The Philadelphia Magazine in its July 5, 2011 issue paints a portrait of the Philiadelphia archdiocese in the wake of the latest grand jury findings. It's not pleasant. The article offers particularly unflattering portraits of two Philadelphia archbishops, Anthony Bevilacqua and Justin Rigali. Both men are seen as giving total fealty to the church hierarchy, the former out of arrogance, the later out of fear, while forsaking the people of their archdiocese, most fundatmentally those abused by local clergy.
This devestating portrait of 7,630-words has its critics, of course, including a spokesperson for the archdiocese who calls the piece "entirely one-sided" and ignoring "fundamental and far-reaching changes Archdiocesan leaders have implemented and continue to implement in light of the 2005 and 2011 grand jury reports."
For those who want to read the 2003 grand jury report it can be found here.
For those who want to read the 2011 grand jury report it can be found here.
