My Approach Has Always Been to Ask for Laicization
Sept 18, 2004
Following are excerpts from an interview with Cardinal Edward M. Egan, as recorded by The New York Times, 16 August 2002.
I think what we are doing and have done is correct. I believe that the Dallas decisions pretty much reflect what we did and are doing. They don't go as far as we do, because my approach has always been to ask for laicization [leaving the priesthood]. If I didn't get it, all right. ...
I think my approach is the proper approach at this time, yes. ...
If you take it out of the context of the times, right now I have less and less confidence in depending upon the medical and the psychiatric community to tell me if the person can control this sort of thing, or has controlled it. My experience is that sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're wrong. They're probably right more than they're wrong. But it's too dangerous, it seems to me, to do anything now but to play always on the side of safety. My first consideration has to be protection, to see there is no harm done. While I will be sending these people to these institutions or whatever, maybe not the same ones, my trust in their ability to analyze and figure it out and forecast is significantly diminished. ...
I think that we handled the matters properly. I think we're handling them properly now. Everything happens at a time, with a certain amount of information and a certain amount of insight, and to take yesterday and to judge it in terms of today, it sells newspapers. ...
The way we've done it is proper. I think we've handled it in a very serious way. Every one who has been a victim has certainly been spoken to and helped in every way, in a proper context. ... Everybody has a different way of dealing with things. I think we've dealt with them properly. ...
Following are excerpts from an interview yesterday with Cardinal Edward M. Egan, as recorded by The New York Times (16 August 2002).
My Approach Has Always Been to Ask for Laicization