The Aftermath of Benedict's Visit: More of the Same?
After Pope Benedict's visit to the United States, there is a disturbing report from Reuters that one of his top lieutenants is backtracking on reported statements he supposedly gave the NY Times about church law reform. It was widely reported over the weekend that Cardinal William Levada, Benedict's successor in charge of dealing with priest abusers, had spoken about changing canon law to help victims report abusive priests and have them removed from the priesthood.
Reuters is now reporting that the Times article was "misunderstood" and that he never made such comments about reforming church law. Levada went on to say in his retraction that he doesn't believe some US bishops aided and abetted priests who molested children.
Such backtracking is not a good sign in the wake of Benedict's hopeful actions this past week. If it's true that the church's top official dealing with priest abuse doesn't believe that some bishops weren't complicit in hiding and continuing the abuse scandal, we've taken a major step backwards. It's just this type of double talk that re-victimizes survivors and gives the church a black eye. After all, when one reads the Boston documents concerning Cardinal Law's complicity in hiding and helping priests who abuse, how could one conclude that Law wasn't guilty and had to resign? Law isn't the only bishop who covered up. The list is long and filled with high ranking cardinals and bishops: Cardinal Mahony, Cardinal George, Bishop Grahamm, to name a few.