In
my list of the Cross symbols [090830],
on the insistence of someone close to me, I left out the child abuse
by predatory priests. Now, when pope Benedict XVI apologized for the
"sinful and criminal" sexual abuse of thousands of
children across decades, I’m compelled to include pedophilia under
the Cross.
Pope’s
latest apology is strong on forgiveness but far short of the full
accountability of the Catholic church. He made no mention of the
need to discipline diocesan leaders most responsible for shielding
hundreds of priests from criminal penalties by moving them from
parish to parish to continue their crimes. The pope’s apology fell
short, too little, too late.
Should
we expect more from Benedict XVI? No, says history. Nearly 30 years
ago as archbishop of Munich (Joseph Ratzinger, nicknamed "God’s
Rottweiler) he allowed the transfer of a priest molester who had
managed to remain at work until recently. When Rottweiler was the
church’s enforcer on matters of faith and sin, he ignored repeated
warnings in the case of the Wisconsin priest who molested as many as
200 deaf boys. Benedict’s directive as a Vatican cardinal in 2001
to bishops worldwide was to keep pedophilia investigations secret
under threat of excommuni-cation. Church leaders chose to protect
the church instead of the children. They didn’t curb sexual abuse
by priests who were supposed to pray with, not prey on, their young
charges.
Hey,
wait a minute! Maybe, just maybe, I’m missing the point. God
created boys, didn’t He? So, maybe those priests are just checking
God’s creations. Quality control.