CathNews New Zealand

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted for child endangerment on June 22.

For the Catholic Church in the US this conviction shows that “that the courts will not afford clergymen a version of the Nazi’s Nuremburg defense that they “were only following orders”,” according to Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, writing in the Washington Post.

According to Stevens-Arroyo, “The big loser from the timing of Msgr. Lynn’s conviction may be the bishops’ just-launched Fortnight for Freedom. It would be a disaster for the bishops’ authority if the public comes to view this campaign as a smoke-screen to avoid punishing evildoers in the clerical pedophilia.”

• Read Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo’s article
• Image: TV3News

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo is an American scholar of religion and retired Brooklyn College professor emeritus.