Pope should prioritize abuse issue

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To the Editor:
In the past, I have perhaps not paid as much attention to the election and reporting on a new pope as much as this one. The coverage in the March 21 issue is perhaps a bit over the top, but expected and probably appropriate. What has tuned my senses to the Vatican, the pope and the Church hierarchy is how they react toward the world and the laity, and deal with issues of our time.
Many of the articles in this issue of The Catholic Messenger reflect on how well Francis will handle his duties. All guesswork. This has been proven by past prelates who have allowed and then failed to deal with many important issues; most notably clergy abuse (most of the prognosticators for recent popes failed in their much too early assessments).
So, we are only left to deal with the history of how well a pope does on the job. I think that should change. We should give the pope his priorities and the clergy abuse issue should be No. 1. Do nothing else until that is settled. It is the only thing to deal with immediately. The past prelate failed to deal with it. If Francis doesn’t address this, the Church as we know it today is doomed (in that case, many will revisit what Martin Luther put forth centuries ago).
Ken Kashmarek
St. Ann Church, Long Grove


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