Noted Author and Priest Andrew Greeley Reflects on Abuse Crisis in Catholic Church

In his new novel, “The Priestly Sins”, the Rev. Andrew Greeley tells the fictional story of Father Andrew Hoffman who witnesses a fellow priest brutally raping a child and is sent away to a mental institution for reporting the crime to his superiors.
Greeley, a prolific author and controversial priest-sociologist, pins the blame for the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church on the shoulders of the bishops in the United States. “If the church had been responsive 20 years ago, none of this would have happened,” Greeley said in speaking about the crisis that has rocked the church in the United States since 2002. Greeley points out that the bishops have established a zero tolerance for priest abusers but there’s no oversight or discipline for bishops who hide abusive clergy or do nothing to stop the abuse from occurring.