A family deeply affected by clergy sexual abuse filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking the names of all abusive priests.
Relatives of Daniel O'Connell filed the civil suit in St. Croix County Circuit Court. Along with another man, O'Connell was shot and killed in 2002. Authorities believe the killer was Rev. Ryan Erickson, based on evidence suggesting O'Connell learned the Catholic priest was sexually abusing someone, providing alcohol to minors or both.
Through court action, O'Connell's family hopes to prevent clergy members from abusing children by forcing the church to disclose names of abusive priests.
It's a dicey legal matter because many existing laws prevent employers from going public with unproven accusations against employees. And theologically, those involved may have admitted their guilt during confession, where their utterances are protected by religious doctrine. But clearly, there's room for improvement in the way such matters are handled by organized religion.
To be clear, clergy members represent only a small portion of persons who abuse children. And despite beliefs by authorities, Rev. Erickson was not found guilty of these accusations in a court of law, although his suicide permanently prevented that from happening.
ADVERTISEMENT
That said, the church has repeatedly erred in trying to resolve such matters internally, and by acting with weak resolve. When criminal accusations arise, despite the tenants of theology, they immediately should be turned over to police and prosecutors. This is a country governed by laws, not church doctrine. These are criminal matters that takes precedence over the theological beliefs of any organized religion.
This matter can best be resolved if church heirarchy take the moral high ground -- not necessarily by publicizing the names of suspected lawbreakers who have not been charged -- but by opening their records to authorities who are highly trained in conducting criminal investigations. By doing so, they'll also be absolved from complaints they're trying to conceal the problem.
