take my boss ... please!

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Nov 09, 2006

An editorial in this morning's L.A. Times pushes the limits of acceptable jocularity in censuring Cardinal Roger Mahony for his abuser records stonewall. The set-up is conventional dead-pan:

The leader of any organization naturally feels a responsibility to protect it from humiliation and financial loss. And information gleaned from confessions has greater legal protection than that learned in a normal conversation. But the moral obligations involved when religious figures turn their followers into victims calls for a higher form of response than self-protection. These matters have dragged on for years, at great cost to the church's image. There can be no healing until the truth is acknowledged and justice served.

And it's not just survivors of abuse saying so. Addressing the subject of sexual abuse by Irish clergy late last month, Pope Benedict XVI said "it is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past" and to "ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected."

Then comes the punch line:

If Mahony is not persuaded by the victims and the public, perhaps, finally, he will listen to his boss.

Who do you think was rolling on the floor longer -- the gang at the Times when they came up with the gag, or the gang at the Chancery when they read it?