Every 10 years the media re-discovers the Catholic church’s campaign to cover up child rape that occurs in their ranks. Typically, interest in holding the church’s feet to the fire wanes and the national media forgets about them for a time. This round, however involves the top dog Pope Benedict. Prior to being elected Pope, Benedict (known as Cardinal Ratzinger) was head of a disciplinary department for wayward priests. Dealing with child rape cases was in his job description and he arguably knows more about the intricacies of the cover up than any other Cardinal or Bishop alive today.
New developments on this front come rapid fire. So here is a brief overview of the last week:
Connecticut Bishops fight sex abuse bill (April.11.2010)
Connecticut legislature is proposing a bill that would remove the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse cases. Conneticut Law currently limits sexual abuse victims 30 years past their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit. The proposed change to the law would rescind that statute of limitations, allowing child abuse victims to sue beyond their 48th birthday.
Considering that many previously quiet victims are around the age of 50, the church in conneticut has taken a very vocal stance against this proposal. Signed by the bishops of Conneticut, a letter posted on their website suggests that this new law would put “all Church institutions, including your parish, at risk.” This leads us to wonder… how many pedophiles does the Connecticut church have in the closet? Are there so many child rape victims over the age of 48 that they fear bankruptcy?
Read more: CNN.com
Writing on the Wall: Pope’s signature attached to key letters (April.9.2010)
The Pope’s correspondence in postponing the defrocking of California Priest Rev Kiesle has be discovered linking him to the 5 year wait in defrocking the priest after he was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years probation for molesting two young boys. Ratzinger wrote that the “good of the universal church” needed to be considered when defrocking a priest, putting the interest of the church before the well being of the victims and Kiesle’s parishioners.
Via the BBC: “Rev Kiesle was sentenced to three years of probation in 1978 for lewd conduct with two young boys in San Francisco. It said the Oakland diocese had recommended Kiesle’s removal in 1981 but that that did not happen until 1987.
Cardinal Ratzinger took over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases, in 1981.
AP says the 1985 correspondence, written in Latin, shows Cardinal Ratzinger saying that Kiesle’s removal would need careful review.
Cardinal Ratzinger urged “as much paternal care as possible” for Kiesle.
Kiesle was sentenced to six years in prison in 2004 after admitting molesting a young girl in 1995.
Kiesle is now 63 and is on the registered sex offenders list in California.”
British Scientist Richard Dawkins threatens to arrest Pope Benedict (April.11.2010)
Outspoken Atheist and Biologist Richard Dawkins has set in motion the legal measures necessary to arrest Pope Benedict on his next visit to Britain.
Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.
The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.
Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations.
They have commissioned the barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, to present a justification for legal action. - timesonline.com
It is shocking how Catholics put the interest of one man, the Pope, above the interests of thousands of children who have been molested and silenced by the machine of the church. For those of us observing from outside the box, we think what their version of god must think of this scandal and cover up at the highest level. It certainly seems that Catholics value the personage of the Pope more than they value justice and moral consistency. The right thing to do in this case is to vote with your feet.
Recent Comments