Posted on 03/25/2010 7:00:24 AM PDT by marshmallow
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican did not discipline a Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing up to 200 deaf boys in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s as Church laws do not require automatic punishment, its spokesman said on Thursday.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Vatican did not defrock Rev. Lawrence Murphy in the late 1990s despite receiving clear warnings from his bishops that his case was serious and could embarrass the Church.
The report came amid mounting allegations of sexual abuse by priests in Europe and pressure on bishops, mostly in Ireland, to resign for failing to report cases to civil authorities.
Among 25 internal Church documents the Times posted on its website was a 1996 letter about Murphy to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the Vatican's top doctrinal official and now Pope Benedict, showing he was informed of his case.
Ratzinger's deputy first advised a secret disciplinary trial but later reversed that in 1998 after Murphy appealed directly to Ratzinger for clemency. The priest died later that year.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement that Murphy had broken the law but a civil probe into complaints against him in the mid-1970s had been dropped and the Vatican only learned of the allegations 20 years later.
"The canonical (Church law) question presented to the Congregation was unrelated to any potential civil or criminal proceedings against Father Murphy," Lombardi said.
"In such cases, the Code of Canon Law does not envision automatic penalties."
EXTENSIVE PAPER TRAIL
The 1996 letter to Ratzinger from the then Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland was not answered, the Times said.
After eight months, Weakland wrote a second letter to Ratzinger's deputy at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), .....................
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
It's hilarious how trusting certain FReepers get of the secular left when they can join it in an attack on the Catholic church.
Don't you understand that you're next?
WHAT? The police and the district attorney take their cue from what Catholic clergy do?
Please return to reality soon.
Are you so blinded by your faith that you cannot wrap your head around the fact that the Pope did not act to protect children who were being raped?
The Pope didn't even know about it until at least 22 years after the fact. Do you not understand that?
Don't you understand that you're next?
***************************
Exactly right.
LOL! You're descending into beyond hyperbole.
According to the future Pope, “Charges were to be investigated in the most secretive way ... restrained by a perpetual silence ... and everyone ... is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office under the penalty of excommunication.
Here is a hint...homosexual rape, or homosexual activity with a youth (which is what most of the allegations involve) is NOT something to cover up, or to assign someone a bit of treatment and then move them on elsewhere.
Anyone who thinks so isn’t taking the Gospel seriously. Jesus said, “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Double entendre intended.
HOWEVER: You show no evidence of it on this forum. Uncritical acceptance of the leftist media is the diametrical opposite of integrity.
Some folks seem to call that “integrity”.
What is appalling is that Christopher Hitchens can publish an article in Slate that is truer to the demands of the Gospel than the Pope & the defenders of the Catholic Church!
Uh, that's not what we're saying at all. You continue to twist our words and the facts. Don't ever message me again.
Oh, yes: It's not the truth that matters, it's the seriousness of the charge. Your comment reminds me of Anita Hill.
It can be argued that the Church overall did a better job in consoling and reassigning its' miscreants than the public courts did.
But you can't sue the system, but you sure can sue the Church. No how is there equal justice.
Zing!
Great point!
Sorry, I forgot about that excuse.
But we’re not the worst molesters. Other groups molest more than we do.
Thanks for reminding me!
“Don’t you understand that you’re next?”
If Slate has any evidence at all of sexual abuse by members of a church I’m a member of, I’m willing to be next.
Jimmy Swaggart was rightly thrown out of the Assemblies of God for less:
“On February 21, 1988, without giving any details regarding his transgressions, Swaggart gave his now infamous “I Have Sinned” speech as he tearfully spoke to his family, congregation and audience, saying, “I have sinned against you, my Lord, and I would ask that your precious blood would wash and cleanse every stain until it is in the seas of God’s forgiveness.”[3] On a New Orleans morning news show four days later, Murphree stated that while Swaggart was a regular customer, they had never engaged in sexual intercourse.[4] The clip of Swaggart’s confession was played repeatedly on news and tabloid television programs.
The Louisiana presbytery of the Assemblies of God initially suspended Jimmy Swaggart from the ministry for three months. The national presbytery of the Assemblies of God soon extended the suspension to their standard two-year suspension for sexual immorality. His return to the pulpit coincided with the end of a three-month suspension originally ordered by the Assemblies. Believing that Swaggart was not genuinely repentant in not submitting to their authority, the hierarchy of the Assemblies of God immediately defrocked Swaggart, removing his credentials and ministerial license. It was then that Swaggart decided he would be an independent, non-denominational Pentecostal minister and the Family Worship Center would become non-denominational.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart#1988_scandal_-_Swaggart.27s_confession_and_fallout
I am not sure if I posted it in this article or another but there is a good article on this case at Bishop Accountablity that gives a better timeline of the events.
Keep in mind the incidents were reported 20-30 years after they happened. Around 1974 the priest was told to discontinue public ministry (I forget if this was only that involving children).
In 1994 the Diocese of Milwaukee found out the priest was continuing public ministry outside of the Diocese. It was then that the letter was sent to the Vatican requesting the defrocking.
By that time no allegations had been made in over 20 years. The priest was very ill. The civil authorities had never brought any charges against the priest. They made this decision after conducting their own investigation.
Weakland could have recalled Murphy to the Diocese and restricted his activities at any time. The letter to the Vatican was CYA in response to criticism levied against Weakland and other Mil. bishops in their handling of the accusations.
We are talking about appx 40 years after the alleged abuse took place.
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