It’s Lent, the time for the forgiveness of sins. And Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Lisecki this week defended, and absolved Pope Benedict XVI, of any blame regarding the handling of pedophile priest Lawrence Murphy. http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/89519542.html
During a Holy Week service, the Chrism Mass, the archbishop referred to the press coverage over the Vatican’s halting of a church trial of the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, who allegedly admitted sexually assaulting 200 boys at St. John’s School for the Deaf beginning in the 1950s.
“The Holy Father has been firm in his commitment to combat clergy sexual abuse, root it out of the church, reach out to those who have been harmed and hold perpetrators accountable,” Lisecki told parishioners.
The New York Times broke a story that said that a top Vatican office, led by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now the pope, had opted not to defrock Father Murphy.
Lisecki reached out to sex abuse victims in Wisconsin, and said that a number of parties were responsible for the way the Father Murphy cases was botched.
