Catholics Should Not Allow Bad Things like Sexual Abuse to Keep On Happening in our Church/ "Jerry Sandusky and doing the right thing"/Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/penn-state-doing-the-correct-thing-not-the-right-thing/2012/07/13/gJQA8H7GiW_blog.html

In an article entitled: "Jerry Sandusky and doing the right thing," Alexandra Petri writes:
"Until people discover that really damages your institution is sacrificing your decency to its good name, such horrors will keep happening... People like Sandusky may well be monsters. But more frightening are the people who weren't monsters and allowed this monstrous thing to keep on happening.The real question of history is not how bad things happen to good people but how good people allow bad things to happen."


The lessons of the Penn State sexual abuse case apply to the Catholic Church. We should ask ourselves how could Catholics allow the  hierarchy to cover-up sexual abuse for so long? 


Again, Petri hits the nail on the head: "Individual failures of conscience multiply in the name of something comfortingly large like 'the program." 


The bishops and the Vatican chose to protect 'the church', not the victim of sexual abuse and in the end brought shame, devastation, and grave scandal to the church. 


Catholics should, like Voice of the Faithful, demand accountability and transparency from their church leaders in all cases of sexual abuse. No more cover-ups and intimidation of victims by diocesan lawyers!


If  the national media had put as much attention on the recent Philadelphia story of 37 priests accused of sexual abuse, two grand jury investigations, the conviction of Monsignor Lynn, and the cover-up by a Philadelphia cardinal as they did on Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno and Penn State, we might see more outrage and action by Catholics in support of zero tolerance of clergy sexual abuse of children and youth in the Catholic Church. 


As good people, followers of Christ, Catholics should not allow bad things like sexual abuse and its cover-up to  keep on happening in our church. 
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com