Church Report Cites Social Tumult in Priest Scandals

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/us/18bishops.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 9:22 AM
Subject: re: Church Report Cites Social Tumult in Priest Scandals
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    American society changed on many fronts in the Sixties. The Bishops point to changing attitudes towards sex. I would point to changing attitudes towards authority.  The generation that decided that they did not deserve to be sent to Vietnam by their government also decided that they did not deserve to be raped by their priests. In each case the struggle has been long and the outcome remains uncertain. In each case, abuses were fostered by secrecy. In each case, we had to drag the horrors into the daylight--against the protests of the powerful--to build a better society.

Barry Haskell Levine