Posted on 04/28/2010 8:34:27 AM PDT by marshmallow
The web site of The Washington Post has published the astounding-- and completely unsupported-- claim that Archbishop Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis and current Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, was “kicked upstairs” because of improper handling of sexual abuse allegations.
“Some prelates acted in ways that constituted cover-ups,” writes Anthony Stevens-Arroyo. “Many of them have accepted blame for errors and made public statements of apology. Others, like Cardinal Law, formerly of Boston and Archbishop Burke, formerly of St. Louis, have been ‘kicked upstairs’ to the Vatican. Not only have no apologies come directly from them, one wonders if such prelates might be liable for criminal action in the USA for obstruction of justice concerning the way they handled pedophilia cases.”
Contrary to the reckless claim by Stevens-Arroyo, Cardinal Law-- who was indeed the subject of an investigation by law-enforcement officials in Massachusetts-- has apologized repeatedly for his mishandling of abuse cases. No responsible journalist or civil official has ever accused Archbishop Burke of obstruction of justice.
Washington Post article: Benedict Not to Blame
Many people also conveniently forget that the Boy Scouts were similarly plagued by predatory liberal homosexual leninists and thus barred them from membership or staff. This is why the homos are so deathly against the BSA, AND the Catholic church. If the CC was REALLY homo friendly, the faggot lobby would love them.
Alas, it was ever thus.
I take great comfort in knowing of the ancient bishop, St. John who earned the nickname, “Crysostom” meaning, “Gold Mouth,” for such statements as “the floor of Hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.”
Not exactly.
Pope Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was head of the Confraternity for Doctrine (CDC). Cardinal Burke is head of the Supreme Tribunal. As such, Benedict was more like the Attorney General, whereas Burke is more like the Chief Justice.
I said “cowardly.” Having met him, my skin crawled. Seeing who his friends were, his outwardly conservatism was only because, unlike Mahony, he was smart enough to figure out that an outwardly radical bishop could never be papabile. He quietly affirmed the supposed saintliness of the Kennedys of the world. He was more like a double agent. When I later read about Shanley, it just fit. Many people presume his downfall was the work of the mainstream media, acting against his conservative image, especially because they shadow-boxed. It was not; he was done in by Rod Dreher, reporting for the National Review, in an article entitled, “The Sins of the Fathers.” The mainstream media had let the 1994-95 eruption of sex scandals die down when they realized their greatest ally by leagues, Cardinal Bernadin, had become ensnared in their net. Dreher’s article reignited the furor when he pointed out the continuing malfeasance of the Boston and Los Angeles archdioceses. (If anything, perhaps Law did get the bad press over Mahony because Mahony was still too valuable.)
ex post facto law legal definition
n
A law intended to apply to crimes or events that took place before its passage. The United States Constitution forbids the passage of ex post facto criminal laws, on the principle that it is wrong to punish an act which was not illegal when committed
I was exploring counseling at one point in my career.
One day there was the discussion of sexual abuse of children by fathers or step fathers.
The therapeutic climate of the day stated keep the fathers in the home, keep the family intact even if there was an ongoing risk to the child.
Legally it was discouraged from prosecuting.
Things do not take place in a vacuum.
I kicked that little exploration to the curb and found a field were common sense had a greater role.
The whole point of the article is that Burke is being slandered. He was "not kicked upstairs" because of anything having to do with sexual abuse. IMO, he should consider legal action against the newspaper.
So who are "these people" you're talking about? Law went before a grand jury and was not indicted. If you think someone else in the US is violating the law on an ongoing basis and getting away with it, present your evidence.
The American bishops issued a policy statement way back in 1992, part of which stated clearly that they were responsible to report incidents to the lawful authorities.
If you know of someone who is violating this policy, go for it.
Burke may be guilty in being an overall administrative failure, a major egotist, and butting into other bishops’ business, but I don’t see him guilty or complacent in any cover-up. He actually sent a couple guilty men to prison.
St. Mary Major a "little" church? One of the four great basilicas and the only one that's the original building????? That's a plum assignment.
Burke is not a cardinal. Not at this time. He was kicked upstairs, but not for this. He was put in a place better suited to his talents. Trust me, after four and a half years of Burke, his sticking to liturgical tradition was one of the few strong suits, although, we could have done without the 45 minute lectures on solemnities. It made getting people for one Mass out and the next in a real challenge with 10 minutes to do it in a 1500 seat cathedral. I won't get into the class (as in manners) issues or the demoralization of the priests or the fact that he never seemed to say Mass in the parishes or that he was in Rome more often than he was here or the deficit we suddenly have when Rigali left us very much in the black.
The public image of any of these bishops is less than half the story. Live under them for a while and you'll get to know the whole one.
This is beating a dead horse. We’ve already been over all this. This is muckraking of the most vile sort by the verminous media and you’re being suckered right in, or else you’re using it as an excuse to Catholic bash. This is roughly the same as accusing His Holiness of being a Hitler Youth, or Pius XII of being a jew hater.
Thanks for the correction.
I didn’t know he was not a Cardinal. I’m sure that will be rectified shortly. Regarding the demoralized priests, I imagine there were plenty of pastors that didn’t like the Archbishop messing in their sandboxes, making them say the words of the mass, not leaving anything out, and not adding things like “Leaving on a jet plane”, liturgical dancing, or tight-rope walkers.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/06/20100406arizona-sex-crimes-bill.html
Things may soon be changing, so there is some hope.
Well excuse me for breathing, jerk. I haven't been over all this. I've learned quite a bit about how the Church has responded to this stuff.
I've also had the opportunity to learn that you're very rude. So I guess it was worth getting out of bed today.
No, St. Mary Major is no small church building. But it is a very small role, pastoring a flock at a parish notable only for its church building and history. It’s normally a task for a parochial vicar.
I have to disagree with both of you. No, St. Mary Major is no small church building. But it is a very small role, pastoring a flock at a parish notable only for its church building and history. It’s normally a task for a parochial vicar. Plum assignment? Sure, if you’re straight out of the seminary. It’s gotta be at least as thrilling as being a museum tour director.
Also, most institutions were accepting the opinions of the psychiatrists and counselors that child abusers could be rehabilitated. So the Bishops sent the priests off to the rehab centers, and unfortunately, many came back to continue the abuse.
It was NO coincidence that the blow up over the sexual abuse by priests, information that had been known to the press for many years, was pushed into the spotlight when it was. The citizens of MA had begun to push for a referendum to be placed on the ballot calling for an amendment to the State Constitution to make marriage only allowable between one man and one woman. We had enough signatures on the petitions, and the legislature was about to take up the issue. Lo and behold, the priest sexual abuse stories started hitting the front pages, and from what I can tell, there were not very many priests who were ever credibly accused, but the media here made it sound like it was most of the priests in the Commonwealth! Priests were being treated suspiciously by many of their parishoners, even some who had known them for years, because of the continual stories in the press.
In the middle of all this, the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth issues the fiat that homosexuals would be allowed to be married, and the Legislature, with some particularly violent arm twisting by the newly elected Gov. Deval Patrick, thwarts the will of the voters of the Commonwealth, and doesn't allow the question on the ballot.
Of course, with the perfectly laid out stories from the press, most people aren't trusting their Church anymore, so she has lost most of her credibility as a teaching institution in this issue. To his credit, though, when Sean O'Malley first took over from Cardinal Law, he DID speak out against the Court Decision, but it wasn't given a lot of press.
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