CRISIS Magazine - e-Letter
April 4, 2002
Dear Reader,
Here's the first installment of the free CRISIS Magazine e-Letter you requested. Don't worry, they won't usually be this long. But in light of the recent scandals surrounding the priesthood and pedophilia, I think this lengthy e-Letter is absolutely necessary.
The media, egged on by a small group of dissenting Catholics, have been having a field day with this tragedy. And, as you might expect, the reporting has been littered with falsehoods and outright fabrications.
Frankly, I just got sick of hearing all the nonsense. So CRISIS has put together a list of the ten most common false media claims -- along with = our fact-filled responses to them.
Please forward this to anyone you think would benefit from this important information. The more people we can get this out to, the better.
Sincerely,
Deal W. Hudson
Publisher and editor
CRISIS Magazine
(I don't have my ping list on this computer, but I'll ping my whole list tomorrow)
There's simply no logical connection between the deviant behavior of a tiny minority of male clergy and the inclusion of women in their ranks.
If it is false that "Catholic priests are more likely to be pedophiles than other groups of men," then it logically follows replacing half of them with women would reduce by half the number of molesters.
Adding women to the profession would not help if molesters were deliberately seeking to become priests--but that would mean "myth" #1 is true.
Yep, if you do boys, you be “gay.”
In 1973, the American Psychological Association changed its characterization of homosexuality as an objectively disordered orientation and removed it from the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual IV
That’s right, for perversionists, by perversionists; it’s the fox guarding the hen house.
The church needs to clean house. They should be treated with compassion and respect, but they need to be told:
"Forget all about the priesthood. Go do something else."
Even this looks a bit weird. If the holiness of the Catholic Church were half of what it is cracked up to be, the statistics for priests should be much better.
1. Catholic priests are more likely to be pedophiles than other groups of men.
Pedophiles seek out occupations where they can prey on children. The priesthood offers ample opportunity for this to occur. Until recently, no one questioned a priest’s interaction with children. The mantle of religious authority is the perfect cover for pedophiles, and the Catholic Church has covered it up for years.
2. The celibate state of priests leads to pedophilia.
This isn’t true. However, humans are sexual beings, and are prone to act on their sexual impulses. Given that pedophiles tend to seek out occupations where they can take advantage of children, it is unsurprising that the cover of “celibacy” distracts the casual observer from questioning actions that would be suspicious if done by another.
3. Married clergy would make pedophilia and other forms of sexual misconduct go away.
Married clergy would not make sexual misconduct go away (just ask Jimmy Swaggart). However, married clergy would make it difficult for pedophiles and other deviants to use the priesthood to hide their activities. Rather than being the norm, the “confirmed bachelor” might be looked on with a bit of suspicion, making it difficult for a pedophile to troll his parish.
4. Clerical celibacy was a medieval invention.
Just because something has existed for over a thousand years, doesn’t make it good. Part of Martin Luther’s problem with the church was the deviant lifestyle of the priests, although admittedly such conduct was apparently homosexual and heterosexual in nature rather a scourge of pedophiles. High-ranking clergy did not commission male nude frescoes for their bathrooms and bedrooms for the love of the arts. Popes married, and one even sired children by his daughters. Either celibacy entices the perverts, or celibacy creates them, but the result is the same.
5. Female clergy would help solve the problem.
It depends on how one defines a “problem.” If the problem is pedophilia, female pedophilia is relatively rare in comparison to its male counterpart. If one deems homosexuality part of the problem, given that aging lesbians dominate the cloisters, it is unlikely that female clergy would change the alternative sexual orientations that dominate the clergy.
6. Homosexuality isn't connected to pedophilia.
Although homosexuals are more likely to be pedophiles, the church’s problem is that it attracts pedophiles, many of whom just happen to be homosexual. It is the ability to have contact with potential victims with virtual impunity that attracts pedophiles to the church, and this is not based on the particular orientation of the pedophile.
7. The Catholic hierarchy has done nothing to address pedophilia.
The church has done plenty to address pedophilia, including: paying millions in hush money, covering up thousand of sex crimes against minors, and reassigning pedophiles to new position where different children can be attacked.
8. The Church's teaching on sexual morality is the real problem, not pedophilia.
Actions speak louder than words. The church aids and abets pedophiles rather than address the problem, unless one considers the millions paid in hush money to be issue resolution.
9. Catholic journalists have ignored the pedophile problem.
At some point credibility is gone. Listening to Catholic journalists “address” pedophilia is like listening to Bill Clinton “feel your pain.” Regardless of good intentions (how about that road to hell), someone still ends up getting screwed in the end, in this case minor children.
10. Requiring celibacy limits the number of men as candidates for the priesthood, resulting in a high number of sexually unbalanced priests.
Although celibacy may be an ideal of the church, the majority of priests and nuns engage in sexual activities, predominantly homosexual in nature. To deny this is to discard any vestige of credibility on the issue. Rather than acknowledging that it is an ideal, the church cloaks the sexual activities of its clergy in secrecy, and then wonders why pedophiles might consider this secrecy an advantage when selecting an occupation. Young Rhino, J.D., LL.M. a disgusted Catholic
One of the reasons you will see litigation left and right today is the simple reason that the church has assets and the world has plenty of lawyers willing to make lots of money.
What would stop a wayward Catholic from getting together with a few people and making false claims among the real ones?
We've seen where in 9-11 before all the bodies were cold there were people falsely trying to access money meant for the families. People cheat where they can to take advantage of a situation.
I'm not saying that there aren't real claims regarding the Church's Bad Priests. But you will see a bunch of false claims among the real ones and many good priests will suffer for the bad ones.
I'm a Catholic and never seen any of what is going on in my school days. But evidently there were some bad priests.
A witch hunt needs to be avoided and the problem at the same time needs to be taken care of.
We are taught as Christians to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and savior and to forgive the sinner but reject the sin.
Those over these bad priests should have never again put their trust in priests that had betrayed the trust of the flock they had charge over. To those that have been given much responsibility, much is expected.
These are sick men who should have been treated as such. I heard psychologist were involved with care of different priests and that this was a complete failure.
This should greatly speak to the lack of validity in the area of psychology in regards to treating people with mental problems.
Catholics and other Christians need to pray for the clergy.
In the end the church will have to handle people like teachers do students today.
No privacy and doors will remain open. All personel contact will be in the plain view of others.
Only the confessional will there be any privacy but the confessional will be observed in plain view.
Unfortunately, I think this will be felt all through other faiths as well in the future. When money is to be made from lawsuits there will be lines of other people all to willing to set up a church, minister, rabbi or priest for the almighty dollar.
April 05, 2002 at 22:45:18 PST
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Cardinal Roger Mahony, the head of the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, said Friday he has been accused of molesting a female student at a Catholic high school in 1970.
The cardinal made the revelation in a three-page statement faxed to The Associated Press. He denied the woman's allegations, made last month to Fresno church officials, and said he has called for both church and law enforcement officials to investigate.
Mahony is believed to be the highest-ranking sitting church official to be accused of sexual misconduct in the scandal that has engulfed dioceses across the country in the past few months.
"Such false allegations are hurtful and troubling to me, yet I continue to pray fervently for those who make them," said Mahony, who has been cardinal since 1991 in the diocese that includes 5 million Catholics.
The cardinal said the woman contacted the pastor of St. John's Cathedral in Fresno on March 20 and told Monsignor John Esquivel she was molested in 1970, when she was at San Joaquin Memorial Catholic High School.
Mahony, who was a priest in Fresno at the time, said he did not recognize the woman's name as someone he had ever met, adding that his contact with the school was limited to occasionally celebrating Mass.
Mahony said he has asked Bishop John Steinbock of the Fresno diocese to handle the case. The diocese has opened an investigation and held a two-hour interview with the woman March 25. Mahony said a transcript of the interview has been turned over to Fresno police.
Lt. Tony Bennink of the Fresno Police Department said he couldn't confirm whether an investigation was under way. The cardinal identified the woman in his statement. A number for her in Fresno was unlisted and she could not be reached for comment. The AP does not identify victims in sexual assault cases.
Mahony said he also reported the allegation to the Los Angeles Police Department's sexually exploited child unit on March 22.
"My personal integrity and reputation demand that I take all possible steps to refute this false allegation," he said. "I pledge my continuing total cooperation with the two investigations under way."
Los Angeles police have said they are investigating reports that the diocese has removed six to 12 priest accused of sexual abuse in cases dating as far back as 10 years. The problems here are part of a recent surge in similar allegations across the country.
The archdiocese has not released the number of priests removed, though Mahony has said some priests were ousted.
Earlier Friday, a series of about 60 e-mails between top officials in the archdiocese were released by radio station KFI of Los Angeles, where officials said they came from a listener.
The e-mails paint a picture of an organization scrambling to handle the wave of sexual abuse accusations against its priests.
"It's the new cases ... that keep the story alive," Mahony wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. "With our various cases now I don't even know what the numbers (of accused priests) are myself!"
The e-mails - most marked "privileged client-attorney communication" - show some archdiocesan officials learned about the removal of at least two priests just last month. Both were members of religious orders, meaning they did not work directly for the diocese.
The e-mails also indicate officials were concerned about priests beyond the "Big 8" Mahony referred to in a March 30 memo to his attorney, Sister Judith Ann Murphy.
Mahony told Murphy in an earlier e-mail that the diocese made a "huge mistake" in failing to turn over three sexual abuse cases involving priests to police, and urged her to talk with detectives about the cases.
"If we don't, today, 'consult' with the detective about those three names, I can guarantee you that I will get hauled into a grand jury proceeding and I will be forced to give all the names," he wrote.
Just how much information to release to police is discussed in several e-mails.
In the case of one priest under scrutiny, "I am leaning towards giving it to the LAPD to review," Mahony wrote in an e-mail Monday. "We could be very vulnerable on any case where there is a dispute among folks, and we have not referred it out."
In preparing Monsignors Craig Cox and Richard Loomis for interviews with investigators, Murphy wrote: "Remember Sergeant Joe Friday - 'Only the facts, sir, only the facts.' ... Do not volunteer information. This is not a session to be chatty."
In the Wednesday e-mail, Mahony estimated that by mid-May, "any new problems will have been uncovered, and that we can begin the healing process over the coming months."
The diocese went to court Thursday to prevent KFI and the Los Angeles Times from disseminating the e-mails, but a judge rejected the request.
In a letter faxed to The AP and others, archdiocese attorney John McNicholas exhorted media outlets not to publish the e-mails and return any copies they receive.
Publishing the communications "will violate state and federal statutes and tort law regarding invasion of privacy," he wrote.
Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg's said e-mails Friday were "illegally obtained" and that police and federal authorities were investigating.
"Beyond that, I would say the people who are in ministry positions in the archdiocese are in full compliance with California law in the mandatory reporting of child neglect and sexual abuse," Tamberg said.