Clips and Quips Oct. 6, 2018

St. Joseph News Press
October 6, 2018

http://www.newspressnow.com/clips-and-quips-oct/article_678b4725-f1c4-52ed-82d1-1c4fcf31bc4e.html

The Kansas City Star, on Hawley should investigate Catholic Church in missouri:

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has promised a thorough investigation of sexual abuse allegations lodged against priests and clergy in the Catholic Church.

Missourians should expect such an investigation, comparable to the recent investigation in Pennsylvania that exposed decades of abuse and maltreatment by priests.

If Hawley needs the power to subpoena church records, he should seek it — and get it.

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests held a news conference Wednesday imploring Gov. Mike Parson to provide Hawley with such authority.

The group thinks a full investigation should not rely on the voluntary cooperation of the institutions being investigated.

Church officials have promised to cooperate with Hawley, who announced his investigation in August. All four Catholic dioceses in Missouri, including the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese, have agreed to an independent review by the attorney general.

If criminal charges are warranted, they should be pursued.

The time for obfuscation and misdirection by prosecutors and government officials is over. Missourians want to know the facts, and their government should provide those facts as quickly and thoroughly as possible.