The Vatican can prove the naysayers wrong. The church needs to act and proceed "with zero tolerance" as the Pope advocated. The Vatican should defrock priests, or instruct parishes to do so, at least temporarily during criminal investigations and turn them over when abuse is discovered. It s time for the new Pope to write a new letter instructing referral of all charges worldwide to law enforcement. The Church must stop kicking abusing clerics "upstairs", even to the Vatican itself. It should pay every documented abused victim. If the Church honestly believes it is a "shelter for its believers" and not a hell for its abused, it must recognize that actions speak louder than words. With the new Pope s wide acclaim, he, Cardinal O'Malley, and new Springfield Bishop Mitchell Rozanski have an opportunity for meaningful action.
Robert Weiner, UMass M.A. and former Amherst resident, was White House spokesman, spokesman for the Government House Operations Committee, and senior staff for Congressmen John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Ed Koch, Claude Pepper, and Sen. Ted Kennedy. Florian Prommer is senior policy analyst for Robert Weiner Associates and Solutions for Change.
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