Guardian: State attorney general to release 884-page report detailing decades of sexual abuse and cover-ups by the church

[Elessar78]

Special agents testified before us that they had identified a series of practicesthat regularly appeared, in various configurations, in the diocesan files they had analyzed. It's like a playbook for concealing the truth:

First, make sure to use euphemisms rather than real words to describe the sexual assaults
in diocese documents. Never say "rape"; say "inappropriate contact" or "boundary issues."

Second, don't conduct genuine investigations with properly trained personnel. Instead,
assign fellow clergy members to ask inadequate questions and then make credibility
determinations about the colleagues with whom they live and work.
 

Third, for an appearance of integrity, send priests for "evaluation" at church -run psychiatric
treatment centers. Allow these experts to "diagnose" whether the priest was a pedophile, based
largely on the priest's "self -reports," and regardless of whether the priest had actually engaged in
sexual contact with a child.
 

Fourth, when a priest does have to be removed, don't say why. Tell his parishioners that
he is on "sick leave," or suffering from "nervous exhaustion." Or say nothing at all.
 

Fifth, even if a priest is raping children, keep providing him housing and living expenses,
although he may be using these resources to facilitate more sexual assaults.
 

Sixth, if a predator's conduct becomes known to the community, don't remove him from
the priesthood to ensure that no more children will be victimized. Instead, transfer him to a new
location where no one will know he is a child abuser.
 

Finally and above all, don't tell the police. Child sexual abuse, even short of actual
penetration, is and has for all relevant times been a crime. But don't treat it that way; handle it
like a personnel matter, "in house."
 

[Renegade7]

Was reading the cnn article that came out today, my blood had boiled like that in a while reading some of the examples.  The statute of limitations thing makes me want to punch a wall, they still doing it, the Catholic Church is still here like it's no biggie.  We should be going after the church itself, this level of cover up doesn't stop at the state level and we all know it.

[Elessar78]

8 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Was reading the cnn article that came out today, my blood had boiled like that in a while reading some of the examples.  The statute of limitations thing makes me want to punch a wall, they still doing it, the Catholic Church is still here like it's no biggie.  We should be going after the church itself, this level of cover up doesn't stop at the state level and we all know it.

yup. Cardinal Wuerl, he's in washington now but used to be in Pittsburgh is arguing some detail in the report about him. Yeah, it's probably NOT him in this particular instance (a statement about a "circle of secrecy" is misattributed to him in the report). Here's the thing. You knew it was going on. You were head of the church in western PA. You should have led the witch hunt to oust these pedophile priests with manic fervor. Not a token effort. 

[Renegade7]

1 hour ago, Elessar78 said:

You should have led the witch hunt to oust these pedophile priests with manic fervor. Not a token effort. 

Say it again, I don't think they heard you.

[Jumbo]

damn good thing they kept the women out of running the church all these centuries

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DCSaints_fan]

1 hour ago, Jumbo said:

damn good thing they kept the women out of running the church all these centuries

 

 

I wonder if this is a breaking point for the RCC, where they will either have to accept women/married persons in the priesthood, or risk fading into obscurity.

[Corcaigh]

In 2011 when the Cloyne report came out the Irish Prime Minister was very critical of the Vatican accusing them of engaging in a cover up over many years including very recently.

 

A Vatican spokesman essentially said "our guidance to priests and bishops didn't encourage them to break Irish laws" regarding any inquiry. That was their defense. 

[Zguy28]

This is unrelated to the RCC, its about two evangelical pastors who confessed to adultery, but the case of Art Azurdia is the way the RCC should be addressing these things, not with euphemisms, beating around the bush, and secrecy.

 

https://thecripplegate.com/a-tale-of-two-confessions/

Quote

 

A Tale of Two Confessions

 

In the past month, two prominent pastors have had their private sins publicly exposed: Bill Hybels and Art Azurdia—one nationally known and whose fall was front page news, the other known only inside of evangelical circles and his fall reported largely on social media.

Both demonstrated conduct contrary to the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3, conduct that disqualifies them from being elders. Both committed adultery, and the fall of both men will obviously bring shame on the name of Christ.

But there is one huge contrast between these two situations—namely, how their respective churches responded. 

In the case of Hybles, the accusations against him were not handled biblically and the potential harm for not only the families involved but for the church herself has been increased by that failure. In the case of Azurdia, his church followed the Biblical pattern for situations like this, and while his conduct will certainly cause some to question their faith, his church has mitigated that in large part by their adherence to scripture.

 

more at link

[Elessar78]

12 hours ago, DCSaints_fan said:

 

I wonder if this is a breaking point for the RCC, where they will either have to accept women/married persons in the priesthood, or risk fading into obscurity.

 I'm not against married priests or women priests—it was church doctrine for a thousand years.

 

But it's a misunderstanding (maybe) of pedophiles. Research shows that it's not a lack of access to women that does this. Pedophiles are attracted to a specific type,  boys aged 8-10 for example. Married pedophiles are still pedophiles who will hunt their type. The draw for these predators is most likely the safe haven provided by the church and easier access to their victims. 

 

Fix this problem directly. Hire outside, independent entities to hunt for these predators in this church. An Inquisition, if you will. 

 

You'll probably eliminate a whole bunch of priests and the church already needs more priests. There's a mad shortage of priests. This subsequent shortage will open up the need for married or women priests out of necessity. 

[c slag]

 I attended Catholic grade school during 5-6-7 grades in Southern Pennsylvania growing up in the late 70s

I escaped unscathed but apparently not all whom I went to school with did.

Absolutely inexcusable behavior for any adult to any child and  the subsequent cover up is just as horrific if not entirely worse

I am beyond angry at this point 

I have only stepped foot in a catholic church for a wedding or funeral since 7th grade and now I can absolutely guarantee that I will never step foot into any catholic church ever again 

What a perfect example of do what I say but not what I do ,especially since a priest impregnated a 17 year old girl and had the fetus aborted.Again do you want to tell me your teachings on abortion catholic church?

A complete disgusting disgrace of a learning institution and a joke of a religion 

Absolutely and totally pathetic excuse for" religious " human beings 

Edited August 16, 2018 by c slag
Spell

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Is there any reason why the Catholic Church should not be dismantled? Any reason at all?

[DCSaints_fan]

16 hours ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

Is there any reason why the Catholic Church should not be dismantled? Any reason at all?

 

Who's going to dismantle them? 

 

Best case is a ecumenical council (like Vatican III ) and the RCC liberalizes (to a certain extent)

[DogofWar1]

18 hours ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

Is there any reason why the Catholic Church should not be dismantled? Any reason at all?

If we believe the Prophecy of the Popes, Francis is Peter the Roman and Rome will be destroyed during his reign.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

2 hours ago, DCSaints_fan said:

Who's going to dismantle them?

Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

[Renegade7]

20 hours ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

Is there any reason why the Catholic Church should not be dismantled? Any reason at all?

I mean, they are a country technically, so we could technically put sanctions on them for this or until they take this seriously?  I mean, that got more people in our country raping our kids then ISIS has terrorist blowing **** up here.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

No sanctions. One of us needs to become pope and liquidate the entire church. @Popeman38 seems like the logical choice here.

[Renegade7]

26 minutes ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

No sanctions. One of us needs to become pope and liquidate the entire church. @Popeman38 seems like the logical choice here.

Destroy from within, I like your style.  I'd rather invade them, they ain't part of NATO last I checked.

[Popeman38]

Yeah, I’m pretty sure placing me in charge of the Catholic Church would bring about change. All these priests that touch kids? They get the Judas Cradle. For all the other church personnel that covered for them, I’m thinking the Brazen Bull. Turn about is fair play, right?

 

Then, a proclamation that the church would set up a payment system for each victim/victim’s family. After that was taken care of, the remaining funds would be used to supplement school funding in the worst school districts in the country. the Purpose of the church would be to “save” our youth. Not expand and dominate. 

[Zguy28]

So, looks like the bulk of the cases are pre-2002 and since then the RCC has had significant internal reform to mitigate a lot of these crimes. At least there is one positive nugget in this whole mess.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/levittown/vatican-releases-statement-pa-catholic-priest-sex-abuse-report

 

Quote

The bulk of the report, which has been described as the "biggest and most exhaustive ever" investigation into priest sex abuse by an individual state, covers events that occurred before the early 2000s. And even though there are 300 priests named, the grand jury notes: "We should emphasize that, while the list of priests is long, we don't think we got them all."

The Vatican's statement says "continued reform and vigilance at all levels" among the church has led to a reduction in abuse.

"By finding almost no cases after 2002, the Grand Jury's conclusions are consistent with previous studies showing the Catholic Church reforms in the United States drastically reduced the incidence of clerical sexual abuse. The Holy See encourages continued reform and vigilance at all levels of the Catholic Church. The Holy See also wants to underscore the need to comply with the civil law, including mandatory child abuse reporting requirements," the statement said.

 

 

[Larry]

1 hour ago, Zguy28 said:

So, looks like the bulk of the cases are pre-2002 and since then the RCC has had significant internal reform to mitigate a lot of these crimes. At least there is one positive nugget in this whole mess.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/levittown/vatican-releases-statement-pa-catholic-priest-sex-abuse-report

 

 

 

Not sure I give them many brownie points for changing things in 2002. 

 

Pretty sure these things were common knowledge for at least a decade or two before then. In fact, pretty sure that the church had been losing noticeable amounts of cash, to this problem, long before then. 

 

So 2002, to me, says "they decided to do what they should have done in the 70s, 10 years after the successful prosecutions started hurting them noticeably."

[Elessar78]

6 minutes ago, Larry said:

 

Not sure I give them many brownie points for changing things in 2002. 

 

Pretty sure these things were common knowledge for at least a decade or two before then. In fact, pretty sure that the church had been losing noticeable amounts of cash, to this problem, long before then. 

 

So 2002, to me, says "they decided to do what they should have done in the 70s, 10 years after the successful prosecutions started hurting them noticeably."

It's very late but it's something, but not really enough. The heads of the church in the Pittsburgh is now in DC and his right hand is now the Archbishop in Pittsburgh. Yes, they have done more than their predecessors, but were also still knee deep paying hush money and shuffling priests around to avoid scandal. 

 

Vatican and the US RCC need to pony up and fund reports like this for every diocese in the country. If all 6 diocese in PA have at least 2 dozen(?) over the past few decades then it's probably happening everywhere. Saying you are doing more isn't enough when the national scale of this is potentially massive.

[Riggo-toni]

 

 

[Riggo-toni]

[China]

Texas priest disappears amid molestation allegations

 

A Texas priest who's accused of molesting teens and stealing from his parish has gone missing.

 

St. Cecilia Catholic Church officials believe the Rev. Edmundo Paredes may have fled to his native country of the Philippines, The Dallas Morning news reported . He'd been a pastor at the church for 27 years.

 

Dallas police have found the sexual abuse allegations to be credible, said Bishop Edward Burns. Paredes is no longer allowed to function or present himself as a priest, he said.

 

The information follows a recent report from Pennsylvania that said more than 1,000 had been abused by the clergy since the 1940s.

 

The Catholic Church is hiring private investigators to find Paredes, Burns said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]