This is not dredging up ancient crimes. If Placa was hiding the truth about molestation, the crime of obstruction of justice might be claimed to be much more recent. And the moral judgment that believes it's better to cover up evil, rather than expose it for what it is, is questionable to say the least. From a Catholic perspective, even if the legal statute of limitations has run out, the sin of concealment, and of hurting the victims with that concealment, is renewed every time Placa considers the issue and keeps his mouth shut.

For a public official to hold such a person so close to their hearts is questionable to say the least. Giuliani may "love the sinner and hate the sin" in the case of his long-time friend, but he should also be aware that Ceasar's wife (and by extension, best friend) should be above reproach. And if Placa is such a dear friend, should he not have long ago removed himself from all association with Giuliani in order to protect him?

Both parties' patterns of behavior seem to point to selfish motives. Placa did Giuliana the favor of having his marriage annulled. To anyone familiar with Catholicism, the idea that a marriage lasting the better part of two decades can be erased as if it never happened is ludicrous and wrong. Giuliani does Placa the favor of maintaining him on his payroll. Friendship is nice, but "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" seems to be the basis of it.

A christianly friend of a child molester would want the molester to redeem themselves, and would want truth to be part of that redemption, not cover-up. A christianly child molester (and in this case, a priest!) of a person of authority would want to do what was good for their friend, and would remove himself from all contact to protect him. Neither of these two are behaving in a Christian manner.

One wonders if both aren't doing each other the "favor" of not revealing the truths they know of each other.

That's a stupid accusation.

Do you take your alcoholic friend out drinking? Do you put your most cherished bottles of fine libation in front of your alcoholic friend?

I've dealt personally with this issue. A friend was convicted and went to jail for pedophilia. I personally think it was a "duke rape case" where the hysteria won. I support my friend because he is my friend. He would still be my friend if the accusations are true. I do, however, keep him and my kids well separated. It's common sense.

All my friends have flaws, some deeper than others. That's part of friendship. You hang around even after the bloom leaves the rose. Anything less is just associates. They come and go, but my real friends are there for the long haul.

Rudy no doubt allowed this pedophile around his own kids. What does that say about his judgement?

This story about Guiliani is disturbing on many levels. But mostly I am concerned about the cover Guiliani's position offers Alan Placa. One of the facts that is not discussed often about the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church is that Catholic priest perpetrators have more victims than perpetrators in the general public. Some people believe that this is could be because the priests have had cover. By this I mean, even when their actions were discovered, most often, they were not turned over to legal authorities, and their actions were covered up through secret payouts or powerful intimidation . Having finally lost his cover by his diocese, Placa simply found another powerful, enabler in his good friend, Guiliani.

Remember back before 9/11/2001. Before we were told to be afraid of terrorists. Back when we had democrats in power. We were supposed to be afraid of pedophiles and sex offenders. Its the democrat version of "Get your fear on!"

So, we'd better get used to it. Our civil liberties will be eroded to protect the children. It is the excuse clinton used to push COPA and sneak-and-peak search warrants.

Same fear, same erosion of liberties, different bad guys.

the need to extend the statute of limitations for crimes such as child molestation. As the law is now, the victims do not get their day in court simply because they are minors. In a sense, they are raped twice, first by their abusers and then by the system.

Parents, who often seek only to protect their children, do not always report the abuse. It is natural that Catholics who have been taught to trust the church would report abuse to the church rather than to the police. Part of the reason is the shame surrounding the abuse and with being uncomfortable with what they wrongly think is an issue involving homosexuality.

These pedophiles are not necessarily or even often homosexuals. However, much of the general public is quite uneducated about this fact. Doesn't it strike anyone as odd that the Catholic Church is harsher to homosexuals than it is to child predators?

In any case, states should extend the statute of limitations on child molestation so that those victims whose interests were not served by the Church or the judicial system may at last have their day in court.

Also, I was a little nonplused by an earlier poster who seemed to think that the rape of a young child must necessarily be more horrendous than the ongoing abuse of an older child. The trauma of sexual abuse is not merely physical. The psychological trauma often lasts much longer. Children who are abused by people whom they would normally be able to trust -- such as parents, stepparents, teachers, and religious leaders -- struggle all their lives with the emotional damage and with issues of trust.

As to Guiliani, I have to say that even if he believes in his old friend's innocence, the fact that he employs someone of such a dubious background calls into question his judgment in matters of public trust.

Perhaps it is an over-rated virtue. Bush's extreme loyalty has brought us Rove and Gonzales.

Guiliani could maintain his loyalty to his lifelong friends without hiring them and promoting them for prominent positions. Loyalty should ideally be combined with good judgment.