Dia Dipasupil / Tannen Maury
Left: Father James Martin attends the “Building A Bridge" premiere during the 2021 Tribeca Festival at Hudson Yards on June 15, 2021, in New York City. Right: Archbishop Rembert Weakland apologizes publicly for sexual scandal on May 31, 2002, in St. Francis, Wisconsin.

The priest’s downplaying of Archbishop Rembert Weakland’s grave offenses is a painful reminder of the steep hill that the Church in the U.S. still must climb in order to regain its moral authority.