Philly archbishop resigns in wake of sex abuse scandal

Is it coincidence? I don't know.

But I find it interesting that Cardinal Justin Rigali, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is now resigning. This comes just a few months after a new grand jury report cited him for failing to adequately follow a previous report's recommendations issued in 2005 for dealing with clergy sex abuse scandals in the archdiocese.

According to the Associated Press, the 2005 report "charged that Rigali and his predecessor hid credible sex-abuse complaints made against dozens of Philadelphia priests."

According to KYW, Philadelphia's CBS affiliate, "Rigali put several reforms into place after [the 2005] grand jury's findings were released, hired an advocate for victims, and pledged to pastorally deal with the crisis."

But many believe he didn't do enough.

In all fairness, under Church law, he was required to retire when he turned 75 last year. But the Pope did not accept his resignation until now.

I hope Rigali's replacement will do a better job of protecting the children and supporting the victims.

In the meantime, I'm glad that the legal system is following up on this issue, since the Church is obviously not doing enough.