The learning curve
By Diogenes (articles ) | March 27, 2003 9:59 AM
In case you missed the item in today's News Bytes, Massachusetts prosecutors are hoping to revive their case against Richard Lavigne, a suspended priest who has always been the prime suspect in the 1972 murder of an altar boy.
Twenty years-- 20 years!-- after the murder, Lavigne was finally suspended from priestly ministry. The Springfield diocese is still coping with a few dozen sex-abuse lawsuits that testify to his conduct in the intervening years.
But sex-abuse accusations have become commonplace. Murder is something else.
We've heard bishops say that the hierarchy is on a "learning curve"-- that 20 years ago, they didn't fully understand the sex-abuse phenomenon. Now he's a different case, posing a different question: 20 years ago, would he have expected a bishop to realize that a suspected murderer might pose a danger to society?
|
An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus: Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you! |
Easter Campaign: Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($24,787 to go):
$80,000.00
$55,212.55
31%
69%
|
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
