Are Catholic Officials Stiffing Investigator Keating?

by Fred Jackson

(AgapePress)...The man Roman Catholic bishops chose to head an investigation into the church's clergy sex scandal has apparently hit some roadblocks.

Governor Frank Keating of Oklahoma was appointed to head the church's national review board back in June with the goal of monitoring the church's response to the abuse scandal. It appears he is less than pleased.

Keating says getting an accurate accounting of all priests and children involved is going to be difficult because the record keeping of some church officials has been, as he puts it, "slovenly to the point of reckless."

He tells The New York Times that how much of this involves a conspiracy of silence remains to be seen. Keating also says he has heard from parishioners who say the goal of some bishops is to hush up accounts of abuse, rather than report them to authorities.

Keating's tough stance has clearly angered some church authorities. The Times notes that in recent weeks, several Vatican officials have criticized Keating, who is Catholic but has stated publicly that he admires reformer Martin Luther. Some bishops have also attacked him for saying church officials who transferred pedophile priests to new parishes should resign.

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