Note that he says alleged perpetrators. Some of them are real child molestors, but as with the case of the great day-care scandal, many of these charges are probably false, and many more will certainly be false as the tort lawyers start feeding on the increasing publicity. Even in Boston, many of these cases may have been settled because the lawyers working for the Church said that it would be cheaper than contesting them. As the Cardinal says, innocent priests will be probably be sullied along with the guilty ones.
And, although he has no choice but to report all cases to the civil authorities, Freepers should realize that this risks giving the state much more power over religious organizations. It used to be that religious organizations took care of their own, and punished their own. One result of this whole sad mess is that confidentiality of the clergy is likely to be compromised--for Protestants and Jews as well as Catholics. The balance of power will tilt even further away from Chistians and their churches to the state. But there's really no choice after the bishops failed so dismally to do their jobs.
Isn't this part of the problem -- Eagan et al failing in their responsibility to take action?