Msgr. William J. Lynn is the first U.S. Roman Catholic official to be convicted and sentenced to jail (three to six years in a decision handed down Tuesday) for covering up the church’s child sex abuse scandal.
You can read more here. Given the environment post the Freeh Report on Penn State, do you think other church officials will follow?
Dating Jesus 
Sometimes there is justice in *this* world.
If we accept Ann Casey’s assessment, “It was his vow of obedience to the church that landed him this morning in jail,” then it would follow that those who issued such orders to faithful devotees like Flynn, knowing they would comply without any deference to secular law, would suffer the same penalties.
Mens rea. Actus reus. Attendant circumstance. Basic criminal law.
But until I see someone like Dolan behind bars, I’m not going to get my hopes up.
Winnifred Fallers Sullivan writes, in the latest contribution to the Immanent Frame series on sex abuse in the Catholic Church, on Separationism and the sex abuse crisis:
I’m not sure I completely agree because I have difficulty recognizing any religious “authority” outside the walls of a church. But I shall ruminate upon it as I enjoy the message that small degree of justice visited upon William Flynn sends to his cohorts.
I wonder how much time he will actually serve. For all the damage done, the sentence sounds light to me.
I read he’s appealing. I hope it sticks; I think this is an important precedent that’s been far too long in coming.