Thomas P. Doyle - Letter of Support for Restoring Dignity Campaign

THOMAS P. DOYLE, O.P., J.C.D.
9700 WOODLAND GLEN CT., VIENNA VA 22182

http://restoringdignity.org/thomasdoyle.html

Letter of Support for Restoring Justice Campaign

I have been directly involved in advocacy for the victims of clergy sex abuse for over twenty years. As a Catholic priest I am painfully aware of the harsh reality that Church and Society have looked the “other way” and tacitly not only permitted but encouraged a variety of sordid forms of child abuse in schools, orphanages, parishes and other institutions.

The human wreckage that abounds in our society could have been prevented had the Church and other private institutions been forced by our society to place as much value on the lives of children as they have on adults. One can speculate endlessly as to why child abuse, physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual, has been allowed to thrive and one will never arrive as any form of answer that justifies what has been revealed over the past two decades.

I have been deeply involved in sexual abuse cases throughout the United States, in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and in other European countries. I have also been directly involved in efforts to eliminate the evil of human trafficking. I am convinced that the institutions that have spawned the abuse such as the Churches are both incapable and often unwilling to take the radical steps needed to protect the vulnerable and call to account those whose irresponsibility put them in danger.

The most significant source of hope today is decisive action by civil legislators and jurists. It is essential that men and women with deep integrity, courage and commitment to the community be elected to public office, not only for the obvious reasons but for any real success in succeeding in the fight against the institutionalized moral numbness that prevents a full scale assault on child abuse.

(Rev.) Thomas P Doyle, O.P., J.C.D., C.A.D.C.