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except it's not, and even with public outcry the Bishop(who has been indicted for the cover up), has NOT been removed from his post, and the child molesting priest was NOT removed from his position of being around children, even AFTER child pornography was found in his possession. The bishop didn't turn over the photos until SIX MONTHS after they were found.
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Short answer: Something may be done about the Bishop, but we wouldn't know until it happened. Since the Bishop has done nothing wrong in accordance with canon law, a bill of complaint (written in Church Latin) has to be filed with the Doctrine of the Congregation of the Faith in Rome, forwarded to the Promoter of Justice, and then a trial is held by the Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae, the Church equivalent of the Supreme Court. This is because the Bishop is more or less the king of his Diocese; the Pope and Curia cannot tell him to do anything unless he has violated canon law.
Even then, the bill of complaint and the trial (itself conducted completely in Church Latin) must be held in extreme confidentiality, with an oath of secrecy under threat of excommunication taken by everyone involved. So until such a trial was concluded, no one would know what happened. If the trial went in favor of the accused Bishop, no one would know that a trial even took place. If the trial does go against the accused Bishop, he can appeal the verdict to the Pope who can then, if he so chooses, cause ANOTHER trial to be held.
So, if something is being done about the Bishop, you can expect it to take years to get through the legal process (which is still based in medieval court practices and law). -
Divine Witness Protection Program- Robin WilliamsComment
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