Well Balanced.*

Dowd's column today goes a long way in tackling the troubles of the privileged priesthood, without degenerating into what's often sadly become all-encompassing hate, or Catholic bashing in general.

When the scandal first emerged, years ago, I remember visiting my parents' parish in Florida, where the priest -- one of the many good ones -- was honest in his disgust and demand for justice, yet warned parishioners against committing "spiritual suicide" by broad-brushedly painting all priests with the crimes of the most evil. (Some still are celibate, honestly and by choice or vocation.)

(I also failed to cheer when the convicted pedophile priest John Geoghan, 68, had his chest stomped in while he was strangled in prison. That's not Justice either.)

True Balance. It's no act.
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* She's on a roll lately, or something.

ADDED:
Re. Balance: Sadly, it's not so easy to determine victims and accusers, particularly without a pattern of multiple victims, especially after so much time has passed -- which is why every person, judicially, is assumed to be innocent before proven guilty in the American justice system, and blanket statements like these from the comments -- "There is no motive for 'Billy'* to make the stories up." -- are perhaps not 100% true either. (money incentives, attention/drama, self-loathing homosexuals? ) Remember Cardinal Bernadin of Chicago, and the complexity of all persons, accusers** and the accused, is all I'm saying...

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* Not that I'm at all disbelieving this particular victim. "Billy's" story sounds credible enough, including the self-destructive actions post-abuse. Still, something to keep in mind as we evaluate the credibility of other accusers.

** There was probably a time too, in America, when no one believed a woman would have incentive to cry rape, after unknowingly becoming pregnant after having sex with a man. Balance.