Have you heard that Cardinal Bevilacqua was investigated for shuffling priests during the clergy abuse scandal?
Well, if you read any of the press reports of the Cardinal’s death, that might just be all you know about him. Oh yeah, and he died yesterday too.
The AP’s lede went like this:
Church leaders called on parishioners Wednesday to pray for the soul of retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led them for more than 15 years but was also an uncharged central figure in a child sex-abuse case that involves the alleged shuffling of predator priests.
And in the story itself 14 of the 32 paragraphs contain references to the sex abuse scandal.
STL Today had their story on Bevilacqua entitled: “Bevilacqua leaves sad, mixed legacy amid sex abuse.”
CNN ran a headline:
Cardinal in scandal-hit Philadelphia dies at 88
I’m not attempting to diminish the horrors of the sex abuse scandal but the Cardinal Bevilacqua lived a long life. 80 years. And once again, he wasn’t charged with anything. Yet nearly half of the story is about the abuse scandal in which he was uncharged.
Cardinal Bevilacqua was head of the implementation of the norms of Ex Corde Ecclesiae. He was also head of pro-life activities for the USCCB. Aren’t those issues worth exploring? Or is it just too easy to whack the Church? Again?
February 2, 2012 at 2:34 am
And let's not forget his buffiness' discovery of Rocco:
"That changed in July 1991, when Anthony Bevilacqua celebrated his first Mass at home after having been elevated from archbishop to cardinal. While greeting a line of well-wishers, the prelate got down on one knee to chat with 8-year-old Rocco.
The boy later wrote a thank-you letter, a correspondence began, and the family was invited to visit Bevilacqua in his office. The cardinal started mentoring the young boy with the inquisitive mind, and before long, Rocco had the run of the archdiocese."
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-09-03/features/bs-ae-church-whisperer-20110902_1_baltimore-archdiocese-archbishop-edwin-f-o-brien-vatican
February 2, 2012 at 3:18 am
"He wasn't charged".
That means he got away with it, like most Catholic priests. He hid known pedophiles. That's all people need to know about his life.
February 2, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Perhaps if he had been a football coach instead…….
Sharon
February 2, 2012 at 5:43 pm
I don't care what other worthy things you're involved in. Cover up the rape of children and the rest is dross. In fact, it makes it all the more inexcusable.
"For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds."