{"id":10807,"date":"2012-02-08T08:37:51","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T14:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=10807"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:34:33","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:34:33","slug":"cardinal-egan-takes-back-apology-for-abuse-i-dont-think-we-did-anything-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/02\/cardinal-egan-takes-back-apology-for-abuse-i-dont-think-we-did-anything-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinal Egan takes back apology for abuse: “I don’t think we did anything wrong”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

He made his remarks in an interview with a Connecticut magazine, and it\u2019s set off a firestorm<\/a>: <\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2002, at the height of the outcry over the sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests, the Archbishop of New York,\u00a0Edward M. Egan<\/a>, issued a letter to be read at Mass. In it, he\u00a0offered an apology<\/a> about the church\u2019s handling of sex-abuse cases in New York and in Bridgeport, Conn., where he was previously posted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIt is clear that today we have a much better understanding of this problem,\u201d\u00a0he wrote<\/a>. \u201cIf in hindsight we also discover that mistakes may have been made as regards prompt removal of priests and assistance to victims, I am deeply sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, 10 years later and in retirement, Cardinal Egan has taken back his apology.<\/p>\n

In an interview in the February issue of Connecticut magazine, a surprisingly frank Cardinal Egan said of the apology, \u201cI never should have said that,\u201d\u00a0and added, \u201cI don\u2019t think we did anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said many more things in\u00a0the interview<\/a>, some of them seemingly at odds with the facts. He repeatedly denied that any sex abuse had occurred on his watch in Bridgeport. He said that even now, the church in Connecticut had no obligation to report sexual abuse accusations to the authorities. (A law on the books since the 1970s says otherwise.) And he described the Bridgeport diocese\u2019s handling of sex-abuse cases as \u201cincredibly good.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of which has Cardinal Egan, now 79 and living in Manhattan, drawing fire from advocates who say he has reopened old wounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo many victims,\u201d said\u00a0Paul Mones<\/a>, a lawyer who represented several victims of sexual abuse in New York, \u201can apology was critical to their being made whole, to feeling that, yes, the church knows that I was wronged and that this was a problem that was going on for decades. So if the statements are true, for him to come out and say he was wrong for the apology is more than tragic.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He made his remarks in an interview with a Connecticut magazine, and it\u2019s set off a firestorm: In 2002, at the height of the outcry over the sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests, the Archbishop of New York,\u00a0Edward M. Egan, issued a letter to be read at Mass. In it, he\u00a0offered an apology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,47],"tags":[1039,212,624],"class_list":["post-10807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bishops","category-sex-abuse-crisis","tag-cardinal-egan","tag-catholic-sex-abuse","tag-new-york"],"yoast_head":"\nCardinal Egan takes back apology for abuse: "I don't think we did anything wrong"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"He made his remarks in an interview with a Connecticut magazine, and it's set off a firestorm: In 2002, at the height of the outcry over the sexual abuse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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