By The TimesLedger
In a stunning report released last week, the Massachusetts attorney general documented the role that the high-ranking officials of the Roman Catholic Church played in the sexual abuse of what was likely more than 1,000 children. At the time this abuse was going on, Brooklyn Bishop Thomas Daily was the second ranking administrator in the Archdiocese of Boston.
Today Bishop Daily is responsible for all of the Roman Catholic churches and schools in Brooklyn and Queens. According to the report, “Daily had a preference for keeping priests who sexually abused children in pastoral ministry.” The report charges that Bishop Daily failed to thoroughly investigate allegations of sexual abuse and that he repeatedly reassigned priests accused of abusing children to other parishes.
Diocese spokesman Frank DeRosa defended the bishop by saying, “Given the understanding that people had about this issue at the time, the early 1980s, the bishop followed procedures he felt were appropriate.”
What is Mr. DeRosa trying to say? The pedophiles who used a position of trust to take advantage of defenseless young children were criminals and they should have been treated like criminals. Is Mr. DeRosa suggesting that in the 1980s Daily did not understand that raping children was a crime? Or did the bishop believe then that the laws of man did not apply to the priests working in the Boston Archdiocese?
The fact is that Daily and others took part in what the attorney general called a “culture of secrecy.” By not reporting the accused priests to the police and by reassigning these pedophiles to new parishes, they allowed them to victimize more children.
As a signal that the leadership of the Catholic Church fully understands the damage that was done to thousands of children, Daily should step down.
Editorial: Step carefully
The civic associations of northeast Queens have scored a major victory in their fight to limit the growth of community facilities in residential areas. The City Council’s Land Use Committee has approved the proposed changes in the city’s zoning law, paving the way for a review by the Department of City Planning.
The changes would limit the proliferation of houses of worship, group homes and medical offices. Houses of worship would have to provide one parking space for every 10 congregants. In the past, churches and temples got around parking requirements by not having fixed seating.
Readers of the TimesLedger know well that the proliferation of community facilities has been a hot-button, emotional issue in northeast Queens. Homeowners have seen their quality of life slipping away as countless group homes, drug treatment centers and temples for religions that they never even heard of opened shop in their residential neighborhoods.
The frustration was reaching a boiling point and something had to be done. But in this endeavor, the devil is in the details. Although some would argue that there are too many group homes, others would argue that there are waiting lists of autistic and mildly retarded adults looking for a home where they can get a first shot at approximating a normal life.
Before the zoning laws are changed, we hope that the planners will look at every aspect of the problem. We also hope that the new immigrants who cannot vote and the families of young adults waiting for a group home will have a voice.
We urge the city to move slowly, making sure every voice is heard.
