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Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Philadelphia-Area Priests Suspended for Suspected Child Abuse

Author:     KATIE SLAMAN
Source:     ABC News
Publication Date:     9-Mar-11
 Link: Philadelphia-Area Priests Suspended for Suspected Child Abuse
Stephan:   It has been eight years since the Pope announced what were supposed to be new rules to stop child sexual abuse by priests and yet these tragic stories just continue to roll out. I confess I do not understand this. It is hard to comprehend how an organization that has had such a litany of revelations can continue to exist without massive public outcry demanding fundamental reformation. And yet the outcry is still muted -- compare the coverage of the Catholic abuse scandals with the coverage of the vulgar stupidities of Charlie Sheen -- and the Church just keeps on, keeping on. That's as big a story as the abuse itself.

It’s Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for Catholics, but churchgoers observing the holy day at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia had an unusual greeting on their way into mass. They were met by silent protestors — clergy sex-abuse victims — who handed them leaflets about sexual abuse as they entered the cathedral.

That’s because across the city, beginning today, Catholics are learning the names of the 21 Roman Catholic priests suspended on Tuesday by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia following a two-year sexual abuse investigation.

The archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali, announced Tuesday that he was putting 21 priests on administrative leave after a grand jury report, released last month, naming the priests as suspected child molesters.

Today, during mass at the cathedral, Rigali called on worshippers to pray for the abuse victims as well as the suspended priests.

Outside the cathedral, Mary DeSilvestro struggled to understand the alleged abuse.

‘It’s something that should have never happened, especially to little kids, anybody really,’ she told ABC News affiliate WPVI. ‘Horrible.’

Last month, the district attorney’s office charged two priests, a former priest and a Catholic school teacher with raping boys. A former church official also was charged for allegedly […]

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