I always thought my home parish had escaped the trials, but no...it was there when I was very young...I forget the priest's name..it defnitely was not Father Mulligan, who was the prototype of decent, mumbling Irish priest...Bing Crosby could have played him.

I do think that people can be pedophiles and decent good people both. That is what makes it so awful. I would make sure that once they have faced the civil music, that they never saw a child again, but I would not hesitate to go to Mass, communion, confession, last rites, whatever to them as an adult with full disclosure or enough safeguards in place that abuse would not be possible. I wonder if there is a connection here with alcoholism that is a sad problem among some priests..and many joined the priesthood out of desparate financial circumstances or severe family pressure and should never have been ordained. I am sympathetic to them, but I will not shelter them or enable them. It is too complicated for me, but I think once a priest always a priest and I would not prevent them from doing priestly duties in confined, transparent situations with people who voluntarily came to see them.