"...The pope should be told that some of the cardinals he will meet are, or have been, excusers or enablers of sex-abusers. Some are so sympathetic to abusive priests that they have written touching letters to them. No one has yet unearthed such a letter to any of the victims. This week the bishop of Joliet, Ill., Joseph Imensch, said that while priests who sexually abuse children should lose their jobs, priests who sexually abuse adolescents and teenagers have a "quirk" and can be treated and continue as priests...Also from Yahoo! News:...The pope should know that that is the attitude of the American cardinals going in, that they tend to view his directives as suggestions.
The pope should know that many of the cardinals he will speak to have grown detached from life as it is suffered through by ordinary people. The princes of the church live as princes of the world. They live in great mansions in the heart of great cities, dine with senators and editors, and have grown worldly not in the best sense, in real sophistication and knowledge, but in the worst. They are surrounded by staff who serve them, drive them, answer their call. They are used to being obeyed.
We all suffer from some degree of arrogance.
But I have never seen star treatment ennoble the object of that treatment." - Peggy Noonan
Seen in this photo combo are eight American cardinals of the Roman Church:
Top row from left:
Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago,
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the Archdiocese of Washington,
Cardinal Bernard Law of the Archdiocese of Boston,
Cardinal Adam Maida of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Bottom row from left:
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,
Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles,
Cardinal Edward Egan of the Archdiocese of New York,
Cardinal William Keeler of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.Pope John Paul II has summoned American cardinals to the Vatican
for an extraordinary meeting to talk about sex abuse scandals in the U.S. church. (AP Photo)
