The more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests have now been released. Cardinal Egan, who defended the secrecy of these documents concludes his op-ed in the New York Times by stating:
It’s marvelous when you think of the hundreds and hundreds of priests and how very few have even been accused, and how very few have even come close to having anyone prove anything.
Responses to Egan’s remarks took various sides, but mainly in opposition to this stunning statement. One responder who was sexually abused writes that “Priests, after all, were next to God.” Priest received an incredible amount of protection. Their superior status and the enormous fear, including the guilt and manipulation suffered by priests, hindered many from ever being known. As one responder observed:
The question, then, for Cardinal Egan is not how many priests actually do not abuse children, but how many abusing priests have gotten away with it.
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