Richie - an honest question for you.

Would you believe me if I told you how hurt I was when I found out that it wasn't just Cardinal Law covering up for the pedophile priests in Boston? I remember having a discussion with some friends about how this would NEVER have happened under his predecessor, Cardinal Cushing.

...then the news broke, some weeks later, that Cushing was just as guilty as Law.

Until that point, I was hanging my hopes on Law being a 'rogue', if you take my meaning. The more the story broke, the more reams of documents that were turned over after the Church denying they existed... The more my heart broke and the more angry I became.

In all honesty, I think the thing I hated the most about all that (on a personal level) is how it tarnishes my memories of the good priests I grew up with. Though I was never molested in any way, the actions of those criminals planted doubt in my mind. I keep telling myself that Father Mike and Father Houde and others were just as good people after the revelations (which never had anything to do with them) as they were in my mind before.. But it's not easy.