November 14, 2007

Jim Cummins died 18 days before this week’s meeting of the U.S. Conference of Bishops. But if it’s possible to rage in heaven, then surely Jim is raging now at Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George.

Cardinal George, just elected president of the bishops’ conference, is a brilliant man who can be warm, thoughtful and funny. But he can also be dismissive, distant and icy, particularly when it comes to questions of the church’s accountability and transparency on the issue of sex abuse by clergy.

As the bishops met in Baltimore on Tuesday, Sun-Times religion reporter Susan Hogan/Albach broke the story of a letter the cardinal sent earlier this year to parents of a victim. While apologizing for "the terrible abuse" suffered by their now-adult son by two Chicago priests when he was a child, the cardinal combined his heartfelt apology with an equally heartfelt denunciation.

Money, the cardinal wrote, was behind proposed Illinois legislation that would waive the statute of limitations, allowing adults to come forward years after abuse occurred and sue their abusers. "This is irresponsible, is not about the safety of children as the sponsor claims and is clearly, to me at least, about money," George wrote.

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BY MARCI A. HAMILTON
Newsday.com
Marci A. Hamilton is a professor of public law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and author of the forthcoming "Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children."

November 9, 2007

Who would have thought that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa, could be a place where girls could be physically and sexually abused by one of the dormitory matrons?

Winfrey, after all, has been a vocal and active advocate for survivors of child abuse, having experienced this horror as a child herself. You can only imagine her anguish when she heard that the institution she created to nurture girls was doing the opposite.

There is a lesson here for everyone: Those who abuse children typically select careers close to them. Whether they choose to be teachers, dormitory matrons, clergy or Boy Scout leaders, they position themselves to have the greatest access to children.

They are scheming and devious to serve their sexual compulsions. Even when the one who is supporting the organization is especially sensitive to child abuse, as is Winfrey, these are people who are very hard to identify.
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