If he is guilty he should suffer the full penalty of the law.
There can be no excuse for molesting children, the Church should co-operate in every way to see justice done.
If the Church had taken this in hand years ago this wouldnt be a big deal now. The way to deal with it now is with openness and cooperation and the expulsion of all guilty parties.
>If he is guilty he should suffer the full penalty of the law.
He’s dead
So: the disgusting predatory acts described by Bolger were done 45 years ago, in "the mid-60's," according to the article. Allegations raised a few years thereafter against the "esteemed" teacher, "beloved by the deaf," were apparently dropped, the community itself was divided, some not finding the accusations credible. In 1996 (30 years later!) the case comes to the attention of a Vatican office (I suppose, the CDF? --the article doesn't say which Vatican office), when the man is in poor health and residing in an assisted-living center.
This was handled by "a deputy" (unnamed) in that "Vatican office" (unnamed). The deputy decided it would be pointless convening a canonical court, perhaps -- I speculate--because such a court would have had no power to subpoena witnesses or get depositions from accusers/victims, there having been no official investigation, arrest, or criminal trial 45 years before, and therefore no record on which to make a canonical judicial determination.
The priest is censured and told to repent.
Two years later, he dies in Wisconsin.
Twelve years after he dies, someone finds a way to implicate the Pope, though there is no evidence presented in the article that he even knew about the case.
Thus, 14 years after the priest is told to repent of his sins and 12 years after he dies, this makes it into print and turns up as an AP "Hot Topics Feature" in Tampa Bay, FL.
Do I have that about right?