babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Archdiocese of Philadelphia Removes Priests Accused of Molestation
21 out of 37 is not enough.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has placed 21 priests on administrative leave who have been accused of inappropriate relationships with children in response to a grand jury report released February 10th “that found that 37 priests, accused or suspected of misbehavior with children, were serving in ministry,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The archdiocese even hired a former sex crimes prosecutor to rid the Church of the priests named in the grand jury’s report as a way of cleaning up its image. It’s unclear, then, why only 21 of 37 accused or suspected priests have been removed from service.
The Inquirer says, “On the day the grand jury report was released, Cardinal Justin Rigali issued a brief response saying that ‘there are no archdiocesan priests in ministry today who have an admitted or established allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against them.’ ” Clearly, that statement was not true. Rigali said in a statement today, “I know that for many people their trust in the Church has been shaken. I pray that the efforts of the Archdiocese to address these cases of concern and to re-evaluate our way of handling allegations will help rebuild that trust in truth and justice.”
Yeah, totally. I always trust someone immediately after they’ve just been proven not only to have ignored abuses but then to have lied about them. This is why I am – like so many of the people I was raised with – totally disinterested in anything the Catholic Church has to say. In a way, that’s a shame, but men like Rigali have only reinforced my opinion of the Church, despite their “best efforts.” The abuses of priests and the way they have been ignored by the Church for decades now – that’s most certainly shameful.
Related Posts :
Go Back To Strollerderby
2 Comments
Citizen Mom commented on Mar 09 11 at 9:50 pmWhy haven’t there been any arrests? Why do they get to hire a prosecutor? If this happened in any other institution, there’d be full investigations. I doubt any law enforcement official reads this, but I’m still gonna say it, “Arrest them. Arrest them now. Let the court system decide their guilt or innocence.”
carolyncastiglia commented on Mar 10 11 at 2:59 pmAgreed, agreed, agreed.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
2