[Gamecock]

Sounds like they need our Religion Moderator to come in and restore order!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Judges are supposed to hear evidence, not present it.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

For anyone following the criminal trial of Philadelphia's pederast priests, this turn of event is pretty jaw-dropping.

Apparently one of the defense attorneys is a possible witness in the case.

Thanks to Dr. Scarpetta for passing it along.

[Salvation]

 

Jesus. High Priest

 

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem.  He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

[WaterBoard]

Wow, just wow. What can you say.

[kbennkc]

[metmom]

The lawyer, who represents one of three current and former Roman Catholic priests charged with raping boys in their parish, fired back that prosecutors were being "anti-Catholic" and had uttered an "abomination."

Talk about classic knee jerk reaction.

Don't confuse them with the facts. You're an anti-Catholic bigot if you dare do anything they don't like.

[Cicero]

This sounds very, very strange to me. The judge and the prosecutor have sat down together and shared all the evidence, but the defense attorneys haven’t seen any of it?

And they want to refuse a preliminary look at the evidence on this basis?

This judge sounds as if she should be removed from the case.

[stevem]

Sorry to say this is one of those things pretty hard to get a handle on. Among priests the evil ones are likley a pretty tiny minority causing boundless damage. Eventually, the accusation becomes the proof.

The guilty ones should have their testicles removed using a branch trimmer or a tin scissors. Just make sure they are guilty, and the accusation isn't the proof.

I attended a seminary for four years during a time when I have read homsexuallity was rampant in United Staes seminaries. I must have been mightily unattractive because I was never propositioned a single time by priest or student.

The same holds true during my altar boy years. Our pastor had a contrary personality and went through about six curates in the eight years of my grade school days. Not one of them made untoward advances, although I discovered years later that one of them, incidentally my favorite of those days, died of AIDS. He didn't get it in a blood transfusion. The rumor was he picked it up from adults.

The long and short of it is, even the homosexual, or the one I learned was, and all the rest were basically decent men as far as I can tell. Many of them worked long and hard to drill an education into me.

I realize my story is anecdotal. I simply refuse to believe the majority or even a large minority or Catholic priests are living breathing Lucifers. The bad ones should be strung up. Bishops we can prove to be enablers should be strung up along side them.

I just know the accusation isn't proof.

[RnMomof7]

" DeSipio said. "This accuser says there was an erect penis in his buttocks."
"Was it in your buttocks, or was it in your anus," he asked rhetorically. "If that question wasn't asked [of the grand jury], and he didn't specify anus or butt cheeks, I have a right to ask that."

Incredible, just incredible

[Celtic Cross]

For a Protestant, you sure seem to have a lot of interest in the Catholic Church.

[TSgt]

"They are anti-Catholic. I'll say it," DiSipio fumed. "[The district attorney is] attacking me as a Catholic!"

Where have we heard this before?

[RegulatorCountry]

The lawyer, who represents one of three current and former Roman Catholic priests charged with raping boys in their parish, fired back that prosecutors were being "anti-Catholic" and had uttered an "abomination."

Good grief, sounds like Vatican defense attorney DeSipio is a also Freeper.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

"Your Honor, this is patently unfair!" McGovern said. "You know the evidence. They know the evidence. I don't know what the evidence is! I haven't seen any!"

McGovern should read the Grand Jury Report. I tried to read through it, but it was too sexually graphic.

[Palladin]

I love Judge Renee for telling that sappy defense attorney to “SHUT UP!”

Like the judge, I have had it with defenders of these monsters. They raped little boys—anally and orally.

There is no defense.

Large millstone—deep sea. That’s what the child rapists deserve. That’s what Jesus said.

[D-fendr]

She added that the substance of the claim that DiSipio witnessed something is still unclear. "I just don't know if it's true," Hughes said. "I really don't know if it's true."

Yet she spouts a charge in open court? This is a judge? Time for her to step aside.

[metmom]

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I was rereading the body of the thread and was struck by this.....

Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes told defense attorney Richard DeSipio that she's received information that "might make you, in fact, a witness because of events that occurred while you were a seminarian."

The information "stems from the fact that you attended the seminary with a student who asserts he was abused," Hughes said, adding that DeSipio "may possess factual knowledge about abuse that occurred with that student."

She added that the substance of the claim that DiSipio witnessed something is still unclear. "I just don't know if it's true," Hughes said. "I really don't know if it's true."

Yelling and visibly upset, DeSipio demanded that the government, then and there, identify the source of the allegation. "Let them spill it out right now!" DeSipio demanded.

"How dare they send you a letter about that," DeSipio said, referring to the district attorney's office. "That's an abomination."

I noticed that the lawyer didn't deny the facts the judge stated, but rather that he was incensed that someone told on him. "How dare they send you a letter about that," DeSipio said, referring to the district attorney's office.

How dare they indeed.

You know, during the trial of the NYC WTC bombers, when they were trying the guys who were accused of the bombing, the person who worked for the truck rental place was asked who rented the vehicle and threw the courtroom into an uproar when he pointed out someone in the jury box.

Nice way to either load the jury or declare a mistrial.

In this case, because the defense lawyer himself was so closely connected to the situation, it should have, by all rights, disqualified him from being connected with the case in a conflict of interest.

It seems that what bothered him the most is that some ratted on him and exposed what he knew all along.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it was intentional. That way, the whole thing would have to start over from scratch, giving more opportunity for it to be dropped on some technicality.

[Brian_Baldwin]

I am sort of tired of this constant attacks by the left, by the homosexuals and others against the Catholic Church. Of course we had abusers of children, but over all the odds of your kid getting raped by a schoold teacher are way higher than getting raped by a priest. I love the Catholic Church and admire it greatly. It has had a long history from the past, a notable role in modern history, and will have a notable and ongoing role in the future to come. I predict that in the end, it will not be the homosexual lobby that will win over society, and I believe the Catholic Church will be around as a world power (and yes, I mean power, not just player) long after I am dead.