Another bishop fails to put children first in dealing with abusive priest

It is difficult to understand what is going on in the Archdiocese of Newark these days. A priest of that archdiocese, Father Michael Fugee, was charged with sexual assault on a minor in 2001. He confessed to the police that he had grabbed the young boy’s crotch while wrestling with him on two occasions.

Imagine, then, the surprise of the folks in the Newark archdiocese when they found out that Father Fugee had been going on youth retreats and pilgrimages and was back to hearing the confessions of minors, in private, as all confessions must be.


http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/201305/another-bishop-fails-put-children-first-dealing-abusive-priest-27282?utm_source=May+7%2C+2013&utm_campaign=ebulletin+May+7%2C+2013&utm_medium=email|


As Catholics, we are taught to "avoid the near occasions of sin," meaning we should stay away from any temptation to a sin to which we may be prone to commit. By putting self-confessed pedophiles back into these near occasions of sin, Church officials are even more responsible for subsequent abuse than the abuser himself.