Lists of Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse Are Spilling Out Across the Country

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

Lists of Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse Are Spilling Out Across the Country

By Campbell Robertson
Dec. 14, 2018

-snip-

But then on Dec. 3, Mr. Bailey got a call from a local reporter. It was up, on the diocesan website. Fifty-seven priests. None were still in ministry and most were deceased, including, there on Page 4, the priest who had repeatedly raped Mr. Bailey when he was not yet a teenager.

As the Catholic Church faces a wave of federal and state attorney general investigations into its handling of sex abuse, bishops around the country have struggled with how to react. Some have locked down defensively. Others are waiting on guidance from the Vatican, which instructed American bishops last month to wait on taking any collective action until the new year.

But dozens of bishops have decided to take action by releasing lists of the priests in their dioceses who were credibly accused of abuse. And they are being released at an unprecedented pace.

The disclosures have trickled out week by week — 10 names in Gaylord, Mich.; 28 in Las Cruces, N.M.; 28 in Ogdensburg, N.Y.; 15 in Atlanta; 34 in San Bernardino, Calif., among many others. All 15 dioceses in Texas have agreed to release lists. Last week, the leaders of two major Jesuit provinces, covering nearly half of the states, released the names of more than 150 members of the order “with credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/us/catholic-priests-sexual-abuse-lists.html

[MineralMan]

1. Every diocese has such a list. That's because every diocese

has had priests who have sexually molested children. That is what we are learning from this new, forced transparency. Were it not for Attorneys General and other law enforcement people finally getting off the stick and demanding such information, it would still be hidden. It was all hidden for decades by the self-protecting church hierarchy.

I can see no good solution for this, except perhaps shutting the entire thing down until measures have been put in place that would immediately turn over any reports of such offences to local law enforcement.

There is no reason for bishops and archbishops to be confused about what they should do. There is no need to wait for instructions from the Vatican, which has its own history of hidden abuses around the world. In a fair world, this long standing and ever-present scandal should mean the end of the entire institution on a global basis.

Shut It Down!

[marylandblue]

2. Well it's not going to be shut down, I'd settle for a Sunshine Commission

Set up by the church to gather and publicize all the evidence, make new rules for transparency, and operate a compensation fund.

[MineralMan]

3. Perhaps it won't be - for now.

How many dioceses and archdioceses around the world filing for bankruptcy will it take to finally bankrupt the entire system? It is already morally bankrupt, so financial bankruptcy seems an end that is completely justified.

The process won't be immediate, of course. But, as the churches and cathedrals empty and the donations stop flowing, it will compound the financial damage. I believe that only a complete shutdown will end this kind of abuse of children. There appears to be no commitment to change on the part of the Vatican. Only a hollow set of apologies and promises from the Pope, who appears to think that demoting offending Cardinals to lower positions serves as adequate punishment.

I'm sorry, but what has happened and what is being exposed now and will be exposed in the future should spell the end for the Roman Catholic Church as a viable voice for the Christian religion.

Shut It All Down!

[marylandblue]

4. It's been around for 2,000 years, so I am not ready to count it out yet

It made it through the Reformation, it can make it through this. But it took over 30 years for them to respond to Luther, so i won't be holding my breath.

[MineralMan]

5. I think it's way past its "use by" date.

Into the bag under the sink with it!

[marylandblue]

6. "2,000 years and no new God!" -Nietzsche

Nietzsche was ahead of his time.

[MineralMan]

7. "And where's the old god. We were promised a return." - MineralMan

I'm a man of my time - today. And, as every good Christian knows, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Or they should know that, anyhow. As always, I recommend that every Christian read the entire Gospel According to Matthew at least once a year.

[Nitram]

8. An international database should be compiled.

This would help prevent crimes by priests who are still actively preying on youth.

[MineralMan]

9. Yes, and make it public and searchable on the Internet.

PedoPriestFinder.com, perhaps.

[Nitram]

10. Absolutely.

[Act_of_Reparation]

11. My old diocese released one.

The priest in charge of the altar boy program while I was in it is listed as credibly-accused.

I really dodged a bullet there. Some other people, I would later learn, were not as lucky.

[MineralMan]

12. I think many people will find that they just dodged a bullet,

once these lists are released. That might help bring this all home and make it more personal.

[keithbvadu2]

13. More pederast/pedophile priests... It's not even a surprise anymore.

More pederast/pedophile priests... It's not even a surprise anymore.