How Much Longer Can the Vatican Avoid Priest Sex Abuse?
http://christiancatholicism.com/how-much-longer-can-the-vatican-avoid-priest-sex-abuse/
* * *
I thank author Jerry Slevin for this link to his latest blog entry.
* * *
Christian Catholicism
++Views of Jerry Slevin, a Catholic and Harvard schooled Wall Street lawyer, retired++ {If you value what you read here, please share/forward it now to others to read, thanks}
How Much Longer Can the Vatican Avoid Priest Sex Abuse?
The Vatican priest child abuse “cover-up denial”, that was so evident at the recent Roman Synod of Bishops, may be manageable for another year or two, but likely not much longer, even with a new Pope. International reality checks, in the form of factual and not mythical revelations, are rapidly exposing the Vatican’s latest mystical smokescreens to be the poor public relations ploys they are. So many innocent Catholic children have been raped by too many predatory priests protected by complicit Cardinals and Bishops. There are limits to trusting Catholics’ inculcated gullibility, and even an ex-FOX News pro working for the Pope can spin only so much. Facts stubbornly speak for themselves. Papal “Tweets” and “Apps” are no substitute for papal candor.
On an academic level, a promising young UK/Italian lay ecclesiologist has effectively exposed the mainly mythological foundation of the Vatican’s claim for absolute papal primacy. The recent book, “Democracy and the Christian Church”, concisely shows the scriptural, theological, philosophical and historical weaknesses of the papal claim and is accessible in part by clicking on at: http://amzn.com/0567449521
Catholics are increasingly learning that hierarchical conduct too often deviates significantly from papal propaganda. Initial Los Angeles secret abuse file revelations have exposed Cardinal Mahony’s reckless protection of known predatory priests. Criminal allegations of drug dealing against, and related cross-dressing and porn shop operation reports about, a former Bridgeport state chaplain of the Knights of Malta and top subordinate to Cardinal Egan and to Archbishop Lori, head of the Pope’s anti-Obama “religious liberty crusade”, are almost incredibly unsavory.
Moreover, reported efforts apparently to protect the secrecy of Munich and Regensburg files of the Pope and his brother, relating to alleged failures in the 1970′s to curtail a Munich predatory priest and to protect abused Regensburg choir boys, by sacking a too thorough German academic investigator, further erodes the steadily disappearing papal credibility. Ruthless attempts to silence a popular Irish priest who spoke about women and married priests, and apparently also to try to curtail an Irish priests’ “union”, are backfiring as the brave priest stands fast. Continued diatribes against gay marriage by a reported drunk driver San Francisco Archbishop appear cynical and desperate at best. Seemingly unending criminal trial disclosures about Cardinal Rigali’s Philly pedophile priest paradise continues to disgust many Catholics. Millions of U.S. Catholics have had enough and want to see these hypocritical and unaccountable actions curbed promptly.
Some Cardinals and Bishops will likely soon begin to be pressed directly by international and individual nations’ prosecutorial investigations. Even an end to Popes being dictated to by corrupt Vatican Cardinal cliques may be on the near horizon, as explained in “Will the Next Pope Become the Vatican’s Last Pope?”, accessible by clicking on the heading at the top here or on: http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-cT
The days of relying mainly on Vatican canon law investigations and “prosecutions”, now to be overseen by one of disgraced Cardinal Law’s former canon lawyers, are over. The major Australian governmental investigation and the almost inevitable upcoming U.S. Federal investigation will only add to the pressure on the Vatican, as explained further in “Why President Obama Must Read the Latest “LA Confidential”, accessible by clicking on the heading on the top here or on: http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-f3 .
Finally, beginning soon on Monday, February 4, HBO will begin airing internationally the award winnning documentary. “Mea Maxima Culpa”. It is the sad story about 200+ deaf boys who were allegedly sexually abused by a single priest in Milwaukee over several decades. Both local law enforcement and the Catholic hierarchy reportedly failed to act timely and adequately on deaf boys’ abuse claims, which even futilely reached the Pope’s CDF department in Rome. A Federal judge recently reversed an earlier shameful attempt by then Archbishop Dolan, now New York’s Cardinal and a reported papal contender, to transfer $55 million of the Milwaukee diocese’s funds to a cemetery trust beyond the legal reach of abuse survivors’ claims, apparently including some of the deaf survivors.
The Vatican and its subservient Cardinals and Bishops may try to run some more, as Cardinal Law so arrogantly did; but they are rapidly running out of places to hide.
Share this:
11 Responses to “How Much Longer Can the Vatican Avoid Priest Sex Abuse?”
January 24, 2013 at 10:50 pm
Thanks to brave survivors and survivor organizations, the catholic church has NOT been able to avoid the reality of court decisions against them.
It’s misleading to imply that the RCC has been able to avoid priest sex abuse.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for another 103 year prison sentence for a Catholic bishop or cardinal!
LORD HEAR MY PRAYER!
January 25, 2013 at 1:52 am
Amen.
January 25, 2013 at 3:07 am
Thanks. My point is that after 100,000+ U.S. victims of priest sexual abuse, no bishop has been locked up.
Of course, survivors lawsuits have helped. I acknowledge that often. But they are not enough. Bishops view them often as mere “costs of doing business”, often the price of keeping incriminating files secret until the statute of limitation expires.
These costs are then passed on to shamefully overly trusting Catholics who either continue to let their donations fund the bishops’ child endangerment conduct or permit their schools and churches to be closed by ruthless bishops.
A Federal criminal investigation commission is needed since the bishops appear to control too many local prosecutors and legislators.
January 25, 2013 at 3:47 am
Survivors and their attorneys are the BACKBONE of the movement to hold criminal clergy accountable.
There are already criminal investigatory bodies in place with few if any supporters in the White House or the US Congress. It’s my impression that our elected leaders don’t care enough if children thrive, live or die. I don’t believe that the US government will do much to protect it’s youngest citizens unless somebody rapes either the President, the First Lady, or their daughters. As for those two sows from CA, Boxer and Feinstein are too caught up with shopping to care about anything but their own fat asses and their re-election until they drop.
I don’t pay too much attention to the trusting Catholics. They have been abused since birth and their behavior is the result of the trauma they are unaware of having suffered in their relationships with clergy. I am delighted to learn that schools and churches have been closed!
I don’t believe that bishops control too many local prosecutors and legislators. I do believe that at present, there are too few Americans who care enough about the welfare of children. Children have limited rights just like undocumented residents.
I do not believe that your understanding will bring about much change. It’s the day to day grind and front line survivor’s who are knocking the tar out of molesters. It’s because of the years and years of organizing and fighting back that survivor’s continue to find more and more supporters.
The problem of sick clergy and tracking the perps will go and go, well beyond our lifetime.
Someday, none of us will be alive and the crimes against children will continue. It will never end.
January 25, 2013 at 4:01 am
Survivors, their families and friends, organizations like SNAP, BishopAccountability, etc. are the BACKBONE of the movement to hold the Catholic church and it clergy accountable for their crimes against humanity. There is also ground level leadership who accomplish thousands of tasks that make it possible to make cases public. It takes hours and hours and hours of hard work by dedicated citizens for justice.
January 25, 2013 at 7:31 am
Why would a pope appoint a criminal to high office in the Vatican? Hummmmmm…did Cardinal Law have something on the pope?
January 25, 2013 at 1:45 pm
ERW, I’m reposting this from the earlier article on Mahony where I posted originally in response to you:
Thanks ERW! We become our own worst enemies because we’re conditioned/brainwashed/indoctrinated to be so. Case in point: At my *first* mammogram, I was brutally abused by the mammotechs (both women). I’m flatchested (true AA), and they didn’t (I learned later) put my breasts in the machine properly, so despite my remaining *perfectly* still, I popped out. The whole time they were working on me, even before I popped out (which they made out to be my fault), they were rolling their eyes and making faces and generally mocking my underendowment. The most heinous part, though, was the fact that they ended up giving me a double dose of radiation because they had to do each of the four views *twice*. I was so humiliated and angry that I resolved to never get a mammogram ever again, and I was perfectly willing to die of undetected breast cancer should it occur.
Did I report this? NO! Why? Because I learned a *long* time ago that if you complain to OSU of any medical maltreatment, they label you a head case and even write it in big letters on the outside of your chart (this happened to me after maltreatment by a doctor who said I had “polypharmacy” because I was on an antihistamine, a decongestant, and a birth control pill. He wanted to put me on a tranquilizer, an antidepressant, and an antipsychotic instead. Uh, doesn’t three equal three? Didn’t he want to replace one polypharmacy with another, a much worse one? I wasn’t depressed, psychotic, or in any way mentally ill except that I wasn’t a passive, submissive, and stupid woman and he wanted to turn me into a zombie Stepford Wife. But I digress…). I especially believed that I wouldn’t be believed because it was my first mammogram and I knew they’d think of me as a hysterical, insecure woman with pain fear and possibly sexual issues (afraid of having my boobs touched medically). “You’re just a dumb broad, what do you know? Here, have a tranquilizer.” I had no pain fear, knew it would hurt only momentarily, and was OK with that. I’m a part-time artists’ model, so I have *NO* inhibitions whatsoever about being looked at, and no qualms about being touched by a doctor either.
FF two years. I get with a good gyno, and she sends me to a different mammography facility. The ladies were totally nice and supportive and appalled by how I had been treated by the OSU mammobitches. Last year, the tech was a woman who had retired from OSU (“D”). I told her what happened, and she knew *exactly* who I was talking about and knew them to be rude and unprofessional. She shared that after retirement she worked with these mammobitches on contingency but found them so awful that she quit after nine months and went with the nice non-OSU facility part-time instead. She let me know that *I wasn’t alone*. She gave me the vindication and validation that I had needed for four years. She gave me what I, as an abuse victim, needed.
When D asked me why I didn’t report it, I said, “I didn’t know who to report it to, and I figured no one would believe me if I did.”
I was well-trained by RCC Inc through my earlier priest/nun abuse experiences at age 5 and 6 to even put up with abuse later in life and believe that no one would believe me if I did tell. I’m still their butt monkey despite my consciousness about abuse and its consequences and determination to not be abused ever again. I still have butt monkey conditioned automatic responses that those in power want me to have. I *hate* that I still can’t stand up for myself and can only complain after the fact at best. RCC Inc still has me by the short hairs – even if they never abuse me again (because I stay the hell far away, though I can’t get away from religious abuse by my in-laws and priest nephew), they still get their jollies because anyone in the patriarchal power structure (even women) can still abuse me and get away with it.
No matter how hard I try to not be a victim of anyone, I’ve been set up to be passive, submissive, to not speak up *right away* even though I *want to* fight back. My ability to respond to bullying/abuse as it’s happening is nil, and I have what’s called esprit de escalier or “staircase wit”, where you think of what you should have or could have said *after the fact* when it would do no good. And if you do try to say something after the fact, the precipitating incident is denied and you look like an idiot and you get bullied more and even publically humiliated if you try to expose the incident. You become a social retard (no offense to the developmentally disabled) against your will.
January 25, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Cleveland Girl,
I have gone back and read your respones with many thanks, for your effort and eloquence for the sake of our young ones.
Yes, people have to be made aware of the destructive, devastating effect on the psychy of children abused. I just wish, this fact would be more explained in the media at large and everywhere, and thereby, the population develop zero tolerance for such crimes.
Please, keep on beating the drums and ringing the bellls for the following generations we are afraid, might have to suffer the same terror we have been burdened with
January 25, 2013 at 9:35 pm
Frank Lostaunau Says: “As for those two sows from CA, Boxer and Feinstein are too caught up with shopping to care about anything but their own fat asses and their re-election until they drop. ” ……
I say What about all those sorry ass Senators and Representatives that stick their fingers in their ass and say ” no tort laws corrections ” because it will affect corporations/insurance companies/and executives.
It’s not the “sows” as you suggest, it’s the dumb fucks that will not stand up for those “harmed”
January 29, 2013 at 1:09 am
Bob, if you familiar with Frank L.’s wirtings, you must have noticed that he is against women in general.
I say, we have been lucky to have Boxer and Feinstein in the senate. They have shown more guts and integrity than most of the guys in that chamber.
January 29, 2013 at 7:27 am
Are you saying that if they are not licensed social workers, he has no need for women in general? I always heard that pork-eater has a fetish for a German archbishop…I wonder if fantasy is something that could get him chopped by the Inquisition????? God knows we tried to convert him—it just didn’t work!!!!!