Ever to Seek the Greater Good

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Nov 20, 2003

The Cincinnati media are reporting that the Archdiocese will plead guilty or no contest to criminal charges of failure to report a felony as part of a deal with the prosecutor's office:

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is expected to enter a plea to a criminal charge today as part of a deal that would end an investigation into clergy sexual abuse. The deal is the product of several days of settlement talks between church lawyers and Hamilton County prosecutors, who have spent nearly two years investigating the archdiocese's handling of abuse cases. The deal is believed to be the first in the country to require a diocese or a church official to plead to criminal charges related to the abuse crisis.

So you're wondering, if the Archdiocese has been in good faith in steadfastly maintaining its innocence, what consideration could possibly cause it to reverse itself and succumb to another Phoenix Capitulation?

The Cincinnati Post reported the Archdiocese will plead guilty to a single misdemeanor count in exchange for no prosecution of individual employees.

Interesting. Now which "individual employee" of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati would be likely to face prosecution for failure to report child abuse? And which "individual employee" of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati would have the authority to instruct the lawyers to cut a deal? If you answered the same person in both cases, you can only have fallen prey to a lamentable cynicism. We are an Easter People.