Vanity -- how is "conspiracy" defined?

2/28/04 | me

[AngrySpud]

The announcement by the U.S. Catholic Church yesterday "fessing up" and apologizing for decades of priestly pedophilia told us everything we already knew ... but nothing else. So let me add something. Does not decades of multiple abusive priests + decades of mutiple bishops moving priests from parish to parish + decades of cover-ups = CONSPIRACY at high levels?

[AngrySpud]

This could ONLY have been so bad for so long for so many dioceses, if multiple bishops had compared notes, colluded, and synchronized their efforts. IMO, the bishops should be prosecuted for CONSPIRACY.

Editorial note: I am bashing the bishops, not the Church.

[Seruzawa]

There are legal definitions for criminal conspiracy in each State as well as the Federal code. There's also the common definition for conspiracy in any dictionary.

Thousands of cases of criminal conspiracy are filed by different levels of govt each year. History is replete with examples of powerful people conspiring criminally.

Only a simpleton (or someone involved in a conspiracy) would claim that belief in conspiracies is koo-koo.

[AppyPappy]

Exactly.

[prion]

There was talk about it here in Boston. It's one of the reasons Cardinal Law resigned and fled to the Vatican - criminal charges were very definitely being considered.

I don't think many AG's would want to take this one on, however. There is, alas, a political side to when-charges-get-brought-against-whom, as well.

[P.O.E.]

Mel Gibson's movie takes off, the church sex scandal resurfaces in the news Big Time. Whose conspiracy are you talking about?

[AngrySpud]

"Whose conspiracy are you talking about?"

Hmmm ... did I forget to ask why church attendance is dropping in some denominations? It's Bush's fault!

[DustyMoment]

"Does not decades of multiple abusive priests + decades of mutiple bishops moving priests from parish to parish + decades of cover-ups = CONSPIRACY at high levels?"

On the surface it might seem so, but what you have is a collection of enablers who might seem to have acted with one mind but, IMO, are independent enablers. As difficult as this may sound, I believe that the church hierarchy refused to press charges aginst its priets because they thought they were being forgiving of the behavior as, perhaps, they believed Jesus might. In the long run, they just ended up acting as enablers. Even today, within the church, they are unwilling to condemn the behavior of pedophile priests who continue molesting children. In spite of all of the publicity and lawsuits against the church, I think that the church hierarchy is still practicing forgiveness as opposed to retribution.

I also think that church politics enters into the equation because they believed that they were protecting the reputation of the church. Clearly, in 20/20 hindsight, that approach hasn't worked. However, it does serve to raise the question of just how long this behavior has been condoned by the church. IMO, this has been going on in the church for centuries, not just decades as the church leaders would have us believe. It has, in essence, become a corporate culture.

[AngrySpud]

Good points, but I can't help thinking Bishop "Smith" and Bishop "Jones" often commiserated with others at the Bishops Synods: comparing notes, strategies, and tactics over the years.

Forgiveness, in my opinion, would have been a very minor piece in the "equation" -- the equivalent of a "rounding error".

[DustyMoment]

Well, I didn't say it was right, I just think that's part of their thought processes. My sympathies lie on the side of their victims who have to live with the memories of the abuse.

[alisasny]

Follow the money..consevative estimates of the cost of the coverup some 600 million....

[Mulder]

"Conspiracy" laws only apply to us peasants, not the elites.

[StriperSniper]

You noticed that too.

[null and void]

Yep.

[archy]

IMO, the bishops should be prosecuted for CONSPIRACY.

Depends. But here's the federal statute:

Title 18 United States Code, U.S. Criminal Code, Section 371:

- Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States

If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor