As for continual coverups: I have had no luck getting information about a priest in my diocese that sexually abused an emotionally disturbed woman – as far as I know, he is still on paid leave, pending “investigation” but the diocese review board remains incognito. I don’t even know who they are.

And about victims not reporting what happened: at a high school reunion last year, I learned for the first time that a classmate had been abused by an old grouchy pastor that I remember. He will never come forward, and the pastor has not been named on any list.

But I also remember that another man – a peer in another class – committed suicide several years ago, mentioning this now long deceased pastor in his suicide note. At my class reunion – it all came together.

Women classmates told me that they never allowed their own children (sons) alone with priests, because of their memories of what happened to our classmate. They also never told their parents – I don’t even think the parents know to this day. So sad.

The cover-up by the hierarchs is the real scandal because it demonstrates how pervasive the compromise, complicity and corruption of priests, bishops, cardinals, and we now know, popes has spread as evidenced by their twisted attempts to cling to power and privilege within the church at any costs, risking any future viability for the church.

I guess, in the hierarchs’ mind, “The gospel be damned. If the ship’s going down, I’m making sure I’m still in command.”

Sincerely,

John k Mulvey
[posted on behalf of John Mulvey by Bob Schwiderski]

The authors of The New York Times make an erroneous conclusion from the propaganda of the Catholic Church. Following is my unpublished letter to the Editor of the New York Times:

“Your article concludes that recent reforms by the United States Catholic Bishops seem to have had an impact on the number of reported cases of priests sexually abusing minors. This statement is misleading and dangerous.

When the sexual abuse crisis in the Archdiocese of Boston was reported eight years ago, there was a surge in the number of reported cases. However, most of these did not deal with abuse that happened in the previous year, but involved alleged abuse that took place many years or even decades earlier. The Catholic Church also states that less than one in ten cases of sexual abuse of a minor are ever reported! To use the Church’s propaganda that the number of reported cases in the last year as a metric for determining the effectiveness of the Church’s response to the sexual abuse crisis shows a lack of understanding of the minor age victims of sexual abuse.

Numerous district attorneys have investigated this issue. Their unanimous conclusion is that the crisis was the result of the secrecy of the Church. Despite the Church’s rhetoric, it has done nothing yet to lay bare the facts. For example, the Bishops commissioned the John Jay Study that enumerated more than 4300 priests for whom there had been a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. Yet, even years after this report, with a few exceptions, the names of these men have not been revealed.”

Mr. Cafardi and Mr. Jenkins focus on how the Vatican handles accusations against priests for sexually-abuse of minors. While this is important, it does not address the issue of the cover-up. (Have any priests been defrocked for the cover-up? See Cardinal Law) Sadly, there will always be sexual molesters in our society. However, if we allow the discussion to be centered on the abusers, we deflect attention from the real culprits, those priests and bishops who hid the knowledge of the accusations from the public.

As I stated in my letter to The New York Times, 4300 priests have had credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, yet for the most part we do not know who they are. To give comfort to the hundreds of thousands of victims (most of whom are anonymous) of these men, the Church and its priests and bishops should release all the information regarding the abusers and those who abetted the cover-up.

As seen in The New York Times article, the Church would have us think that the rampant sexual abuse of minors was the result of faulty screening of candidates for the priesthood, when in fact the abuse of children was allowed to continue because of a culture of power and secrecy.

Levada and Ratzingers opinions and statements, and their actions in the mishandling of clergy sex abuse crimes, are self righteous testaments to their disrespect for real common law; a disease which has plagued the Catholic church for centuries. It is no wonder that Levada has been elevated to the position he holds as the General Inquisitor, a man who has consistently displayed explicit disregard for the protection of children in the US in several dioceses. This is evident in his willful promotion of known child rapists and molesters, a policy rampant throughout the Catholic Hierarchy for decades, a policy that still has not been corrected. Levada and Ratzingers accumulative and deliberate ignorance of responsibility for the punishment of serial molesters known to them, and their protection and promotion of the criminals who have violated children, further attests to their incompetence and dysfunction, and their adverse effect on society.

Canon law is a mockery of authentic common law which promotes and recognizes justice, and canon laws’ self serving authors, proclaimants,and practitioners are not true lawyers, and never will be.

They had no visceral reacton of outrage over the destruction of bodies and souls of kids. The fact that they are still on altars should concern all.

AW

The Pittsburgh Diocese is the darkest of them all. The Lavender Don, now reigning in DC will soon be known for his homosexual follies than his zero tolerance.

Have a twirl with Wuerl.

Warm regards,
Mike Ference

I read Dr. Nicholas P. Cafardi’s, dean emeritus of Duquesne University School of Law, feeble opinion of what went wrong in the clergy abuse scandal. I may not have a PhD after my name and give little damn about canon law but I know what to do when grown men sexually attack innocent girls and boys

Before I offer my solution, let it be known that I have not retreated to a mountain getaway, fasting for months on end, seeking divine intervention to find a solution to the problem of a Catholic priest exploiting a young child as a sex toy. Nor did I need to consult with head honchos at the Vatican to guide me through this convoluted decision process

On the contrary, the resolution was simple and could have saved the Catholic Church about 2 billion dollars and still counting (includes fees for lawyers and PR firms), but far more importantly, may have saved so many victims and their families some of the agony they were forced to endure because of the pimp-like attitudes and actions of the people left in charge to protect God’s most precious merchandise, His most beloved, children of the world.

Well, here’s my solution to priests sexually abusing young children and church hierarchy always seeming to be too confused to know what to do, just dial 911.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiGPQVUJqq0