The reaction to the news that the Rev. John Leary was a molester who had to leave town or be arrested can be summed up with the collision of two idioms: “Let sleeping dogs lie” and “The truth shall set you free.”

The first wonders what is to be gained by reporting the heinous acts of 40 to 50 years ago. The second answers that query, but it glosses over the interim pain. Gloria Steinem understood this when she said, “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” Anger was unleashed on Sept. 8, when the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus announced that the former president of Gonzaga University was involved in the sexual abuse of boys. The Jesuits knew it. The university knew it. The Spokane Police Department knew it.

Some are angry with the co-conspirators. This is healthy, because it is rooted in the belief that the truth is meaningful. Some are angry with the decision to reveal the truth, because they say it is unproductive. In this version of reality, the perpetrators are the victims. The memories of them – and the memories of life in 1960s Spokane – are besmirched.

It is tempting to write off this belief as sadly delusional. Why feel sorry for a predatory monster? But for many, invalidating Leary means invalidating significant segments of their lives.

On that day in 1969 when the police, the Jesuits and the university all conspired, they were more interested in preserving institutions and traditions. The truth was the enemy. Leary’s victims were not a consideration.

In a recent voice mail to an editorial board member, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest (not from Spokane) tried to explain the thinking back then, saying, in part: “It was against the rules of civility to reveal the escapades of presidents and priests and bishops. That was the policy.”

This is breathtaking on so many levels. A revered and powerful member of the community repeatedly broke the law, shattered the lives of vulnerable boys, undermined the moral foundation of the church and betrayed the trust implicit in his exalted position, and a fellow Jesuit describes this as “escapades.”

Pardon our incivility, but if that was the thinking, if that was the policy, it was rooted in a chilling indifference to suffering.

The unholy alliance that covered for this and other crimes must have embraced the dark observation of George Orwell: “He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.”

Cynical plotting met little resistance in 1960s Spokane. The lessons of the Vietnam War and Watergate had yet to be learned. People back then trusted their institutions and their leaders and protected them when they faltered. So when women were battered or young people abused, silence was the norm.

The media, including the The Spokane Chronicle and The Spokesman-Review, were disturbingly passive and incurious when the Jesuits announced Leary’s sudden departure due to “exhaustion.”

This scandal should have played out 40 years ago, when the perpetrators were alive and could be held accountable. As it turned out, secrecy begat even more victims of abuse. Even the idiom some cling to today is a lie, because those sleeping dogs awoke to attack again.

Illuminating dark corners – however late – is never wrong. Those who curse the light remain prisoners of deceit. The rest move forward, hoping to learn the lessons of history.