Steve Shaw says:

The decent thing is, not least for the sake of past, present and, hopefully not, future victims, to want this cleared up in a rapid, open, honest and contrite manner.

I have the same wish, Steve. To a great extent, I think that is finally happening. I screamed and shouted and jumped up and down and wrote letters until 2002, when the Catholic bishops in the U.S. finally enacted strict controls and began to enforce those controls and make reparations. Dioceses all over the world followed suit. What's happening now is mostly cleanup - payment of reparations claims and criminal procedures against those offenders who can be prosecuted. There are no more denials of the offenses that took place - nobody is denying the crimes committed by Soper and so many others. Now it's a matter of cleaning up the horrible aftermath of those offenses. Yes, some dioceses are fighting the million-dollar settlements assessed against them because they simply cannot afford to pay all that, but I think that will be settled eventually.

And yes, the Catholic Church will forever bear the shame of what happened in this terrible scandal. The powerful Catholic Church has been humbled, and I think that is a good thing. But when does it come to a point where the shaming from outside sources is too much? When do we get to the point where we humbly can go on with life and deal with all of the other pressing issues, like immigration and homelessness and racism and sexism and such? Despite its past offenses, the Catholic Church has also been a powerful voice in defense of refugees and the poor and oppressed. When can we be allowed to stop wallowing in shame and take steps to advocate for those in need?

-Joe-