ROME — Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said Tuesday that the next pope must make sure the Roman Catholic Church adopts measures to deal with bishops whose “malfeasance” allowed abusive priests to remain in ministry.
O’Malley said in an interview that the successor to Pope Benedict XVI will need to continue Benedict’s campaign to get bishops across the world to adopt policies for dealing with accused abusers. That should include procedures for disciplining bishops who protect abusive priests, said O’Malley, among dozens of cardinals gathered at the Vatican.
Comments
Seems to me if a bishop was known to have protected a convicted priest, he should be turned in to law enforcement officials. If a bishop is suspected of protecting an accused priest waiting to be tried, he should be placed on administrative leave. In the case of Cardinal Law, he should be extradited and placed on trial.
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As much as I'm turned off by the institution of the Church I think Cardinal O'Malley embodies what being a religious leader should be. He carries himself well, comes across as very humble and offers common sense solutions to problems. I appreciate what he's been able to accomplish in Boston, and for the Church, especially coming in after the despicable Cardinal Law.
It's mind boggling to me that any person, particularly a religious leader, could condone the molestation of children. The fact that this has gone on in the Catholic Church is disgraceful and has done much to turn Catholics away from the Church. O'Malley gets it and the fact that you can't hide behind the veil of the Church.
Agree with fordfalcon on Cardinal Law. It's disturbing that he continues to live like a king behind the Vatican walls with all the lives he's ruined. I don't care what other good things he's done in his life. He allowed thousands of children to be molested and he's a criminal. I'd go as far to say he's not religious either. No religious person could hurt children.
O'Malley needs to more directly address the question of reporting possible crimes to civil authorities. The internal policies of the chruch are only part of the problem -- it's the failure to acknowledgement responsibility to society as a whole and to the rule of law that has exacerbated this crisis. The earlier commentator is right: Bernard Law should be charged with criminal behavior so that the justice system can do its job.
The church might also want to consider what it is about its policies in general that seem to attract the wrong sort of candidates for the priesthood. Is it a good hiding place for a man who has not matured in his sexuality? Is a life of separation...a life where close friendships of men or women are frowned upon ...a healthy life for any normal human?
What I would like to see is "tough policies" on the guys who knowingly and happily shifted the perverts all over the WORLD to escape being prosecuted for raping children. This "we need to focus on priests" is just a shell game to avoid having the upper management of this organization held accountable for movig its employees to other operational sites. Hypothetically, if a school superintendent had moved pervert teachers from school to school knowing the teachers just wanted to rape more children, what would and should happen to that administrator? Why then are not the managers of this organization in jail, where they belong? And, I don't want to hear any "this is Cathiolic bashing." This organization, to this DAY, continues to obstruct justice. If there is a Jesus, what do you think he thinks of all this? He must be so ashamed of this whole, sordid and disgusting thing.
“If Christ were alive and well today, what would he say about the lavish life style of the Pope? “The foxes have their dens, but the Son of Man has not whereon to lay his head.” Christ was homeless. The Church does not reflect the simplicity of life style Christ led, not that I am recommending homelessness. The Church is simply the religious extension of the pomp and pomposity of the Roman Empire.
I hope if Cardinal O’Malley becomes Pope, that he wear only his brown Capuchin robe, sell his Pope mobile, fire his butler,live like a poor monk and solve the molestation problem. A better suggestion would be that the Church disappear and leave humanity alone. ok, it can keep and maintain all its philanthropic work but stop being a religious guide and teacher.
Why isn't the point of this story underscored as O'Malley's taking such a position (speaking against bishops) as a first for him? The Church Institutional protects bishops in their ecclesial, canonically protected status. Priest can be removed (read: thrown under the bus and then we don't have to pay for them); bishops are sacrosanct. Bishops are priests, first, last, and always. If priests an be laicized involuntarily, then so should bishops. So much, then, for the theology of the "indelible mark" of Holy Orders. Sounds to me like the "shy" O'Malley is actually making media soundings about his candidacy as the next brown-mozzetta-wearing pontiff.