Dallas Morning News: Two-thirds of bishops let accused priests work

The Dallas Morning News ^ | June 11, 2002 | BROOKS EGERTON and REESE DUNKLIN

[ibme]

Database

[AdA$tra]

And therein lies the basis of the problem.

I am not defending (and cannot defend) the actions of individuals within the Church. I have been and will continue to defend the Church. You can remove every Archbishop, Bishop and Priest, guilty or not, and there will still be a Church.

[flamefront]

Wow, this is not the "2 to 4 percent" that has been mentioned all along as if it could be swept away.

[flamefront]

The News' review found that at least 111 of the nation's 178 mainstream, or Roman rite, Catholic dioceses ...

Regarding thayt number quoted as being a total of 178, yesterday I coincidently looked up the total US bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. You can conveniently find all of them listed at
http://www.nccbuscc.org/bishops.htm

My count is 291 total. (Which would make 111 more like 1/3 BTW).

[Salvation]

The majority of Catholic leadership is corrupt - liars, perjurers, child-molesters, or protectors of those molesters.

But can they be forgiven by God?

[Salvation]

Pray for Catholic priests and Bishops

[Campion]

There remain too many Catholics who simply refuse to see the depth and breadth of the problem--from predator homosexual priests to a failed leadership--and choose instead to excuse and defend the Church to the bitter end no matter how much evidence is put before them.

"Defending the Church" is not the same as defending the heirarchy, and it's certainly not the same as defending particular individuals within the heirarchy.

[southern rock]

Yes, it's big because it demonstrates how out of touch the Catholic leadership is with the rest of the flock,

There you have the crux of the problem. The Catholic heirarchy is indifferent to these abuse cases because they feel no obligation to be "in touch" with anyone. They consider their man-made beliefs to be of a higher law and truth that anything else on earth. They believe that once a priest, always a priest. A priest can never not be a priest, therefore, in the leadership's mind, the priest can continue on in his duties, sheltered from the effects of their criminal activities.

[LarryLied]

The Catholic heirarchy is indifferent to these abuse cases because they feel no obligation to be "in touch" with anyone. They consider their man-made beliefs to be of a higher law and truth that anything else on earth.

I believe that are not indifferent but are covering their own behinds because they are either homosexual themselves are or being blackmailed by homosexuals.

[fogarty]

I would say so. The bible is pretty clear on that - God will forgive those who repent and turn from their wicked ways.

The problem is - the Catholic leadership is not repenting. Instead of apologies and confession, we hear stonewalling and the meandering words of lawyers. Instead of humility and responsibility, we see the arrogance of position and 'above the law' mentality of the American bishops and cardinals.

[Dajjal]

DallasMike:
I hadn't heard the number 111 before; that is news to me.

ibme:
Thanks for the clarification.

Pray to St. Peter Damian for reform.

[Dumb_Ox]

They believe that once a priest, always a priest. A priest can never not be a priest, therefore, in the leadership's mind, the priest can continue on in his duties, sheltered from the effects of their criminal activities.

Nonsense. In Catholic belief, a defrocked priest is also a priest forever. A priest in hell is still a priest forever.

[O6ret]

The RCC in the US is in extremis.

American Bishops and Cardinals think and act as if they are the church. With the utmost of disdain for the faithful they live like princes and protect themsleves and their friends and have refused to act as the leaders Christ has called them to be.

They and the American Catholic Church (as they have defined it by their actions) must be soundly and loudly condemned.

[AdA$tra]

Last night all of the volunteers that work with yout in our parish, including my wife and me as scout leaders, met with our priest in our parish school cafeteria. We were asked, well, told we had to, fill out an extensive form that included any possible reasons why we should not work with youth. It inlcuded most of the standard questions you would fill out on any background investigation type form similar to the forms my wife and I filled out in order to obtain a daycare license. This was all done by the request of our Archbishop. We were all glad to comply. I think this kind of proactive response to this issue is probably one of the reasons our Archbishop is not listed in the 62% report. We have had at least two priests in our Archdiocese that were substantially accused. They were removed immediately and one will stand trial later this week. I would like to personally thank our Archbishop and our parish priest for the GREAT job they are doing in these difficult times for the Church.

[DallasMike]

You just don't get it, do you, Mike?

I'm anxious for you to explain what I supposedly don't get.

[DallasMike]

You just don't get it, do you, Mike?

In fairness, you probably don't know about the hype that preceding the story that was evidently local, not national. In the countdown (yes, literally) leading up to the story being published, Dallas viewers of the local ABC affiliate and visitors to the Dallas Morning News website were led to believe that there was going to be a single major revelation. The Nightline press release intimated the same thing. Local news announcers gave blurbs every commercial break about how the story was to be simultaneously broadcast on the local news and released on the web at exactly 10:00 P.M. There were rumors floating around the Morning News forums that a USA cardinal was going to be outed. My comment reflects my opinion that the story, which was basically a compilation of already known facts, just didn't live up to the hype.

[Straight Vermonter]

The fact of the matter is that these priests should have been jailed in the past and those who commit these crimes now should be jailed. Having said that, the secular "experts" who advised the church convinced them that these priests could be cured through theraoy etc. The experts also told them that the abused children would recover best by putting the episode in the past and not dragging them through the process of a trial.

I'm sure the church leadership was more than happy to hear this as it let them avoid a scandal. But I think to describe this always as a coverup is disingenuous.

Too many FReepers make this out to be some ultra pervasive problem. While one abused child is too many here are some statistics to put things into context.

Fifteen percent of all students will be abused by a teacher before they graduate, according to studies conducted by Dr. Charol Shakeshaft, a professor at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., and a leading national authority on sexual abuse and harassment. From here.

In only one-percent of the cases where students have been sexually assaulted by teachers did school officials attempt to revoke the offender’s license. From here.

"How widespread is pedophilia among priests?: Commentators have suggested between 5 and 10 percent. That figure has been presented by various "experts" and widely used by the media. However, true pedophilia--sexual contact between an adult and pre-pubescent child--is extremely rare in the priesthood. The best estimate is "0.3 percent of the whole body of clergy." The most extensive study which considered 2,252 priests over a thirty year period found only one case of pedophilia. It involved a priest-uncle with two six-year-old nieces. The number of pederasts or ephebophiles (priests involved, usually homosexually, with an adolescent minor) was much larger, but still less than two percent. Jenkins traces how those figures were blown up and presented without nuance in the media." From here.