Blame the church
Dolan rips abuse, but sees brighter future
Timothy Cardinal Dolan puts the blame directly on the Catholic Church for whitewashing the cases of pedophile priests in the past.
Yet the spiritual leader of New York’s 2.8 million Catholics, while sickened by the damning findings of a Pennsylvania grand jury probe, remains convinced the church is now handling its problem the right way.
“While it is true the abuse of minors was badly handled by all segments of society, if there is one segment that should have done a better job, it is the church,” Dolan wrote in a Friday op-ed piece for the Daily News. “And while the church in the past was an example of what not to do, today I hope it is a model of what to do.”
Dolan was chagrined by the inclusion of three priests from the Archdiocese of New York in the report, including since de frocked Ed Parrakow. The ex-priest abused 35 boys in the New York area before a transfer to Pennsylvania, where his predatory sexual behavior continued.
“This is a textbook example of the wrong way that these cases were handled in the past,” wrote Dolan. “There is no other way to say it, and we bishops have to acknowledge this.”
The stunning, 800-page grand jury report identified more than 300 priests and more than 1,000 of their underage victims. Dolan described himself as “nauseous, hurt and betrayed” by the detailed charges.
But he said the recent handling of sexual abuse allegations against fellow a cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, was indicative of the church’s more aggressive approach.
The 88-year-old McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals last month and was barred from public ministry by Pope Francis.
When the New York archdiocese learned of the charges, “we followed out normal strict protocol, just as we would for any priest,” writes Dolan. “And everyone involved — from the Vatican on down — agreed that we must deal with the case openly and honestly. You know the result.”