Three Dallas Morning News reporters have found that much as some dioceses moved abuser-priests from town to town or across diocesan lines, some religious orders moved priests known to have molested children from country to country to spare them from public exposure and prosecution. Reporters found such priests still in active ministry with children. Any bishop who thinks the worst of these revelations are over is engaged in wishful thinking.
What hair-raising, horrifying stories--and the series is supposed to continue all summer. There's lots more to come, apparently.
Reading new disclosures about the Scandal is like running a gauntlet one has had to run before--painful, but one is kind of numb after awhile. It just keeps coming. And until the bishops--starting in Rome--change their corporatist *culture* by demanding holiness from priests and accountability from each other, nothing will change.
The Fr. Kleps of this world will continue being ferreted safely to other countries, to molest boys there. This story carries a powerful, painful message: A secular media outlet cares about the lives and safety of little boys, and the Successors of the Apostles do not. As Cardinal Rodriguez said, he'd rather die than allow anyone to "harm"--that is, bring to justice--one of his priests. Disgusting.
The cries of "sensationalism" we will no doubt hear from some quarters will be without merit. The Dallas Morning News is getting the job done that religious congregations and the USCCB have *delibrately and consciously chosen not to do.* If they sell more newspapers because of it, more power to them.