CNN has posted an article regarding the legislator of Connecticut's proposed bill to repeal the statute of limitations on sexual abuse of a minor. It would take the current statute of 30 years from the age of majority to report sexual abuse and make it indefinite. In other words, victims of childhood abuse will have the lesser of the the remainder of their own lives, or the remainder of their attacker's, to bring accusations to bear.
This is the point where I beg your indulgence. The following will be brief, but direct.
The article also states that local Catholic leadership are instructing their parishioners to oppose the bill because the "legislation would undermine the mission of the Catholic church in Connecticut, threatening... schools, ... parishes , and... Catholic charities."
Correction! The actions of their CLERGY undermine the church!
In a letter from the three Arch Bishops of Connecticut, Catholics are being told to contact their elected leaders to express their concern. In moments like this, I find that restating the idea in a different way often lends some clarity. If we take the above statement and instead say, "We, as an organization, do not want the law to allow crimes committed by our leaders to come back and bite us in the ass in perpetuity," it suddenly sounds very selfish.
Let's take this and expand the scope to include ALL victims of childhood abuse. Shall we then say to child abusers everywhere, "It's ok. Your crimes have a shelf life. That child you scarred can't come after you beyond their 48th birthday"?
Well, gee, when you say it like that, it sounds kinda silly.
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