Let George do it -- eventually.

This past weekend, Francis Cardinal George had a statement read from all the pulpits in the Archdiocese of Chicago:

"There is so much I remain unaware of, yet I am, in the end, responsible for it all. I want to say now that if there is any priest that is leading a double life, he should for the sake of the Church come forward."

Say what you will about him, but at least he's original.

He's also taken his sweet-@$$ time about it. He knew when he was assigned to Chicago several years ago, that he was walking into a rat's nest. How hard would it have been to discontinue regular occurances of general absolution in his own Cathedral before he unpacked? But it went on, as other things went on.

In fairness, it's impossible for a bishop to investigate hearsay, and some cases have started out as little more than that. A priest unjustly accused can tie his bishop in paperwork all the way to Rome. Considering that priest-personnel cases are second only to marriage cases on a tribunal's docket, the prospect cannot be taken lightly.

In the meantime...

If a priest is engaged in wrongdoing, and people have seen it with their own eyes (which can and does happen), those around him can get their heads out of whichever orifice they are buried, knock his @$$ off the pedestal, and teach him a thing or two about behaving like a normal adult. This can be handled inside the rectory door, before anybody downtown gets a phone call.

If more people started using their own good sense, we wouldn't need a bunch of cake-eaters from suburban Boston calling press conferences and doing book-signing tours.

Unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing.