The media can play a role here

Apr 29, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
The Catholic Church has rightly come in for some very harsh criticism from the press for its mishandling of clerical sex-abuse cases in several countries.
There seems to have been greater concern on the part of the authorities to safeguard the reputation of the Church (which is undoubtedly doing heroic service to millions worldwide) rather than doing justice to the innocent victims.
It is also true that serious studies by social workers, everywhere, show that child sex-abuse also happens to be quite rampant outside the confines of the Catholic Church.
The media could enlighten the Catholic Church by presenting examples of how secular authorities and other religious groups handle such cases, try to eliminate them, and provide justice to the unfortunate victims.
This would be a great service not only to the Catholic Church (which has much to learn), and to society at large, but also to thousands of victims of sex-abuse all over the world.
Joseph M. Dias