Weakland: I Did Not Know Sex With Child Was a Crime and Thought Kids Would “Grow Out of It”

Recently, we discussed the forthcoming book by former Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, the leading cleric who was accused of date rape and covering up the abuse of children by other priests. The church paid $450,000 in 1998 to a man who had accused him of assault. Now, Weakland insists that he and other priests did not know it was a crime to have sex with children and thought they would not remember or they would “grow out of it.”

In his book, “A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church,” Weakland writes: “We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature.” That’s right. Despite the daily stories of child abuse arrests and basic common sense, Weakland did not understand that raping choirboys was not actually a crime.

He then insisted that he and others “accepted naively the common view that it was not necessary to worry about the effects on the youngsters: either they would not remember or they would ‘grow out of it.” The “common view”? Where in the universe beyond child molestation websites is that a common view?

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Would “Grow Out of IT