TOWN AND COUNTRY (MO)
Gorovsky Law
August 14, 2018
By Nicole Gorovsky
Dear Roman Catholic Church – Please stop saying that childhood sexual abuse in your ranks is in the past…
Today a Grand Jury in Pennsylvania released a report showing over 300 predator priests in just that state and detailing that there are over 1,000 victims. From my work as a lawyer for childhood sexual abuse victims who have sued priests and the roman catholic church in Missouri, I know that if those are the cases that the church are willing to admit as “credibly accused,” there are likely many more than that.
More importantly, people need to know that the abuse scandal in the church is not a story of the past. It is not something from which the church has learned and improved. The scandal is not anywhere near over.
CNN quoted a Pennsylvania Bishop today as stating that the grand jury report “will be a reminder of the grave failings that the church must acknowledge and for which it must seek forgiveness.” What a poignant statement. It sounds like he has empathy for the victims of the past. But, listen closer – his statement is really propaganda by the church to subtly convince people that child abuse within the church is a thing of the past. He talks about it in the past tense…it will be a reminder of the grave failings… Notice he didn’t say “we must do better…” in the present tense. The Church has been doing this for years – with each new child who comes forward they say – “that was in the past, we’re better now.” This has been a repeated mantra for many years now and it’s time to notice.
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