Pope Benedict (Ratzinger) involved in Child Rape Cover-up

Ten years ago in America, the Catholic Church was hit with multiple scandals of child rape by Ordained Priests. Recently the Dutch have had the beginnings of their own version of this, followed by Brazil and the rest of Europe seems to be following fast on their heels.  The New York Times broke news this week that Pope Benedict (formerly Cardinal Ratzinger) played a heavy hand in dismissing a Wisconsin case against a priest who had raped over 200 deaf boys at the religious school where he ministered.

The American priest Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy worked at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin from 1950-1974.  During that time he raped and sexually mollested over 200 students. The Catholic Church was slow to consider repremand for Rev. Murphy and began proceedings to investigate Murphy only after threats of a public lawsuit from a victim hit the Vatican.  Proceedings for a secret canonical trial began and Murphy was liable to be defrocked.  Murphy wrote a pleading letter to Cardinal Ratzinger begging not to be dismissed saying that he was old and had repented of his “sins”.  There is no record of a response from Ratzinger, but the trial was immediate suspended after Murphy wrote this letter to Ratzinger.

Instead of being disciplined, Father Murphy was quietly moved by Archbishop William E. Cousins of Milwaukee to the Diocese of Superior in northern Wisconsin in 1974, where he spent his last 24 years working freely with children in parishes, schools and, as one lawsuit charges, a juvenile detention center. He died in 1998, still a priest. – NYTimes

Ratzinger’s role in dismissing and moving around Murphy is disturbing at best.  Even more shocking is the mentality that if a man who rapes over 200 deaf boys simply confesses his “sins” to an mythical god, this is enough to let him slip by without consequence.  The Catholic Confessional stands as the proverbial slate washer that apparently dismisses ordained priests from facing the consequences of ruining so many young lives.

The Catholic Priesthood is breeding grounds for child rape.  First, the priesthood attracts gay men because it is offered as the only viable vocation for a gay Catholic teenage boy.  Studying in the seminary, living with other gay men does not help their situation either.  Secondly, the Catholic Church requires all their followers (but especially priests and nuns) to refrain completely from masturbation.(1)  This unnatural request leads to a sexual build up that is truly unhealthy when trying to live a life without the opportunity for sexual release.  Sexual release through masturbation or sexual intercourse is a natural need of the human body.  Wet dreams are the body’s way of satisfying this need if it is not dutifully taken care of.  Thirdly, when you combine homophobia and this unhealthy view of masturbation and sex with settings where priests are in unsupervised contact with young naive children (who are not taught about sex and masturbation) you end up with a lethal cocktail of child rape.

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1. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: #2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. “Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.”¹³⁷ “The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.” For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of “the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved.”

Other sources: Slate The Great Catholic Cover-up