Seminaries and the sexual abuse crisis: a review and critique of the National Review Board's report

BY NOW, EVEN CASUAL READERS of newspapers and viewers of television know that in June 2002 the bishops of the United States, meeting in Dallas, Tex., set up a board of distinguished lay Catholic men and women to review the crisis created by the sexual abuse of minors by priests. On Feb. 27, 2004, this National Review Board issued a 145-page report titled A Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States.

The report dedicates about 20 percent of its pages to seminarians and seminary formation. The board presents an overview of what it heard from ...