Catholic Priest Who Was Victim of Sex Abuse Draws Fire After Speaking Out
This just reinforces my prejudice against hierarchical religions…

The Catholic Church hierarchy’s treatment of clergy sex abuse victims was disgusting, the patient told him.

“Believe me, I’m not trying to force Jesus down your throat,” answered Moran, a beefy 60-year-old with an agonizing secret he had only recently started to let out: “I’m a victim of a priest myself.”

The patient stared at him from the bed. A question came, point-blank: “Then how can you be a priest?”
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It was time to leave, he decided soon after that conversation, and he arranged to retire May 31 on a medical disability. But first, he wanted to let loose the whole secret — not just the abridged version. He wanted people to know that the fallout of clergy sex abuse is not over, even if it has waned from headlines. And he wanted to do it during Holy Week, the week before Easter, the time when priests renew their vows. The decision would bring more pain than liberation.
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He railed against church leaders who protect abusers and care more about money than victims. He talked about therapy and the “rationalizations” that kept him in the ministry. Copies of his comments were in the back of the chapel, he said. And when it was over, a burly man came over to hug him. No one else seemed to know what to do.

The next day, a Washington archdiocese official called, telling him that the hospital thought his actions were inappropriate and that the church felt they were accusatory. His priestly credentials were being pulled immediately, he was told, something that usually wouldn’t have happened until he retired six weeks later.
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Moran feels he is being punished for speaking out: “My gut feeling is that I have been raped again.”

Advocates of clergy abuse victims who know Moran are livid and say that because he was leaving his position anyway, removing his credentials was unnecessary.

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