More Of The Same (RC Church Cover-Up)

[Gob]

I think you'll find Dave that the true sick, pathetic fuckers are the ones referred to in that post, and the author...

Fixed that for you.

[Lord Jim]

[Scooter]

You can insult (I don't deny with justification) rubato as much as you want, but he has made the point that child rapist priests are a worldwide phenomenon, Dave's repeated attempts to dismiss the problem as insignificant nothwithstanding.

[Sean]

I try to take people on a post-by-post basis. I couldn't find anything in Rubato's post to object to.

[dgs49]

I have NEVER, in any post, at any time, denied the evil that these perpetrator-priests have done.

Never.

I have posted the FACT that sick bastards like that are a plague on EVERY SINGLE ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD that has as its mission the care of children. And it is self-evident that the Catholic Church is the largest such institution. Figure it out.

For the rubato person to have taken the time to research and accumulate the information contained in his last post is indicative of a sick mind - a person obsessed with hate for an institution and the people who are a part of it. A person who demonstrably cannot even see the letters "RC" without reacting viscerally to this issue that involved, in fact, a small percentage of Catholic priests and an even smaller percentage of the Catholic faithful.

To say that he is a sick, bigoted, pathetic, fucker is not to diminish the acts of the perpetrators, and is independent of it.

Have a nice day.

[Scooter]

He posted what he did because you made this comment

There are some horrific examples within the RC Church mainly, it would appear, in English-speaking countries

in the latest of a long list of attempts to minimize the scope of the issue. Very much like right-wing Christians in African countries attempt to deny the existence of lesbian and gay people in their midst by characterizing it as a "Western" thing.

[Crackpot]

That characterizaion is hardly limited to Christians

[Scooter]

The contexts in which I have heard it have been in discussions among Anglicans about ordaining lesbians and gays to the priesthood and recognizing same-sex relationships, and in Christian-instigated initiatives in some African countries to impose harsher penalties, including death, for engaging in homosexual activity or in some cases simply for being known as lesbian/gay.

Are there African Muslims who say it as well? Probably. But I sure haven't heard it from any Africans who identify as atheist.

[Crackpot]

ah-howver-you-spell-his-name-ijad claimed it a few years ago when he was visiting.

[dgs49]

Indeed. The PM of Iran stated categorically that there was no homosexuality in Iran. And of course, the punishment for sodomy under Sharia law is death, but according to some who post here, Christians are much less tolerant than "other religions."

Can you cite any examples of any Black African atheist spokesmen speaking favorably (or even neutrally) about the existence of homosexuality in their native countries? I must have missed those interviews.

[Scooter]

Not surprisingly, in countries where Christian legislators have made it a crime to "promote" homosexuality, it is pretty much impossible to find anyone, atheist or not, willing to speak up in support of the lesbian and gay citizens in their midst.

Thanks for makking my point for me.

[loCAtek]

You can insult (I don't deny with justification) rubato as much as you want, but he has made the point that child rapist priests are a worldwide phenomenon, Dave's repeated attempts to dismiss the problem as insignificant nothwithstanding.

In spite of that, the number of abuses in one godless region, make it pale incomparison.

[rubato]

"...
For the rubato person to have taken the time to research and accumulate the information contained in his last post is indicative of a sick mind - a person obsessed with hate for an institution and the people who are a part of it. ... "

It took about 30 seconds and a desire to know the truth.

You lack the latter.

You consistently justify an organization which is the largest and longest-running pedophilia ring in human history. All you have to do prove I'm wrong is show that many large organizations have the same rates of child-rape and coverup as your church. And that was YOUR excuse. That you are no worse.

Try to tell the truth, for a change?


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

The Vatican has expressed its "dismay and betrayal" at the "sinful and criminal acts" by Catholic clergy guilty of child abuse across Ireland.

In a report published on Tuesday, it called for a "new focus on the laity" within the Irish Catholic Church.

The scandals had "opened many wounds", it said, and lay people had "lost trust in their pastors".

The report acknowledged "innocent young people" were abused by clerics to whose care they had been entrusted.

It said that "those who should have exercised vigilance often failed to do so effectively".

The report also said that good priests felt "unjustly tainted" and not defended by superiors.

"Bishops and superiors have often felt isolated as they sought to confront the wave of indignation and, at times, they have found it difficult to agree on a common line of action," the report said.

It recommended continued support for the victims and survivors of Catholic clerical abuse in Ireland.

The report also sought to bring the Irish Church back into line with the teachings of Rome.

"The Visitators also encountered a certain tendency, not dominant but nevertheless fairly widespread among priests, religious and laity, to hold theological opinions at variance with the teachings of the Magisterium, this serious situation requires particular attention," said the report.

Finally, it also called on the Irish Catholic community to "makes its voice heard" in the media.

It said that the community should establish "a proper relationship" with journalists with the aim of "making known the truth of the Gospel and the Church's life".

Speaking after the publication of the report, Primate of Ireland Sean Brady said it was a "helpful snapshot of a key moment on the ongoing journey of renewal".

He said Irish bishops wished to associate themselves with "the sense of pain and shame" expressed in the findings.

"Innocent young people were abused by clerics and religious to whose care they had been entrusted, while those who should have exercised vigilance often failed to do so effectively," he said.

Cardinal Brady called for a united Church.

He particularly welcomed the Vatican's call for "a new focus on the laity" and the need for a "proper relationship" with the Irish media.

Commenting on the report, Michael Kelly from the newspaper, the Irish Catholic, said: "There is a focus on the victims, a renewal of apologies and an acceptance of the great damage that has been done".

Mr Kelly said the report carried "a very clear warning that says authentic renewal cannot be brought about by dissent from Church teaching."

"There was a feeling that the spirit of the sixties had infected the seminaries too much," he said, adding that there was a sense of the current Pope looking forward to a Church where there might be "fewer but truer" Catholics.

Colm O'Gorman, a high profile campaigner who sued the Catholic Church over the abuse he suffered as a child, called the report "farcical".

He said the Church had to "be dragged kicking and screaming through the courts of opinion and the courts of law".

"The suggestion that they are going to address this by dealing with the whole issue of contamination of seminarians is backward looking and disingenuous," he said.

Margaret McGuckin from Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse, (Savia), was abused as a child at Nazareth House in Belfast.

She and other members of her group met Cardinal Brady earlier this month to seek his cooperation in a forthcoming inquiry, ordered by the NI Executive, into allegations of clerical abuse in Northern Ireland.

"We, in the north, have been ignored," she said.

"They have set up a counselling service but many of our people ignore this. They find it hard to trust."

The clerical abuse survivors' group, One in Four, said the Vatican was "still not accepting responsibility for its role in creating the culture of purposeful cover-ups of the sexual abuse of children."

Executive Director Maeve Lewis said: "While we welcome the findings of the Visitation that the Irish Church now has good child protection practices in place, we feel it is a lost opportunity to address the role played by the Vatican in perpetuating the policy of protecting abusive priests at the expense of children."

"We also welcome the recommendation that the bishops and religious superiors should devote much time to listening to survivors and attending to their needs."

Ms Brennan claimed the group had noticed "a hardening of attitude on the part of the Church authorities to the question of compensation for survivors".

"This only compounds the pain and hurt of survivors. It brings into question the authenticity of the Church's repentance," she said.


The report is a summary of what seven teams of Vatican-appointed church leaders observed when they visited four Archdioceses across Ireland over the last two years.

It looked at the Church' s dealings with survivors of abuse and current child protection policies.

Some of the teams met victims and concerned Catholics in advertised locations, as well as individual survivors behind closed doors.

The report was promised two years ago by Pope Benedict XVI in his letter to Catholics in Ireland.

The Pope expressed horror in the wake of the Ryan and Murphy reports, which revealed a 70-year history of child abuse by a significant number of priests, brothers and nuns and cover-ups by their religious superiors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17442603

[Gob]

'Predatory and heartless' priest jailed for sex assaults on girls

David Marr
April 19, 2012 - 1:02PM


Former priest Brian Spillane has been sentenced to nine years in jail for a number of sexual assaults on young girls described by the presiding judge as "serious, planned and callous".

Sentencing Spillane, 69, Judge Michael Finnane said: "The offender used his position as a priest to gain access to the homes in which each of his victims lived. Because of his position as a priest and because of his standing in the community generally, he was very trusted and the parents of each of the victims readily gave him access to their daughters."

The assaults began 30 years ago when Spillane was on the staff of St Stanislaus' College, Bathurst. After ingratiating himself with the family of two boys at the school, he abused their sister, then aged 11.

"This was the conduct of a violent bully and coward, done without regard to the effect it would have on the young girl," said Judge Finnane.

"It was sexual abuse carried out by a trusted priest, and was a major breach of trust."

In late 1979, Spillane left the school to become a parish priest in Sydney. Again he ingratiated himself with a devout Catholic family and, under the guise of hearing their daughters' bedtime prayers, abused both of them for more than a year.

The judge called this "predatory and a major abuse of trust".

In the same years he assaulted and wrote love letters to a 16-year old student at a western suburbs Catholic school.

The judge called the assault "predatory and heartless" and one of the letters "maudlin, full of false piety and completely inappropriate".

Spillane, who continues to proclaim his innocence, later left the priesthood and married in 2004. His wife was present in the court at sentencing. So was one of his victims who sobbed with relief when the judge sent the ex-priest to jail for nine years with a non-parole period of five years.

In July, Spillane faces the next of several scheduled trials for alleged assaults committed while he worked at St Stanislaus' College in the 1970s and 1980s.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/predatory-and ... z1sSG9l2qi

[Gob]

Every time they've looked everywhere in the world the church is harboring rapists:
Archdiocese of Milwaukee

A 2003 report on the sexual abuse of minors by clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee revealed that allegations of sexually assaulting minors had been made against 58 ordained men.[citation needed] By early 2009, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee had spent approximately $26.5 million in attorney fees and settlements. Under Archbishop Timothy Dolan the archdiocese was able to avoid bankruptcy from lawsuits.[75]

Here's something interesting;

Cardinal Timothy Dolan blasted The New York Times after Laurie Goodstein wrote that, as the archbishop of Milwaukee between 2002 and 2009, Dolan authorised payments of up to $20,000 to sexually abusive priests ''as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood''.

Dolan insisted through a spokesman that it was ''charity'', not ''payoffs''. But if you were the parent of a boy abused by a priest who went away with $20,000, maybe ''charity'' is not the word that would come to mind.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-a ... z1xLVRIydj

[Scooter]

The payments were made to priests who voluntarily gave up their orders, rather than be put on trial in a process that could have stretched for years, and would have cost the Church considerably more. Still, it's a slap in the face to the victims, especially given all of the effort the Church has put into attempting to evade making settlements with them.

[rubato]

"...
For the rubato person to have taken the time to research and accumulate the information contained in his last post is indicative of a sick mind - a person obsessed with hate for an institution and the people who are a part of it. ... "

It took about 30 seconds and a desire to know the truth.

You lack the latter.

waiting and waiting for your your cheap rationalizations for this.

Waiting and waiting
Waiting and waiting
Waiting and waiting
Waiting and waiting
Waiting and waiting

yrs,
rubato

[RayThom]

You wrote: ""Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Main article: Sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia
According to a 2005 investigation, while serving as assistant vicar for administration in 1996, Bishop Cistone was involved with silencing a nun who tried to alert parishioners at St. Gabriel parish about abuse by a priest. According to the report, there were several other instances of priest sexual abuse that Cistone was complicit in covering up.[87] In February 2011, Monsignor William Lynn, former secretary of the clergy for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, was charged with child endangerment, marking the first time that a high-ranking official has been charged since the eruption of sex abuse scandals nearly ten years prior.[88] Lynn was found by a grand jury to have placed pedophiles in posts involving contact with children, which led directly to the sexual assault of two boys. Three priests and one teacher face rape charges.""
.................................................
One of the three rapist priests remaining on trial is "Reverend?" James Brennan, who is charged with child endangerment and the attempted (statutory) rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

This trial is currently in the hands of the jurors. They have been deliberating for almost a week now. They appear to be quite active and serious, having requested from the judge legal definitions for child endangerment, rape, and pedophilia, and other key charges highlighted along the way.

I'm not sure of the make-up of the this jury other than it being seven men and five women. I don't think their religion was ever revealed as they were being screened for duty. But I can surmise by regional demographics that it is made up of mostly catholics and other christians, with few Jews, Muslims, and/or secular humanists.

The word on the street, however, tends to have the jury looking at Lynn as a kindly old grandpop, somewhat addled and confused who, despite the gravity of these criminal charges, only did what he did to try to keep the family together hoping the neighbors would never find out. It appears the repressive, mind controlled, catholic culture of "priests as God's emissaries" is in play here -- at least for Lynn. Sadly, I don't think he'll be convicted on any charges that show willful criminality on his part. As for Brennan he has been successfully painted for what he is, a "defrocked," "former," priest, pedophile, child rapist. He will no doubt be found guilty on some of the more serious charges lodged against him.

Regardless of outcome it will be quite interesting to see what the ripple effect of this trial has on all the other priests and catholic hierarchy currently under scrutiny by our court system.

Meanwhile, the "Vatileaks" scandal and eventual trial is really going to be worth following. I only hope the authorities take it as deep as it should. The dark, slimy, underbelly of this organization needs to be exposed for what it is. Let the crosier fall where it may. The whole world's watching.

[RayThom]

... another week of deliberations make. Was the jury being serious about what was expected of them, or just tired and worn down? Nonetheless, Grandpop gets convicted and Father Nambla gets shown the door, and now praising Jesus for freeing him. Knowing what I know about the internal machinations of the catholic church I am really disappointed by this verdict. Regardless, Msgr. William J. Lynn is now the highest level catholic official -- nationally or worldwide -- ever criminally convicted on child abuse charges. Hopefully, this trial has set an important criminal law precedent regarding the "religious" community. No longer are these emissaries of God protected from the long arm of the law.

Hallelujah... and may God have mercy on their souls.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/ ... buse-trial