Bishops justified concealment by weighing church authority over child harm

Evidence

However, the cover-up by the bishops required justification. The bishops’ actions indicated that their justification was based on utilitarian grounds: The harm to the moral authority of the church from disclosing the sexual abuse outweighed the harm inflicted on children. In the cover-up, which went on for years in the United States and Europe, some of the offending priests were relocated to other parishes. Many were assigned to mainly nonparish duties and referred for spiritual counseling. Families of victims who filed charges received sizable settlements. The lawyers representing the families referred to the payments as “hush money.” — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 492 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Church leaders justified covering up child abuse on utilitarian grounds — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 492; Church officials engineered referral loopholes to shield molesters from police — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 519; The Vatican narrowed its accountability to shrink responsibility for abuse — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 546 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Church leaders justified covering up child abuse on utilitarian grounds #expands (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 492