Archdiocese faces federal probe

With a new administration in Washington, it now appears that Catholic Church officials' ongoing cover-up of sex abuse cases is starting to unravel even more.

Let me be frank: America's right-wing rulers - particularly the Bush regime - have not been serious enough about going after the Church's serial mishandling of the scandal. There was a policy for years in Toledo of not prosecuting sex abuse cases by priests, and I'm sure that's not the only American locale that had this policy. Parts of northern Kentucky have been little better.

But now there's finally a federal investigation. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is now the topic of a grand jury probe into its mishandling of child molestation by priests.

In 2007, the archdiocese reached a $660,000,000 settlement with over 500 alleged clergy abuse victims.

It'll be interesting - and maddening - to see what defense the archdiocese might come up with in this case. In Kentucky, our local diocese hid behind corporate law to try to avoid paying a settlement. Church officials have also tried abusing sovereign immunity on the grounds that Vatican City is its own country.

Bush's Justice Department intervened on behalf of officials in other cases that it didn't want facing lawsuits. But with a new administration, the cover-up in the Catholic Church might be unwinding.

(Source: http://www.kypost.com/news/national/story/L-A-cardinal-says-hes-mystified-by-federal-probe/FJAEiThO0UWJsHgfHW3Qfw.cspx)