Growing up catholic, I had a lot of mixed feelings about the church. Yeah, I got a lot of neat presents and money for my confirmation. Plus, my Baptist friends in high school were always jealous of me getting to drink wine every Saturday night at mass. But the older I got, the less I felt like the Catholic Church was for me 1) because weekly confession was always way too early on Saturday mornings 2) because of shit like this.
Via KFOR…
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City now says there’s no timetable for the release of a report that’s been repeatedly delayed in naming priests facing accusations of sexual misconduct with minors.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Diane Clay says the church “miscalculated on how long it would take” to review the files of past and current priests.
This report was supposed to have been released last fall, but has been delayed time and time again. This is likely a bold claim for me to make, but it seems like the Catholic Church might have been hiding something for a while. Maybe there was a lot more to the report than they originally thought.
The archdiocese has hired the Oklahoma-based law firm of McAfee and Taft to produce the report, including an analysis scrutinizing how the archdiocese responded to past allegations of abuse.
Archbishop Paul Coakley said in August that a review of files dating to 1960 would result in a report released in November. That deadline was postponed to February and then to March.
My teenage self got into enough arguments with our parish’s priest to know that authority figures in the church don’t always handle being called out or held accountable for their actions very well. Keep in mind, this report is probably only being made due to the public outcry against the decades of abuse allegations that the Catholic Church knowingly swept under the rug. But really, it doesn’t matter how long the report takes as long as it is thorough and accurate. The only problems with the report are that 1) the incidents that led to it being created in the first place and 2) the Archdiocese will not be transparent about its release date. I don’t know what will be in the report and if it will even be helpful to members of the community. But I am sure you can probably call Archbishop Paul Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City at 405-721-5651, extension 157 and ask for an update.
Hayley wrote her first letter to Coakley back in 2011. They go way back. Follow her on twitter @squirrellygeek
