Osler's Razor

I found this headline (in the NY Times) pretty alarming: Investigators Raid Offices of President of US Catholic Bishops. It's just another chapter in the never-ending sexual abuse and cover-up scandal in the Catholic church. This time around the focus is on Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, who is the President of the Bishops' conference and who is alleged to have assigned a Priest to work in a parish despite prior allegations of abuse. The police felt they needed to raid the Cardinal's offices because of suspicions he was hiding records related to that Priest.

There are at least five parts to this scandal, which has engulfed Catholic Dioceses all over the country (and the world):

-- The initial abuse by priests
-- The failure of the Church to investigate allegations of abuse
-- The re-assignment of Priests credibly accused of abuse to new positions in the church rather than removal from the priesthood.
--  The failure to cooperate with or initiate outside investigations.
--  The pervasive attitude of "Let's move on" when the scandals have not been thoroughly investigated and the truth made known.

The "Let's just move on" take on things, where internal investigations are forgone or dropped, priests shuffled around, and secrecy maintained, has not worked well for the church. Mostly, it has ensured that instead of a few years of tragedy and pain, this scandal will consume an entire generation of the church. It's a terrible choice.