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Recent Developments Regarding Clergy Child Abuse: How They Reveal Both Good and Bad News
How They Reveal Both Good and Bad News About the Chances of Getting Justice for Abuse Survivors and Preventing Future Abuse
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008
It is difficult to get the big picture regarding clergy abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, for a number of reasons. One is that the Church - and, unfortunately, its abusing priests - are spread all over the world. Another is that the Church is organized in dioceses, which tend to be city-specific. A third is that the organization reports in a hierarchical fashion, toward Rome. And a fourth, and final reason is that the Church prizes secrecy and avidly resists accountability to civil authorities.
For these reasons, in the United States stories that concern a local diocese tend to be picked up by local newspapers, and not as often by the national media. Still, the timing of three recent stories regarding clergy abuse - stories largely seen by the media as local, despite the fact that they concern a pressing nationwide issue -- counsels in favor of assessing the big picture at this time. The news is good and bad.
