PHOENIX (AZ)
The New york Times
By DAVID GIBSON
s drama, the agreement announced this week between the prosecutor and Roman Catholic bishop in Phoenix could not match the many other shocking episodes in the church’s clergy sexual abuse scandal. Over the past year and a half, hundreds of victims have come forward, hundreds of priests have been dismissed and five bishops have resigned in disgrace.
Yet the 14-point settlement between the Maricopa County prosecutor, Rick Romley, and Thomas J. O’Brien, the bishop of Phoenix, may have consequences that will dwarf any other development in the crisis. In exchange for immunity from prosecution, Bishop O’Brien admitted that several times during his 22-year tenure he placed children in harm’s way by transferring priests who had been accused of sexual abuse to parishes, and that he never informed either the priests’ new superiors or parishioners. Bishop O’Brien also had to apologize and agree that the diocese would pay hundred of thousands of dollars to compensate and counsel victims of sexual abuse.
What is truly revolutionary, however, are the structural reforms the agreement requires.
