UNITED STATES
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William D. Lindsey
The Catholic Abuse Crisis: Three Recent Stories — Cardinal Pell (Again) Infuriates Survivors, Bishop Finn Up for Probation, Damning Report on Józef Wesołowski , Former Apostolic Nuncio to Dominican Republic
On the front of the sex-abuse crisis in the Catholic church, there have been several important stories in recent days. I’d like to point readers today to commentary about these stories that I’ve found valuable:
1. First, as Josephine McKenna reports for Religion News Service, a little over a week ago, Cardinal George Pell gave testimony from the Vatican in an Australian government probe seeking to ascertain how the leaders of the Catholic church have (or have not) responded to the sexual abuse of children by priests in Australia. Pell managed to outrage abuse survivors and those who stand with survivors by saying the following (this is McKenna’s summary):
Using a hypothetical example, Pell said the church was no more responsible for cases of child abuse carried out by church figures than a trucking company would be if it employed a driver who molested women.
To which the Brisbane Times responds with this editorial statement:
Leadership is about asking a simple, profound question – ”is this right?” – and then acting appropriately in response. On this measure, Cardinal George Pell, who now resides in the Vatican after his stints as archbishop of Sydney and before that of Melbourne, has serially failed.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.