The Vatican’s belated and inadequate reprimand of now-retired Yakima Bishop Carlos Sevilla shows that some church leaders still struggle to grasp the seriousness and complexity of the problem of clergy sexual abuse.
It also shows that they feel little obligation to be transparent enough to reassure the community that local parishes are safe and that the church stands ready to hold clergy accountable for any misdeeds.
Even now.
Even after the church has had to answer for thousands of clergy around the world who’ve been plausibly accused of abusing young boys and girls over the years.
Even after the church has paid out millions to settle international claims made against clergymen by people who suffered life-scarring harm, intimidation and humiliation at the hands of the people they trusted more than anyone: their priests.
Even after stacks of disturbing reports of church leaders around the globe — including here — attempting to hide reports of abuse with secrecy or by quietly reassigning problem priests to other communities.
And even now, despite a recent Seattle Archdiocese investigation’s conclusion that he disregarded local whistleblowers who reported possible abuses, the former bishop of the Yakima Diocese gets no more than a rap across the knuckles.
What sort of message does that send parishioners who might be suffering abuse by a member of the clergy this very day? And how comfortable will anyone feel about stepping forward and alerting church leaders to future...
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