I dont know about other places, but they had a big donation appeal last year that was a first for me. They asked for large contributions and made up some sort of story, when most of us actually thought the money was going to pay for the law suits over the pedophile priests.
Most of us still believe that. Anyway a lot of p[eople ponied up for this special appeal. Lots of money. Then along comes the Cardinals appeal. Well: there is just so may times you can go to the well. Thats whats hurting the Bishops or Cardinals appeals IMO.
The Catholic Cardinals and Bishops are guilty of using donations to hire lawyers to coverup all of their misdeeds.
These Cardinals are not dumb or ignorant, they know what they are doing when they cover up the pedophilia activity of the clergy.
After scandal erupted in 2002 Mahony admitted to leaving eight accused molesters in ministry as cardinal in Los Angeles. That includes Michael Baker, who admitted to Mahony in 1986 that he had molested several youths, but who Mahony kept in ministry for 14 years. Baker was charged with 34 counts of molestation, which were dismissed as a result of the Supreme Court ruling. And it includes Michael Wempe, who faces new criminal charges after 42 counts of sex crimes were dismissed last year.
Yet Mahony states that even in the 1980s he knew he must remove priests from ministry when he received credible allegations of molestation. "I knew that we wanted priests serving in our parishes who were not going to be a danger to anybody," he testified. But he also said that O’Grady’s admitted sexual urges toward a 9-year-old would not lead to his removal. Last Thursday, Mahony told a reporter from CNN that the protocol of the 1980s was to leave accused priests in ministry because, "We misunderstood pedophilia to be a moral weakness or a sin, something that could be dealt with through spiritual counseling. We now know that is inadequate." Mahony has offered similar explanations to explain Baker, Wempe and others who remained in ministry well into the 1990s.
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/cardinal-untruths/1101/