TACOMA (WA)
The News Tribune
December 13, 2018
Editorial Board
Bellarmine Preparatory School, a Tacoma institution since 1928, turned a harsh but necessary spotlight on itself last Friday when it shared information on 23 disgraced Catholic priests and non-ordained brothers previously assigned to the Bellarmine community. All were “credibly accused” of sexual abuse at some point in their Jesuit careers.
Publicly identifying these alleged offenders was the right thing to do. In fact, it was long overdue. Silence and secrecy should no longer be an option. As Bellarmine President Robert Modarelli said in a statement, for too long this scandal has been allowed to “fester unchecked.”
The private school just off South Union Avenue took a lesson from its own Jesuit catechism: Covering up sin only invites more of it.
To date, there is no information tying these men to crimes in the Bellarmine community, and Modarelli says no victims had come forward as of Thursday. It’s unclear how many of the men worked on campus versus serving in other local Jesuit ministries, but all lived within proximity of thousands of area children.
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