Forgiveness or CYA?

I'm not Catholic, but a lot of the Catholic blogs I read have been following the child sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. I've been reluctant to comment on the scandal because I don't want my comments to be construed as Catholic-bashing. Also, I almost feel like it's not my place to say anything...like I'm an outsider butting in on a family problem.

But Maripat (who is Catholic) at Right We Are has basically summed up my own thoughts about the scandal in this post. Cutting deals with those who enabled the abusers is inexcusable.

It seems to me that the Catholic hierarchy was so anxious to practice Christian forgiveness (or, more likely, practice some CYA) that they ended up forgetting about justice. They have coddled and enabled child abusers, allowing them to claim more victims. The Vatican has been reluctant to hold those who covered for the abusers accountable.

Forgiveness is wonderful, but it doesn't mean you throw justice and common sense out the window. A murderer can be forgiven for his crime, but it doesn't mean you let him back on the streets to kill again. He still has to account for his crime, and society still needs to be protected from him. The same goes for the abusing priests and their enablers.

But I think that maybe I'm being too charitable in saying that all these cover-ups are the result of a wrongheaded idea of Christian forgiveness. It is far more likely that the hierarchy was just trying to keep up appearances and keep a lid on the situation. Either way, it's a disgusting betrayal.

Justice needs to be done. No more cover-ups, no more deals.