I read Emily Stimpson's post about David and Kevin Clohessy, I agree that it is heart breaking. It tears at the heart strings and demands an emotional response. Suddenly both the abused adolescent and the abusive priest are innocent victims of a ruthless and uncaring Church hierarchy bound by secrecy and the 'will to power'. I don't mean to appear dispassionate, but there are other ways to read this particular story.

One interpretation is the struggle of two sons for their parent's, or perhaps even God's, devotion. We can see Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, David and Kevin. This could be the story of an internecine war that reverberates in the halls of power and topples an empire. One might see these men as heroic protagonists with a 'victimized' Church laying in shatters at the feet of such epic contestants. One might marvel at the destructive fury and power unleashed by a simple sibling rivalry. One might cry over the devastation and the shattered lives wrought by their fevered hubris.

In some future history, we might compare these brothers' outrage with the bloody rivalry between England's Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots. ..Or again… we can see them as 'innocent victims.'

The point of view lays in the telling of the tale. The truth lies somewhere beyond our fantasies.