Salvatorian Fr. Bergner's Stupid Suggestion

Fr. David Bergner, new Provincial Superior of the Salvatorians, has a problem. He didn't think too carefully before making an astounding statement:

...Bergner said in an interview that he had great empathy for victims of clergy sexual abuse and would support legislative efforts in Wisconsin to permit victims to sue dioceses and other religious organizations no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. That position surprised SNAP leaders.

Bergner should have been concentrating on keeping one of his priests, Fr. Jos. Henn, in sight, instead of allowing him to be cavorting around in Rome:

The whereabouts of a priest who once served at a Wauwatosa parish remained unknown Friday, more than a month after he apparently fled house arrest in Rome as Italian authorities were preparing to extradite him to the United States to face sexual molestation charges in Arizona.

Interpol issued a warrant for the arrest of Father Joseph Henn and is actively searching for him in Europe, said Father Dave Bergner, the provincial superior, or head, of Salvatorian priests and brothers in the U.S. The order, of which Henn is a member, will tell authorities if it learns where he is, Bergner added.

We have ZERO sympathy for perps-in-collars; the history of this blog is clear.

On the other hand, we have some vestigial interest in justice for defendants, as well as for victims. Defending against allegations of 20-, 30-, or 50-year old abuse is virtually impossible.

Even Bergner understands that:

Bergner, however, resisted a call by the victims group for the religious order to reveal the names and addresses of all of its priests who have had a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor made against them. He said that such allegations go back decades, that those priests have been removed from ministry and are aged or dead, and that it would be harmful to their family members to make that information public now.

You can't have it both ways, Father.