy sex crimes and cover up crisis.

Today, he's added another culprit: his allegedly poor education.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, Mahony writes on his personal blog that "Nothing in my own background or education equipped me to deal with this grave problem. In graduate school earning a Master’s Degree in Social Work, no textbook and no lecture ever referred to the sexual abuse of children."

[http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/mahony-responds-ban-not-once-did-successor-raise-questions]

This may well be Mahony’s wildest claim yet. Even grade school drop outs know that laws prohibit child sex crimes and that when we know about or suspect child sex crimes, we are supposed to call the police. Period.

When Mahony was in school, there was probably no mention of gang rape or identity theft or child porn either. So because Mahony took no course in these crimes, it’s OK if he enables and conceals them?

Just in case this “poor education” excuse doesn’t fly, Mahony tosses out a few of his old favorites again, taking yet another swipe at the often-Catholic therapists he picked and paid to allegedly “evaluate” pedophile priests (and who often seemed to give Mahony the ‘diagnosis’ that coincidently seemed to be advantageous to him).

And he repeats in his claim that his understanding of sex abuse “evolved” over the years. But what about his understanding of a fundamental duty of citizenship? Namely, when did Mahony understand that child sexual abuse was against the law? At that point, he clearly had a duty to start calling 911. But Mahony doesn’t ever explain when he “evolved” to the point where he realized what laws are and what police do and why we imprison criminals and when responsible adults call 911. . .