Shifting Gear

With Prayer on the Parkway on the books as a success (turnout estimates in the 25,000 range), the central focus returns again to the release of the report of the grand jury investigating sex abuse by clergy in the archdiocese of Philadelphia.

As rebuttals to the report from parties involved were due on August 31 and the jury's mandate expired last Friday, there is sufficient reason to believe that we will be seeing it within days. From the Saturday Inquirer:

With its term expiring yesterday, the Philadelphia grand jury investigation into clergy sexual abuse - the nation's longest-running such probe - is expected soon to issue an exhaustive report.

The inquiry is expected to add extensive new information about the extent of the problem and how the church's leadership responded to reports of abuse.

The justification for not naming accused priests is worth noting:

While the Philadelphia Archdiocese says it has identified at least 44 priests who have sexually abused minors, it has refused to name them.

The Inquirer, through interviews and court records, has identified several dozen.

The archdiocese has said that disclosing the names of all accused priests "would be like a second strike" on victims, perhaps causing their identities, in turn, to be made public.

Nobody said purification was easy.

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