Initially, this article was titled: ‘Cleaning the Augean stables’. However, when I reflected on what Hercules had done by rerouting two rivers to wash out the filth that had gathered in the King’s stables over a 30-year period, due to the dung of more than 3,000 cattle that lived there, I thought that this title was inappropriate.
By passing waste, the cattle had done something natural. However, the scandal of clergy sexual abuse is not natural. It is an abomination—a violation of the inherent dignity of the human person; a betrayal of the sacred vocation to the priesthood; and to the sterling work of the thousands of priests who are faithful to their vocation.
