Trouble in the Catholic Church, Part XVI

NPR reported today that ten years after the Catholic Church in America was rocked by charges of pedophile priests whom the church quietly reassigned to other, unsuspecting parishes, Catholic bishops are -- believe it or not -- quietly reassigning defrocked pedophile priests to other, unsuspecting parishes. The NPR report described how one pedophile priest has been reassigned to congregations in several states and Peru since initial reports of his sexual abuse have come to light.

Priests accused of sexual abuse are supposed to be immediately suspended from their post, pending a church investigation of the charges. The boards of clergy and lay persons set up to review charges of sexual abuse by priests are, according to the report, appointed by bishops, who have been known to ignore the findings of such boards. Church officials have even refused to accept court judgments against pedophile priests as definitive.

I have to wonder how this compares with the process when a priest is accused of imbezzling from church funds.

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By the way, alert readers of a certain age may find an allusion to a song by Tom Lehrer in this week's cartoon.