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	McCormack Should Resign Eagle-Tribune [New Hampshire] March 31, 2006 http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/15/etstory.pl? -sec-Editorial+fn-fn-nhedit1.0331-20060331-fn Yesterday's release of the state's first audit of the Manchester Catholic Diocese's sexual-abuse prevention efforts raises once again the question of why the church allows John B. McCormack to continue as bishop. His central role in the clergy sex-abuse scandal taints the moral authority of his position. He should do the right thing and resign. As a top deputy to the disgraced former archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, McCormack was a key enabler of the massive and prolonged mistreatment of children, the revelation of which so shook and disgusted the region, the nation and the world. Assigned to "investigate" abuse charges against priests, he accepted their denials of sexual involvement with children at face value, put too much faith in their potential for rehabilitation, and worst of all, participated in shuffling abusive priests off to other parishes, where they preyed on new crops of victims. McCormack was promoted to bishop in 1998, largely due to Law's influence with the Vatican, and in Manchester continued the pattern of cover-up until the worldwide scandal broke. In 2002, he was a party to the historic settlement with the state of New Hampshire, essentially a plea bargain that let the church avoid criminal prosecution for failing to do anything about known abusers. Many of the incidents predated his appointment as bishop After the fact, McCormack apologized to the victims and condemned sexual abuse, actions that ring hollow in light of his years of service as Law's fixer. And he's stayed well under the radar for the last three years as attorneys and a host of surrogates wrangled with the state over the cost of the audit, a major condition of the settlement. He's kept to business as usual, perhaps in hopes that if ignored for long enough, the public will just forget about his actions. Forgiveness is a key virtue of Christianity. While his actions might be forgiven, they should not be forgotten. The decades of misdeeds — not just those of the abusers, but also their superiors who covered up the problems — have cost the church immeasurably. The millions of dollars paid in settlements to victims and their families have forced the closing of parishes and selling of church property. But worse, those offenses have bred widespread cynicism about the church, and cast shame and suspicion on the majority of decent priests. In government or business, heads would roll. But the Vatican seems tone-deaf to the public's anger, apparently figuring it will blow over eventually. Law was driven from Boston in disgrace after his incompetence, secrecy and uncaring attitude let the scandal get out of control. But he retains his rank in the church and is comfortably stashed away in a sinecure position in Rome, where he still hobnobs with the faith's top hierarchy. It's much the same for McCormack, comfortably entrenched in Manchester, who has suffered no real consequences for his central role in the problem. The need for a change in leadership is underscored by some of the audit findings reported yesterday. Three years after the settlement, the Manchester Diocese is still not doing things as basic as making sure criminal background checks are run on everyone who works with children. McCormack gives no indication he'll go willingly. Newly named Cardinal Sean O'Malley should use his influence in Rome to seek McCormack's ouster.
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