Mar 24, 2019 3 min read

Probably not since the days when Galileo was tried for suggesting that the sun, moon and stars did not revolve around Earth has the hierarchy of the Catholic Church been more embattled, its moral authority more degraded.

The stomach-churning revelations about child sexual abuse that emerged in Pennsylvania last summer, and the worldwide notice they received, have surely not helped the church reverse the decline in its membership in the United States and across the Western world. A 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 32 percent of Americans had been raised Catholic, but that only 21 percent remained so. The United States is becoming a more secular society, for better or worse, but the Catholic Church has seen more people leave its pews than its Protestant counterparts.

A suit filed Tuesday by West Virginia’s attorney general against the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its onetime leader, former Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, will certainly not help the Catholic Church’s cause in this region or around the country.

The suit alleges that the diocese and Bransfield employed pedophiles with full knowledge of their backgrounds, and failed to carry out sufficient background checks of its employees in its camps and schools. Among the suit’s allegations, it claims that a priest who had admitted sexually abusing a student was assigned to Wheeling Catholic Elementary School from 1998 to 2001 after he had undergone treatment. The suit also contends that a chaplain at Wheeling Central Catholic High School was employed there even after his higher-ups became aware of credible accusations of sexual abuse against him. In neither case were parents informed about either man’s background.

What makes the suit unusual is its claim that the diocese acted in violation of West Virginia’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to inform families about the abusers it employed, and breached its promise to provide children with a safe learning environment.

In a statement, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said that parents “who pay and entrust the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its schools to educate and care for their children deserve full transparency. Our investigation reveals a serious need for the diocese to enact policy changes that will better protect children, just as this lawsuit demonstrates our resolve to pursue every avenue to effectuate change as no one is above law.”

Victims of abuse and their supporters have argued vigorously that states need to change their statute of limitations laws in order to prosecute predators. However, some caution should be exercised on this front, since time erodes memories and crucial witnesses who could offer proof of guilt or innocence could have died or be otherwise hard to track down. But West Virginia’s approach, if its suit is successful, promises both accountability and long overdue justice.