[sinkspur]

Doyle's being thrown out of his embassy post might well have something to do with his opposition to the idea of an episcopal hierarchy in the Catholic Church, as documented in the first post.

Not likely. Doyle was a straight-down-the-line-orthodox priest in 1984. That's how he got a job in the nuncio's office.

I'm sure the bishops did prefer to handle things themselves; most of them went right on suing accusers or paying them off in return for secrecy and, worst of all, allowing serial abusers to remain in ministry, in a position to prey on young people.

[gbcdoj]

I'll defer to your knowledge on Doyle, then.

My understanding is that the handling of the abuse cases was actually much worse before the 80s: for instance, Cardinal Law, despite his mishandling, did a far better job than his predecessor.