Just last week, we argued that the stakes are too high for the credibility of the Catholic Church to ignore accusations of misconduct or poor judgment made against the pope and various bishops by a high-ranking church diplomat.
We said there should be an independent investigation.
Now Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke has proposed an excellent way to do just that.
Burke’s proposal — to reappoint a lay board created 15 years ago by the U.S. Conference of Bishops to investigate sex abuses by priests and authorize it now to investigate top U.S. church leaders — makes sense. Burke sat on the original lay board, and she and her colleagues are willing to be called back into service and report their findings directly to Pope Francis.
This time it may work, but no one should hold his or her breath.
Blithe Spirit 