UNITED STATES
News 24 (South Africa)
An extraordinary report has emerged from the US about a court case where a person who was abused by a Catholic priest as a child is claiming redress from the church.
Incredibly, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson testified that he wasn’t sure whether it was illegal for priests to have sex with children while he served as chancellor of the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese.
Q. Archbishop, you knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a kid?
A. I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not. I understand today it’s a crime.
Q. When did you first discern that it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a kid?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. When did you first discern that it was a crime for a priest to engage in sex with a kid who he had under his control?
A. I don’t remember that either.
Q. Do you have any doubt in your mind that you knew that in the ’70s?
A. I don’t remember if I did or didn’t.
How can any adult, let alone an archbishop, not know that it is wrong, that is is a crime, to have sex with children?
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