World News
Archbishop Chaput sees deep roots to clergy sexual abuse crisis
Published: June 22, 2012
INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- Noting that the church in Philadelphia is "now my family, an intimate part of my life" a year after being appointed to lead the church there, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said that the clergy sexual abuse scandal "has caused terrible suffering for victims, demoralized many of our clergy, crippled the witness of the church and humiliated the whole Catholic community" in that region. He made this assessment June 20, hours after a Philadelphia jury told Judge Teresa Sarmina that they could not agree on four of five charges in a clergy sexual abuse trial. Judge Sarmina instructed the jury, which has been in deliberations for 12 days, to continue to seek a verdict in the case against Father James J. Brennan and Msgr. William Lynn. Archbishop Chaput made his remarks during a keynote address in the 2012 Catholic Media Conference, sponsored jointly by the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic Academy for Communications Arts Professionals. The day after his talk in Indianapolis, the archbishop announced a reorganization of the archdiocesan administration that will result in the loss of 40 jobs and the closing of The Catholic Standard & Times, the 117-year-old archdiocesan newspaper. He said the archdiocese faced a shortfall of $17 million between expected revenue and expenses, not including more than $11 million in legal fees over the past year. "As a bishop, the only honest way I can talk about the abuse tragedy is to start by apologizing for the failure of the church and her leaders -- apologizing to victims, and apologizing to the Catholic community," Archbishop Chaput added. "And I do that again here, today."
Copyright (c) Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .
