Believe me, Jim, Lawrence Murphy most probably went to hell as a priest. He molested 200 deaf children. But "defrocking" him wasn't necessary. He should have been prosecuted, tried, and sent to prison if found guilty. I am sure a trial would have found this man guilty, and I can't understand why there was no trial. This matter was in the press in the 1970s, well within the statute of limitations.

I don't excuse or deny his horrible conduct in any way, but I don't think the issue was whether he was "returned to the lay state" or not. If he's laicized, he's allowed to get married. If not, then he's supposed to remain celibate (which, for this guy, is an obscene irony).

But to make an issue out of Ratzinger's refusal to laicize Murphy, is not understanding the process. It's like saying a plumber is no longer a plumber, because he has committed a crime. The appropriate punishment was to prosecute him as a criminal, and fire his ass as a priest. And yes, he was fired. But why wasn't he prosecuted?

St. John's School for the Deaf was an esteemed institution, and students came from all over the United States. The school was located in the City of St. Francis, Wisconsin, a suburb on the outskirts of Milwaukee which has a population of 9,365. Within the city limits were a Catholic church and school, two Catholic seminaries (one now closed), two Catholic high schools (one for boys, one for girls - both closed now, I think), and the motherhouse of an order of Catholic nuns. I suppose that, with a population like that, the St. Francis Police Department might be reluctant to arrest a priest. They should have arrested him, though. Most likely, these serial molestations were the most serious crime that ever took place in the City of St. Francis.

-Joe-