PHILADELPHIA PRIESTS ACCUSED BY GRAND JURY OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND COVER-UP

New York Times ^ | 2-10-11 | Jon Hurdle

[Dr. Eckleburg]

A grand jury on Thursday accused the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of failing to stop the sexual abuse of children more than five years after a grand jury report documented abuse by more than 50 priests.

The new report said a senior church official charged with investigating allegations of sexual abuse by priests had in fact allowed some of those accused to remain in posts that gave them continued access to children. It charged him with endangering the welfare of minors and accused three priests and a teacher of raping two boys between 1996 and 1999.

“By no means do we believe that these were the only two parishioners who were abused during this period,” the report said.

At least 37 priests who are subject to “substantial evidence of abuse” are still in roles that bring them into contact with children, the new report said, and 10 of those have been in place since before 2005, when the last grand jury made its allegations...

[marshmallow]

Not Rome. Rome says to only tell someone in the RC hierarchy. In fact, Rome swears to secrecy ALL people involved, such that parents are restrained from going to the police under thread of excommunication.

Right, right, right...........and that applies to every possible instance of sex abuse, in every possible situation in every part of the world.

Right?

Secrecy always. Anyone who goes to the authorities is excommunicated every time, correct? The Pope said that, didn't he? "I'm going to excommunicate anybody who talks to the cops", right??

Wow, thanks Doc. That's amazing!

We sure are lucky to have you to enlighten us on these matters.

[Religion Moderator]

Do not make this thread "about" individual Freepers. That is also a form of "making it personal."

Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.

[TheDingoAteMyBaby]

Being childless vs. having a family is a factor in attitudes towards protecting children.

[MarMema]

Or boy scout leaders, or school bus drivers or teachers....
the whole point being that these are exactly the places pedophiles choose to infiltrate.

[Antoninus]

The denials are almost as reprehensible as the acts themselves.

Think about this. We Catholics have been under attack for the scandalous behavior of some of our priests. To our dismay, the purveyors of this information are propaganda rag instruments of Satan like the NY Times and the Boston Globe. Nonetheless, we have made use of this information and are endeavoring to rid the priesthood of these offenders. When you look at the sharp decline in the number of abuse accusations after 2000, it is clear that we are making a lot of progress.

You, on the other hand, instead of giving Catholics credit for the work we are doing to get rid of the homosexual molesters among our priests, continue to vilify us for the actions of these perverse individuals. Worse, you side with the hypocritical instruments of Satan to attack and slander us. Seriously--do you think the NY Times gives a fig about homosexual molestation? I'll bet if you took a candid poll, you would find that 100% of the NY Times staff thinks homosexuality is fine, and a majority favors lowering the age of consent.

This is all about attacking the greater Catholic Church and trying to tar us all with the horrendous sins of some truly pathetic priests. It's sad that some Protestants have taken the position of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and are willing to attack Catholics in tandem with the homosexual media complex. Just remember--your allies in the media have no love for you, either. It's only a matter of time before you are in their crosshairs.

But don't fret over much. No matter how many times you sucker-punch us, we'll still come to your aid when the devil has a choke hold on you. Why? Because despite your faults, we still love you.

Saint Paul, pray for those who hate the Catholic Church.

[MarMema]

37 priests is nothing.

pedophilia is rampant today and I am not sure why...

These priests are just a drop in the bucket of a much larger phenomona taking place all over the world.

[Antoninus]

the whole point being that these are exactly the places pedophiles choose to infiltrate.

Precisely. Which is why the Church has a long history of making efforts to keep homosexuals out of the priesthood--in the East as well as the West.

Would that the enlightened American and European bishops of the last century had followed suit.

[MarMema]

You're easier to pick on than some of the other more powerful participants

[lastchance]

Keeping vs breaking the teachings on sexuality in Scripture is a factor in attitudes towards protecting children.

[MarMema]

And, as an Orthodox priest asked us after a sermon recently, who can follow all the commandments perfectly? (much less what Scripture teaches us)

No one. Not anyone on this thread at least.

[lastchance]

I hate the abusers and those that protected them. But to me they are not the Church. They bring great shame and scandal to the Church and I think it is long past time for some very serious house cleaning. With rules that allow no wiggle room when credible accounts of abuse are received and where the victim does not request not involving the police (I mean adult victims who are reporting long ago abuse not children who report current abuse) the authorities must be informed. If there is a separate investigation by the Diocese all information that is pertinent to establishing the facts in the allegations must be shared with the civil authorities.

If a priest is found guilty either by internal investigation or by the courts he should be removed from any public ministry. There should be no transfers unless that is the only way to assure he is not in public ministry.

But mainly we have to pray that good men don’t balk at becoming priests because of the scandal and because of the hatred it instills towards the Church.

[count-your-change]

Quite so. To

“The other its that presents the Church to the world as a hypocritical, self-serving, old boy network which is more intent on protecting its own from civil penalties, that it is in protecting the laity from IT”

I would add that priests are brothers to other priests not the laity.

[boatbums]

I usually don't like to "pile it on" on these kind of threads but read them for information. As we have seen there are some Catholics who rightfully condemn the actions and others who blame the victims and/or imagine that nothing is ever the "Church's" fault, but only with individuals. Well, we all know that no person is perfect and that, even when we come to Christ in faith, we still battle with sin in our lives.

But I am simply amazed at the continued anger that gets directed at those who let others know about crimes within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that not only protect the clergy who are accused but refuse to remove them from contact with the very ones with whom they are accused of violating. We are commanded to avoid every appearance of evil and that should go double for those who wear the mantle of leadership. It is heartbreaking whenever we hear of any child who is harmed physically, emotionally and spiritually but is especially grievous that those who are given responsibility for children's spiritual well-being end up destroying a child's faith because of their own selfish and perverted desires.

I am GLAD that these crimes are being exposed and I hope that those in authority who have been deluded into thinking that they could escape prosecution because of their station come smack up against a mighty and fearful God who says "Be sure your sins will find you out.". I hope we all pray for the innocents who have been damaged that God will heal their hearts as well as their bodies and that their spirits are renewed in Him. With God all things are possible!

Hebrews 10:30-31

For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

[Petrosius]

And yet there’s no end to the number of Catholics who are willing to condemn non-Catholics for criticizing priests who molest children.

There are no Catholics who condemn non-Catholics for criticizing priests who molest children. Indeed, no one feels more disgust at these priests than Catholics. Nor should bishops who did not act against these priests be spared. But it is false and a gross injustice to state that there was ever a deliberate and official policy by the church to cover-up these crimes. Such actions that did occur were those of individual bishops who should be held accountable.

False charges of criminal conspiracy are being leveled at the Catholic Church and Catholics have every right to object.

[ladyjane]

For many it has little to do with hating the Catholic Church. It has a lot to do with seeing the abuse happen to school mates and seeing the devastation in elderly parishoners who are incredulous that such a thing could happen.

[Iscool]

It seems that this practice of molesting boys is the life-blood of the Catholic hierarchy...It’s recruitment activity...How else could they get enough young men who have sworn off women to come into the single-male priesthood???

And what is it with ‘altar-boys’...Why does that group exist??? Is that where young boys are groomed and weeded out for their journey into the deeper secrets of the priesthood???

[Sto Zvirat]

The Roman Catholic church destroyed so many lives by rape and by covering up and by accusing victims.

I left the church (and all religions) in disgust years ago. I will trust logic, reason and intellect over the fables and stories of religion.

[sayuncledave]

Nice try. Not. You haven’t proved your point with official Roman Catholic Church documents. Instead, you attempted to misrepresent one thing as another. Next time you make the attempt, at least make a try to find something applicable. Heck, make a decent effort. This time, FAIL. I will still pray for you. God bless, Dr.

[metmom]

It’s worse coming from someone who claims to be speaking in God’s stead, who claims to be one of Christ’s representatives here on earth.

Leaders in the church are to be held to a much higher standard of behavior and integrity than non-leaders. It’s a given. The thing that makes it more reprehensible is that it taints a child’s image of God in a way that no other person can.

Nobody is really condemning that it happened. We all understand that things like that will on occasion. Realistically, there is simply no way to prevent it.

That’s not the point. The point is that it was not dealt with, it was covered up, priests were reassigned, victims are blamed to be looking just for a cash layout, victimizing them yet again.

The clear teaching of Scripture (1 Corinthians 5) is that the immoral brother in the church be expelled. Church discipline MUST take place. Failure to do so is absolutely inexcusable and THAT is what is being criticized.

If sin within the church isn’t dealt with expediently and appropriately, it will continue and get worse. That is what has happened in these cases. It wasn’t until the WORLD got involved that appropriate steps were taken. That should have never happened. It should have been nipped in the bud the MINUTE it was found out, not only after negative publicity forced the church to take action as damage control.