by James Tricoli
AMHERST TIMES
I’m a Roman Catholic who is proud to have a faith which gives me freedom to make choices, right or wrong. I’ve known some wonderful priests through my life who, as far as I know, never molested any children.
The men who became priests and committed horrible crimes against children have been protected from the public for decades by people in the church’s power structure. These sick priests were shifted from one parish to another without the people of the new church being told of their sick nature. Some were sent for the professional help while others were release from the priesthood. Most came back after therapy and continued the same behaviors which led to more and more sexual abuse of children.
The CATHOLIC church, after much pressure from the media, is finally airing out its filthy laundry with no explanations of why it didn’t do this long ago, before so much damage was done to so many children.
A driving question which is still unanswered is why did the church authorities allow this type of abuse to continue? What were their reasons for not stopping it when they became of aware of it? There have to be answers and the public needs a full explanation of all who were involved and why this deviant behavior was allowed to continue.
Every Catholic knows priests are only human. Jesus said to follow his way to enter heaven. Church authorities are humans who make decisions. Some are wrong and cause great harm. Jesus’ path is the only way to eternal peace. This is the path most Catholics try to follow.
James Tricoli is the editor of AmherstTimes.com.
Originally published on Amherst Times. Republished with permission.
