After the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that 21 priests had been placed on administrative leave, a prosecutor praised the move, while groups representing sex-abuse victims said the move was not enough.
"Cardinal Rigali's actions.. reflect his concern for the physical and spiritual well-being of those in his care," said Seth Williams, the district attorney who had guided a grand jury investigation that concluded with a scathing critique of archdiocesan policies.
But Joelle Casteix of the Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) disagreed, saying that cardinal's action was "outrageously reckless and callous" because the archdiocese had not immediately identified the 21 priests who were removed from ministry. In fact, the archdiocese plans to reveal the identity of the suspended clerics, beginning with disclosures at their parishes this weekend.
The simultaneous removal of 21 priests, coming in the wake of the critical grand-jury report, clearly indicated that the archdiocese was backpedaling in the face of public outrage.
It would have been better had the bishops never coddled the "lavender mafia" in the first place.
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