Oh, I forgot the one that was sent to our parish. He had his “friend” come up during the holidays and stay at the
Rectory with him. Then when the accusers showed up, he took off—down to Cape Cod with the other sodomites. Where he lives to this day, with his “friend” and his “cousins.”
I still go to church because I believe in forgiveness and redemption. But these guys will burn in hell.
And what I have against the “church” is the backwards way they deal with these cases. The delay, they lie. The obfuscate. The fall back on Canon Law, not civil law.
If they turned these guys over the authorities when the complaints came in, no one would be angry. You see...its not the money. Its the fact that they hold YOU to a higher standard than they hold themselves.
I hope they hear the cries of these boys in their sleep.
And what about those innocent priest who were accused unjustly? Are their accusers going to burn in hell too? Or is lying in court and taking money that really isn’t yours OK with you.
Souble standard showing.
Many people do not realize that the Catholic Church already has a system set up for this — a tribunal made up of lawyer priests.
An analogy can be made with the military — they have the military tribunals/courts and cases are heard there.
Not everything goes to civil court in either case.
“If they turned these guys over the authorities when the complaints came in...”
...then at least half of the priests they turned over would have been innocent. Where’s the justice in that?
“no one would be angry.”
Sure, they would. The primary goal of this exercise was not to achieve justice, but to harm the Church.
“its not the money.”
No, it’s the harm to the Church.
“Its the fact that they hold YOU to a higher standard than they hold themselves.”
Do what?
“If they turned these guys over the authorities when the complaints came in...”
...then at least half of the priests they turned over would have been innocent. Where’s the justice in that?
“no one would be angry.”
Sure, they would. The primary goal of this exercise was not to achieve justice, but to harm the Church.
“its not the money.”
No, it’s the harm to the Church.
“Its the fact that they hold YOU to a higher standard than they hold themselves.”
Do what?
I don't know how old you are, but in the 50s, 60s, 70s, when the vast majority of these cases actually occurred (though it started to change then), child sexual abuse, like strictly sex crimes in general, was pretty much never talked about, almost never reported, and -- if reported -- generally left by the police to the "appropriate" person (whether bishop, school principal, family -- and most sex abuse is within the family) to deal with.
I think it was primarily feminism and the "sexual revolution" that brought it out into the open (and likely created more of it), especially with the feminists' insistence that rape be treated as a real crime -- and they really had to fight for that!
Mandatory reporting didn't come in until that rash of (ultimately) false sex abuse charges against day care centers.