Lawyers & the church

Robert Bennett, quoted in your editorial, says that "lawyers did a great disservice to the church" ("Beyond the Numbers," March 12). Maybe so, but clients usually get the advice they seek. It seems more accurate to say the bishops consulted lawyers who agreed with them and provided advice on how to avoid public scandal by utilizing confidential settlements and how to avoid public prosecution by covering up the incidents.

The truth is that American lawyers (of which I am one) are, by and large, unaware of their ultimate objective in society. Thomists and Greek scholars would propose that the law and lawyers have one ultimate objective: the just order of society. Many American lawyers aren't concerned with justice. So don't expect them to tell bishops to listen to victims of abuse or to remove errant priests so they can do no more harm. The bishops would do better to consult with moral theologians and criminologists.

ANTHONY F. AVALLONE

Las Cruces, N.Mex.

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