Bring back the Inquisition...and I mean that in a good way.

Notorious ex-bishop Rembert Weakland, writes Catholic blogger par excellence Diogenes, "had an effective method for dealing with embarrassing documentation. He shredded it." Evidence has recently surfaced that Weakland routinely shredded reports about sexual abuse by priests.

Diogenes continues:

Everyone has his favorite Rembert Weakland story. Many lovingly recall his remark that pro-life Catholics "need a hug and a laxative." My own heart is particularly warmed by the priestly solicitude he displayed in August of 1984. In July of that year, three lay teachers at an archdiocesan school wrote the archbishop that Salvatorian Fr. Dennis Pecore was inviting boys to his bedroom for purposes of sexual mischief. Weakland turned the tables on the informants and sternly wrote back: "any libelous material found in your letter will be carefully scrutinized by our lawyers." The teachers took the point, but they ignored the threat and continued to plead for an intervention. For their pains, all three were fired. In January 1987 Pecore was convicted of sexual assault on a juvenile (and later sentenced to 12 years in prison for another sex offense). After paying out $600,000 to Pecore's victims, Weakland wrote in his May 26, 1988 Herald of Hope column: "Sometimes not all adolescents are so 'innocent,' some can be sexually very active and often quite street wise." The pastoral touch.

Do read the whole post.