#predator priests

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

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[whattolearntoday]

A bit of August 14th history...

1281 - During Kublai Khan’s second Mongol invasion of Japan, his invading Chinese fleet of 3500 vessels disappears in a typhoon near Japan

1862 - President Lincoln receives first group of African-Americans to confer with a US President

1896 - Gold discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory

1935 - Social Security Act becomes law

1937 - Appalachian Trail is completed, Traversing 2000 miles and 14 states from Georgia to Maine

1945 - V-J Day - Japan surrenders unconditionally to end WWII (pictured)

2018 - 2.3 million estimated Venezuelans have left crisis hit Venezuela since 2015 according to the UN

2018 - Pennsylvania grand jury after a 2 year investigation, alleges 300  “predator priests” abused over 1000 children over a 30 year time span and Catholic leaders covered it up

[banksofthetrinity]

OpEd: Predator Priests are not the Only Scandal

4/16/2019 - Earlier this year, The Texas Catholic elected to reprint this article from CNS, which reports on various church figures, such as Bishop Burns, speaking to those at World Youth Day about the scandals.  In the article, CNS publishes one teenager’s deep insights:

“I don’t let people come between me and God,” said Horter, wrapped in a U.S. flag.

She said she was not going to judge priests and other good people in the church by the actions of men who likely were never priests “spiritually.”

I’m going to ignore the fact that CNS presents as a positive thing this girl’s lack of formation regarding the nature of the priesthood, the indelible mark imprinted by the sacrament of holy orders, or the definition of the word “spiritually.”

What struck me about her comment, and all the comments throughout this piece, was who they focused on.  Aside from a short comment by Bishop Burns, everyone talks as if the story was only about the abusers themselves.  Based on this article and many other articles about the abuse, the scandals are limited to the actions of these predatory priests.

According to Bishop Burns, of the 2,424 priests who served in the Diocese of Dallas since 1950, 31 were considered “credibly accused” of abuse in Dallas.  In the Diocese of Tyler, Bishop Strickland reports only one priest abused a minor in the diocese, out of 448 who served since 1950.

In both cases, the number of abusive priests is less than 1%.  While any number of priests abusing their flock is troubling, it is actually comparable to abuse numbers in other fields, such as education.

How were these priests allowed to continue in ministry without consequences, sometimes for decades?  The Pennsylvania Grand Jury and the McCarrick fiasco are just the latest evidence that the bishops cover for these predators.

Let’s look at some of the bishops in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Tyler since 2000.

Bishop Grahmann covered for the infamous Fr. Rudy Kos, costing the diocese $120 million.

Bishop Delaney covered for at least seven abusers, moving them to different parishes after victims reported the abuse.

Bishop Corrada allowed a former San Antonio priest with a credible allegation to operate in Tyler.

Based on this research, at least 25% of the bishops in DFW and Tyler since 2000 have knowingly allowed predatory priests to operate in their dioceses.

Twelve bishops have served in this area since 2000.  Of the three bishops we know for certain knowingly allowed predator priests to operate, 2 were active until the day they died and the other one is active to this day.  

For at least 2 of these bishops, had they removed the priest(s) in question when the allegations were first reported and found credible, there would be far fewer victims.

Throughout the scandals we have heard constant talk of zero-tolerance policies for predatory priests, but nothing about zero-tolerance for the bishops who enable these priests.  While the priests are finally suspended or convicted, these bishops are allowed to keep their office and continue leading dioceses.  And we are supposed to trust these men to handle future scandals?

Some may argue that the priest Bishop Corrada allowed to operate did not, to our knowledge, abuse any children while in Tyler.  However, the fact that no children were abused in this case does not negate the Dallas Charter and the bishops’ own policy of zero-tolerance.  By not immediately removing this priest from ministry, Bishop Corrada has disregarded policies that all bishops supposedly follow, policies created by the bishops to protect the young.

CNS and The Texas Catholic rejoice that these tragically unformed youth still trust the church leadership to take care of “some who have betrayed us.”  However, it is clearly the church leadership who have betrayed us.  When a quarter of our bishops have shown that they would rather hide the abusers than handle them properly, and these same bishops are allowed to keep their office, I lose confidence in the church hierarchy.

The scandal is not only the 1% of priests who abused others and are eventually removed, but also the 25% of bishops who enable them and remain in power.

Laocoön

This post will be updated as more information becomes public.

[richprocida]

Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal Requires Major Reform

Rich Procida: Abstinence does little to make the world a better place. It’s unrealistic to expect human beings to be sexually holy and pure. Sexual purity doesn’t even make sense and isn’t even desirable.

The days of an all male, “celibate” priesthood are over. Not only is the writing on the wall, it’s painted in big red letters. Fifty years after the sexual revolution, and in the midst of a new awareness of sexual abuse called the “Me Too” movement, the exclusion of women from the priesthood and the focus on chastity are relics of an age long past. https://www.laprogressive.com/catholic-sex-abuse-scandal/ #Catholicsexscandal

[investmart007]

HARRISBURG, Pa. | Pennsylvania grand jury report on 'predator priests' also says there could be 'thousands' of victims

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/KYMMe4

HARRISBURG, Pa. | Pennsylvania grand jury report on 'predator priests' also says there could be 'thousands' of victims

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania grand jury report on ‘predator priests’ also says there could be ‘thousands’ of victims.

By Associated Press