BishopAccountability.org
	The Church's Pedophiles The Morning Call [Philadelphia PA] September 15, 2006 http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/OPINION/609150303 The Catholic Church has struggled in recent years with the question of what to do with pedophile priests. The long-whispered rumors burst into full-fledged scandal a few years ago, with hundreds of priests accused. Some were arrested and convicted. Many more, beyond the statute of limitations for prosecution or too old or infirm to be kicked out, have been kept in an unholy limbo. They're on the payroll but can't act as priests. They have to let church officials know where they're living. That's hardly dealing with the issue. Recently, the New York Archdiocese, which includes much of this region, has joined a few others in putting pressure on some of its accused abusers. The Shepherd Program is aimed at priests referred by lay advisory boards or the old and infirm convicted in canonical trials. It forces them to choose between a life of indefinite therapy and tightly supervised living, and leaving the church. As an effort to protect society and balance the ledger, it's better than limbo. But five of the first seven given the option turned in their collars, meaning they are free to do what they do, but they're out of the church's hair. U.S. Catholic bishops have moved to reform the church and avoid future sexual-abuse scandals, but they must do more to deal with the remains of the current one. To his credit, Cardinal Edward Egan of the New York Archdiocese has made the Shepherd Program public. It was the church's secrecy and denial that allowed its pedophiles to prey on innocents for years.
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