Michel Martin on NPR’s show ‘Tell Me More’ has a chilling interview with an ex-priest who once helped shuffle child abusers to poor parishes all over the world. It was assumed that the less powerful would not complain or be believed if they did.

Patrick Wall grew to understand that system from the inside. He’s a former Benedictine monk and served as a, quote, “fixer priest” for the Catholic Church. That means he’d be brought in to manage a church in the wake of scandal often involving sexual abuse. He left the priesthood and since 2002 has been assisting abuse survivors gather evidence to sue or prosecute their abusers.

The problem in the Catholic Church is not a few bad priests, or the corrupting influence of the world. It’s the Church’s own deeply corrupt system that is dedicated to preserving its power. So many have been wronged– parents and children, faithful Catholics and clergy who keep their vows. That disadvantaged people, such as deaf boys and poor communities were treated as dumping grounds for toxic priests is heartbreaking, but not surprising. It’s consistent with an imperative to protect and shield the public image.

MARTIN: Is there any pattern to the kinds of communities that were selected for priests who had been accused of abuse or who were known to have abused children to go?

Mr. WALL: Oh, there’s a clear pattern. You always wanted to send them to a parish where people are not going to talk. The best ones are parishes of color, parishes of strong, Catholic ethnicity, parishes that have a reason to really want the priest. I remember stories of, for instance, Father Jules Convert. He’s a French Jesuit who ended up serving in Alaska. Now, he didn’t speak Yup’ik, but that’s where he ended up and that’s where he offended.

MARTIN: Why were they sent to communities of color, particularly, and strong ethnic parishes? Why?

Mr. WALL: Because they were so happy just to have a priest. These were places out of the way. I remember another story of Father Kelly(ph). He was a piano professor at St. John’s University in Collegeville. And they sent him, after he offended, up to the Ojibwe Indians in Red Lake, Minnesota. They were so happy to even have a priest, they wouldn’t dare accuse him of anything, let alone call the police on him.

A phrase from South Africa, ‘truth and reconciliation’ comes to mind– honesty, repentance, reparation and institutional change to ensure that these things will not be allowed to go unpunished again. Will that happen? Not from the leadership, perhaps from the laity.

The Catholic Church is not unique in this kind of crime and cover-up. Neither should it be given special treatment. Crime is crime, and victims have a right to justice; society has a right to protection from future offenses. It’s a characteristic of molesters that they prey on the vulnerable while cultivating allies among the more powerful. The Church hierarchy has followed this pattern in dumping its worst problems on its least powerful members.