Lawlessness in Boston

William F. Buckley Jr

The words of Cardinal Bernard Law, spoken at his cathedral in Boston, were: "When there are problems in the family, you don't walk away. You work them out together with God's help."

The cardinal doesn't understand that one of the problems in the family is the derelict father of the family. It is undeniably and painfully the case that priest after priest who had molested children were called to the cardinal's attention, and he did what amounts to nothing. To some he advised, or even decreed, psychological counseling. Others he simply admonished. But the critical concern should have been to get children out of harm's way. He didn't do that. You don't pass over his inactivity as simply an act of inordinate compassion. One can feel with great sorrow and understanding the derangement of the arsonist, but one does not send him back into the forest. Human cordite is otherwise supervised.

Read the complete article at the National Review Online website.