Survivors of Man Who Alleged Philadelphia Clergy Abuse Sue

INDEED.

The DA's office isn't prosecuting ... the priest is innocent until proven guilty. Get over it.

The DA's office won't prosecute if they don't think they have a solid enough case. It's not whether they think he's guilty or not.

The innocent until proved guilty relates to his treatment. He can't be jailed for being presumed guilty without a trial to present enough evidence. He can be guilty as all get out and everyone can know it, but unless they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt with hard evidence in a court of law, there's nothing that can be done.

The problem is, the way Catholics demand it be handled would prohibit any law enforcement from ever being able to pursue a case against any criminal.

While one is innocent until proved guilty, people are allowed to THINK he's guilty. Police are allowed to infringe on his rights to a limited extent and bring him in for questioning and book him for reasonable suspicion. They are allowed to set bond or bail for him, all before the trial; all before being officially declared guilty so that a sentence can be passed.

So, as a technicality, he must be treated as innocent until proved guilty so that he is not jailed without just cause, but that doesn't mean people can't think he's guilty.

So, sounds like he's guilty to me and I'm going to think so.

Get over it.

I like the way you explained that. If you aren't a teacher, you missed your calling.

When confronted by archdiocesan investigators, Gallagher at first denied the allegations, then became "more evasive" in his answers, according to the grand jury report. An independent archdiocesan review board ruled that it could not substantiate the complaints. In July 2008, a victim-assistance coordinator told Neill of the decision.

And in June 2009, the abused victim commits suicide. Do catholics want to assume a man commits suicide just because. They can take one Scripture and make a whole doctrine out of it but when it comes to these cases - they want more proof than the DA needs to prosecute. If Gallagher admitted it - the 'worship isn't worship' crowd would probably say he was forced to or under too much stress.

If one pays attention they would find that a lot of anger and disgust and demands for change have been voiced over the scandal and its handling.

Some of you keep saying that but, 'where's the beef'???

The head of this gang was/is a Cardinal for crying out loud...These crimes go all the way to the top...

I'm thinking a pope would bring the hammer down on the entire Philadelphia syndicate...But then, birds of a feather flock together...

to recognize and develop the spiritual bonds that unite us

Hafta wonder what these 'spiritual' bonds are that Catholics have with muzlims...Perhaps some Catholics on this thread can enlighten us...

Remember, the Whore of Babylon is more like your OPC/PCA group with it's spouting of hatred for all

For a Christian to join the OPC, he must reject all of God's teachings and stop being a follower of Christ and become a follower of Calvin.

For Calvin teaches that one does not need to believe in Christ but one is part of an elite brahmin caste.

To become a member of the OrthodoPresbyterian Cult, one must throw out scripture and adopt the 14-page excerpted version of scripture with the colored pictures that the OPC believes in.

To become a member of the Orthodo PresbyterianCult, one must Acording to the OPC OrthoPresbyterianC: "Christians should not celebrate the Seder or other Jewish festivals. "

The followers of Machen, the OPC, disregard scripture where it calls men to repent, have faith, convert, and persevere. Instead they insist on some kind of non-scriptural preservation which is not only non-scriptural but also disagrees with the beliefs of their hero, St. Augustine who believed in perseverance of the saints, not preservation. Augustine did not believe in Calvin's understanding of the "perseverance of the saints,"

the OPC's theory that man can never lose his salvation, no matter what he does, so when they read 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21 the OPC believes that if anyone commits any such sin, there is no repentence for the followers of Calvin. Their deity will not take repentence, so the followers of Calvin will say that the person never was Christian at all!

To answer, they twist their weasel-words as

First between true and false conversion. The Bible recognizes that not everyone who says he believes in Christ really does

Voilą! (by the way, that means "see there" in French) -- the followers of Calvin-Machen use their rubber dictionaries to say "Oh, they never were Christian in the first place!"

And some more beauties of the OPC fate

Salvation of Infants Who Die

The Confession entertains the idea that at least some infants who die in infancy and some others "who are incapable of being outwardly called" are among the elect.

However, the Confession does not say that all such infants, etc., are saved.

The OPC believes that God pre-damns infants to eternal hell. This isn't the Christian God of Love.

To become a member of the OPC, one must deny the scriptures like Ezekiel 33 that says

12 “Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’

13 If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done.

14 And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right—

15 if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die.

16 None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.

To be an OPC cult-member, one needs to hate Pentecostals and Methodists, followers of Arminianism and say that they follow a "damnable heresy"

To become a member of the OPC cult, one needs to abandon scripture which says

John 4:42 describes Christ as "the Savior of the world,"
1 John 2:2 Christ "is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."
1 Timothy 4:10 God is "the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe."

To become a member of the Orthodo Presbyterian Cult one must learn to hate and worship the CalvinGod of hate and reject Jesus Christ, the God of Love

This is an excellent study by MarkBsnr on why the OPC is not Christian

Let us take the Nicene Creed and compare with the OPC's beliefs:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen.
So far, the OPC is on track.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
Well, not really; they think of Jesus as a lesser God than the Father. The OPC says that:
Jesus is God's doorway through the wall. God appointed his Son to be the substitute for those whom he would save. Jesus loved the Father with every fiber of his being. He obeyed the Father's holy will completely. He died on Calvary's cross as the atoning sacrifice, bearing all the sins of his people. He rose again from the dead and was exalted to the place of glory at the Father's side.
For the OPC, Jesus is a lesser or messenger god to God the Father, much like Mercury was the messenger of Jupiter in the Roman Pantheon of gods. This is not Christian.
As well, The OPC says that:
Christ is, in reality, the one true worshiper.[5] Our worship is a participation in his. Further, our worship in Christ is by the Holy Spirit.
Here, the OPC says that Christ worships God the Father, and the Holy Spirit worships Christ. Not Trinitarian, but polytheist.
Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary,
Here, they more or less agree with Christianity.
and became man.
Here, they depart from Christianity inasmuch as Christianity believes that Jesus is fully God and fully man at the same time.
The OPC says:
"The Son of Man"
Jesus affirms that he is "the Son of Man." This was his favorite self-designation. The Gospels mention his calling himself the Son of Man some eighty times. William White, Jr., explains that this title reflects Daniel 7:13, where the "Son of Man" is one to whom is given universal and eternal authority, glory, and sovereign dominion. He is one from among men to whom is given divine prerogatives. Since only God can receive such prerogatives, the Son of Man is a God-man (Daniel 10:16). Thus, the Son of Man, Jesus, descended from heaven (John 3:13) and was dependent on God, as He had nowhere to lay His head (Matt. 8:20). He exercises an authoritative and redemptive mission (John 3:14). He is the universal Lord (Matt. 28:18; cf. Dan. 7:13-14) and has total responsibility and authority for judging the world (Matt. 13:41-42; 19:28). (Theological and Grammatical Phrasebook of the Bible, p. 102 [Moody Press, 1984]. Cf. Geerhardus Vos, The Self-Disclosure of Jesus [Eerdmans, 1954].)
So when Jesus calls himself the Son of Man, he does much more than identify himself as having a human nature. He reveals himself as God incarnated as the Last Adam, the true Man, the Man of God's right hand, the Messiah, the King, the Savior, Lord, and Judge! Compare Daniel 7:9-14 and Revelation 1:12-18. It's an amazing claim.
It sure is. It affirms that the OPC believes that Jesus is a lesser God - is totally dependent upon God and therefore is not the God of Christianity, but a messenger or harbinger, much like John the Baptist was for Jesus.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
Okay in this section.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
Here we come to a major parting of the ways between the OPC and Christianity. The OPC says that:
The resurrection of the dead in general, therefore, is primarily a judicial act of God."[13] Stated simply, the resurrection is not the penultimate event prior to the final judgment; the resurrection is the final judgment.
This little piece of paganism is the source for so many of the nonChristian pronouncements of OPC adherents. Can you imagine a greater departure from the Gospel message of Jesus? Resurrection is a replacement for Judgement and if you are resurrected, you will not go to hell!!!! Now, what about those going to hell? More on that later...
and his kingdom will have no end.
They do agree that Jesus will reign forever.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
See above. The OPC believes that Jesus worships God the Father and the Holy Spirit worships Jesus.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
The OPC really likes its Prophets - if it weren't for Paul, their theology would consist of Isaiah with a splash of Jeremiah.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
Absolutely not. "Catholic" is redefined as Calvinist, and the Apostles are irrelevant since they are all long dead.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
The OPC touches on it in several articles on their site, blathering on, and talking around the point, rather than to it, but the final conclusion is that they do not believe that baptism is in any way connected with the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
There are several articles on the OPC website which affirm the resurrection of the dead, and then speak as if it weren't there or it didn't matter. Of course, it might just be the writers' confusion over just who is going to be resurrected (prejudged to salvation) and who isn't (see above). After all if the Calvinists believe that the act of resurrection is a substitute for the Judgement of God, then nobody in hell gets Judged in the Calvinist universe, right? And nowhere in Christianity does it state anything about the resurrection of those Judged to Heaven versus the non resurrection of those Judged to hell. In Calvinism, those prejudged to hell do not get resurrected at all. Cronos, my friend, you are absolutely spot on in that the OPC on its own website brags about its nonChristian beliefs. And its followers would have us believe that it is Christian. Based on what?

The main problem with the OPC/PCA point of view is that according to them, God’s not satisfied with damning a person before the beginning of creation, but after the person is dead, he’d have to resurrect him and tell him, “I’m going to punish you in hell forever because you perfectly—though you had no choice—followed the plan I set out for you since before the beginning of the world, all for my good pleasure and greater glory.” That’s just perverse piling on. And again we have to ask, “Glory before whom?” If all is created by God and determined by God, then there is no other “who” before whom glory, to whatever degree, is to be manifest and no context within which glory would even have any meaning. The whole thing is nothing more than an audience of one, the sound of that one’s hands clapping. Even Zen makes more sense than that.

f

The OPC (OrthodoPresbyterian C) and PCA (Presbyterian C in America) attack on America and Christianity

preaching hatred against Pentecostals	from the OPC doctrinal website It will be noted that the Confession sharply contradicts the view popularized today by the neo-Pentecostal movement. In essence this view would have us believe that we can have the same charismatic gifts that we read about in the age of the Apostles - such as prophecy, speaking in tongues, and healing - today. This is a very serious error. In essence it is a result of a failure to grasp the Biblical teaching concerning the history of salvation.
preaching hatred against Lutherans	Calling them all liberals and accusing them of not teaching what Martin Luther taught
preaching hatred against Pentecostals and Methodists:	From the opc doctrinal website: . Are Arminian (Methodists, Pentecostals, Baptist etc) preachers heretics? yes . Is Arminianism (Methodism, Pentecostalism, Baptists) a damnable heresy? Yes. . the teachings of Arminianism are contrary to Scripture, they are manifestly false. They are serious perversions of the gospel of Jesus Christ (accusing Methodists, Pentecostals, etc. who disagree with Calvin of preaching a gospel of Satan
preaching hatred against Methodists	"John Wesley preached Universal Infant Damnation for unbaptized infants "; accusing Methodists of preaching a Gospel of Satan"
preaching hatred against Judaism	Acording to the OPC OrthoPresbyterianC: "Christians should not celebrate the Seder or other Jewish festivals. " and saying that the Jews are notr the chosen people
preaching hatred and evil against Christians martyred by Moslems in the Middle East	Condemning Shabhaz Bhatti to hell as he was not an OPC/PCA member
preaching hatred against Adventists	The Adventists are a cult that is as dangerous as the Jehovahs Witnesses or the Mormons

That's big talk for someone who is a member of a religion that supports

PRIESTS RAPING CHILDREN