ARIZONA
Arizona Republic
By Michael ClancyThe Republic | azcentral.com
Sun Apr 7, 2013
More than 2 1/2 years have passed since Mike Pain reported an allegation of abuse against the Rev. Jack Spaulding to the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.
The report led to a civil lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court and a canon-law case in Vatican offices, both of which remain unresolved.
Both cases show the church’s reluctance to deal openly with the issues, said Patrick Wall, a former priest who now is an investigator in clergy-abuse cases.
“I don’t think they have the ability to improve the situation,” Wall said of church officials. He said he believes if church leaders were thorough in dealing with sex-related cases, the church would lose so many priests that it would be hard to continue.
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