Letters to the Editor

Letter to the editor: The church will pay dearly

Tribune-Review | Tuesday, September 4, 2018 9:03 p.m

In response to your editorial “Will Catholic parishioners pay for victims to find justice?” (Aug. 29, TribLIVE), my answer would be, “Who else do you think will pay?”

If you consider that the Jerry Sandusky scandal cost Penn State $100 million or so, and Michigan State reportedly settled with the victims of Larry Nassar for around $500 million, the fallout of these current odious charges could make those settlements seem like a sleepover.

And by no means am I defending the heinous actions of these priests, nor trivializing the harm done to those claimants. Justice needs to be done. And justice will reach back further with an extension of the statute of limitations.

But the face of the Catholic Church — my church — will change. Catholic schools, barely above water now, will close, as will the churches themselves for their real estate. As will the scope of Catholic Charities. As will the presence of a community institution in some places.

But what will be most galling will be the television ads: “Remember, we don’t collect a dime until we get money for you!”

Robert Bush

Washington Township, Westmoreland County

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