Well, just when one thinks we have heard just about everything related to the priest sexual assault issue, along comes a situation with a different twist.
Recently, a fairly well-known priest from a religious order was kicked out of the order. This priest was one of Mother Teresa's spiritual directors. He would often travel around the world to give presentations on spiritual direction. He often travelled with adolescent boys. Several of these now young men have made allegations that the priest abused them. The allegations have been substantiated.
Most of the allegations related to incidents that took place in the 1990s. This priest's religious superiors claim that they didn't know of his actions. However, several copies of letters from parents of this priest's victims to the order's leadership have turned up. Many of the letters are dated prior to the dates of many of the sexual assaults. Obviously, the leadership of the order had a pretty good idea of what was going on and did not do enough to stop it. As a result, this priest was allowed the opportunities to victimize numerous boys.
The victims of these crimes are numerous: the boys that were assaulted, their families, those that trusted the priest, those that trusted the order and the order's superiors, etc. I feel sorry for the many incredible Roman Catholic priests I know. Many have made sacrifices for me that have greatly improved my life and made me a better person. There are many such priests that have done the same for millions of people around the world. While I maintain that far too much focus on sexual assaults of children has been placed on priests, the terrible actions of very few priests and their leaders have tarnished the reputation of the priesthood in general.
The bottom line: the priest and the order's leaders that knew what was going on should go to prison and pay restitution to the victims. If religious leaders do not want to "air their dirty laundry" in public, then they should clean the laundry in prison.
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