Must Read on Philly

by Michael Sean Winters

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I know, I know: Who wants to read something that is sure to depress them? But, read it we must. Philadelphia Magazine has a long story about the sex abuse scandal that continues to rock that city.

The most damning quote:

"When you spend that much time in the Vatican,” a St. Louis priest said of Rigali a decade ago, “you’re like one of the Bernini columns, just one of many holding up the place. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself.” Rigali is gentle and caring, quick to show up at the bedside of an ailing priest. But he is not dynamic. “Justin Rigali wouldn’t have enough inner authority to say in a homily, ‘Love your neighbor,’” said the priest. “He would say, ‘As the Pope said when he was in Toronto: Love your neighbor.’”

And, as rumors continue that Cardinal Rigali will soon be replaced, we can only hope and pray that Rome understands Philadelphia needs a bishop who will be a balm-speader for that troubled archdiocese, not a bomb-thrower.

Must Read on Philly

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