A Report: Catholic Bishops are Still Protecting Bad Priests


I was under the impression Catholic Bishops were turning over investigations of suspicious priests to law enforcement authorities. According to an exhaustive study of how Bishops handle accusations of sexual misconduct this is not happening. Most Bishops have retained the power to keep allegations secret.

In only five of 32 diocese is there a policy that evidence and/or complaints will be turned over to law enforcement. This leaves the other 27 with a hodge podge of different policies. 

Why would not all dioceses simply free themselves of criticism by turning complaints over the authorities? The answer can only be they want to protect themselves or cover for themselves instead of making more certain victims will be treated fairly. The church has been run by itself and unaccountable for centuries and it is not about to change just because it has paid millions of dollars in settlements and seen many clergy go to jail. 

Even though the Catholic just has shelled out many millions to victims of sexual abuse it still has millions to spend on the oddest of projects. For example, staff investigate marriages to decide if they can be annulled. Every time some crack pot thinks he/she see a "miracle" a priest or priests is required to investigate. When some Catholic is nominated for sainthood there must be "proof" that person performed a miracle. My impression is many of them are about praying over sick people and seeing them return to health. That happens everyday somewhere without prayers.

The Catholic Church would serve society much better if it would take the large number of people investigating miracles and assign them the task of monitoring against sexual abuse. Doing that would tell the public the church cares, even if just a tiny bit. about the welfare of the public it serves.

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