The recent announcement that the diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, plans to file for protection under the federal bankruptcy statutes is only the latest reminder of the tragic effects of the mishandling and neglect, by the Catholic hierarchy, of the sexual abuse scandal. “These awful consequences fall primarily on the victims of this abuse, who will never fully recover,” said Mary Pat Fox, President of Voice of the Faithful. “But the impact extends also to the morale of our good priests and falls heavily on our dioceses, large and small, rich and poor, from Massachusetts to California, from Arizona to Alaska, to all points in between and indeed throughout the world. And as yet there is no acknowledgement by our bishops of their culpability for, at a minimum, mismanaging the crisis. In fact, many prelates, here and in the Vatican, dare to claim that the problem has been solved,” said Fox.