There's a thoughtful post on Sursum Corda about the Vatican decision. I don't disagree with the need for due process, but there is a particular way that due process is handled when the public trust is at stake. Think about what happens when a police officer is accused of abuse of his/her job. The officer is put on administrative leave until an investigation can be done, and then may lose his/her job even if not found guilty of a crime. That is hard on someone who is put on administrative leave (often reported in the newspaper) because of an accusation that may prove to be false. But it is necessary to maintain the public trust. I don't see the people who are upset about due process calling for a system like that; it seems to me that they still want to keep everything secret until after an investigation finds proof. That's still the thinking that puts the feelings of the accused priest above the feelings of the victim.

Earlier reflections on this topic.