The Diocese of Rockville Centre’s spokesperson has characterized the NY State Legislature’s Child Victims Act as an attempt to attack the Catholic Church by bankrupting it. Other NY Catholic lobbyists, including Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre trudged up to Albany to complain that passage of the legislation would be financially ruinous for Catholic education and healthcare.
These are the same old arguments the Catholic Church has used in Boston, California, San Diego. These arguments are an attempt to deflect attention from the real advantage of such legislation: bringing the abuse of priests into the light of day as well as holding the Catholic Church accountable for the transfer and cover-up of criminal sexual acts. The Catholic lobbyist argument is a bogus one aimed at keeping the attention away from the real issue: the priest abuse scandal during which thousands of young lives have been ruined by the sexual molestation of Catholic priests.
Why should anyone take this line of argument seriously? If Bernie Madoff attempted to escape criminal or civil liability for his crimes due to the possibility of insolvency would we let him off the hook and absolve his crimes. Would we excuse rapists and murderers for the same reason.
Our system of justice demands acountability from those who would seek to damage our citizens. It’s a system that works. I hope the NY State legislators won’t be intimidated or threatened by the Catholic Church onslaught.