Court: Probe found over 300 'predator priests' in 6 dioceses

[Suppressed]

Court: Probe found over 300 'predator priests' in 6 dioceses
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press Jul 27, 2018 Updated 10 hrs ago   

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A landmark grand jury report identifies more than 300 "predator priests" in six of Pennsylvania's Roman Catholic dioceses, the state Supreme Court said Friday in ordering the findings released.

The justices said the report on clergy child sexual abuse going back decades and allegations of cover-up efforts will be made public but without the names or "individual specific information" of priests and others who have challenged the findings, at least in the initial version to be released.

The court wants the redaction process to be completed by Aug. 8, when the 900-page report is expected to be made public. If there are disputes about what a court-appointed special master should black out, the report will go out the following week.

The Supreme Court said it will consider the challenges by some priests and others who say their constitutional rights to their reputations and to due process of law are being violated, based on not being able to address the grand jury.

[...]

https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/court-probe-found-over-predator-priests-in-dioceses/article_a3226473-7bc3-5f01-b2af-9985dc312828.html

[Absalom]

From the Roman Empire to the French Enlightenment, the Roman Catholic
Church was a bulwark/foundation of the social/civil order across Europe.
Then the Papacy began its fateful acceptance of the material, which over
time, morphed into an embrace and its selection of Popes reflected this.
The results are plain for all to see, w/a Church led by an embarrassment
who, at best, is a dubious Catholic and where homosexuality within the
Clergy is rampant!!!

[Silver Pines]

From the Roman Empire to the French Enlightenment, the Roman Catholic
Church was a bulwark/foundation of the social/civil order across Europe.
Then the Papacy began its fateful acceptance of the material, which over
time, morphed into an embrace and its selection of Popes reflected this.
The results are plain for all to see, w/a Church led by an embarrassment
who, at best, is a dubious Catholic and where homosexuality within the
Clergy is rampant!!!

@Absalom, hi, and welcome to TBR!

[Fishrrman]

Considering the leftist tilt of the PA Supreme Court lately (remember their ruling re redistricting of a couple months' back?), I wouldn't give to much weight to anything coming out of there right now...

[mountaineer]

I just came across an interesting series of posts on Twitter. Not being a Roman Catholic, I can't imagine how upsetting recent events might be to parishioners. This woman tries to explain.

Shannon Last    @shannon_last

As most of you know from my LOUD FEED, I have been YELLING A LOT in rage and scorn over the past week—at @Cardinal_Wuerl, the @WashArchdiocese, the @USCCB, and a couple of writers at a couple of unabashedly partisan publications.
7:02 PM - 29 Jul 2018

It's been very hard to process the enormity of betrayal at the hands of Cardinal McCarrick and his brother bishops—the very hands that day after day consecrated the blood and wine and brought the Lord to His flock.

My mood has shifted between grief and fury. Each time I hear "open secret" or read carefully worded statements about strengthening policies and procedures, I want to run into the temples and start turning over the tables, if no one else will.

All this reading and raging and weeping started to feel counterproductive and physically unhealthy. So I emailed my pastors, both of whom are good, holy, overburdened priests. And I asked them to prayerfully consider speaking about this during Mass today.

We had an incredibly raw, honest exchange of views about the best way to handle it, and I think we all learned a few things. Their first concern was not about guarding the Church's reputation (which is in tatters anyway).

They expressed concern about "re-opening wounds" for those affected by abuse, grooming, assault—whether inside or outside the Church. One expressed uneasiness about talking openly when there are so many kids in church, not wanting to raise uncomfortable questions for parents.

I appreciated both concerns. I explained that as a speechwriter I spend a lot of time thinking through ways to say difficult things in ways that will resonate with the right people at the right time, and offered some advice on how I, as a mom, would appreciate hearing it.

Parents can decide whether/when to have those conversations, but the priest is there to be a disruptor, not to avoid painful truths. We are not Catholics because it is easy to live and preach the gospel.

As to the first concern, I shared that it was inevitable that this scandal has reopened wounds—but to the extent they are open, it's because they never truly close. Hearing one's priest say forcefully *I stand with you and I will protect you* is balm for those wounds.

In the many conversations I've had this week with priests and laypeople, I have been struck that so many of us feel like the crowds in last week's gospel: "When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them. For they were like sheep without a shepherd."

It's devastating that there are  many who will remain broken, and many others who won't come near the Church now. There can be no trust without transparency. There can be no renewal without acknowledgment of the crushing failure and sin of church leadership.

What I told our priests was this: The faithful need to hear from their good, holy priests who still have credibility. We need to hear that you are on OUR side. That we and our families are the ones you are committed to sheltering and protecting.

That we can trust you and your brothers with our children when we send them to RE and to be altar servers and to Catholic schools and to seminary. That you stand with us against these sins—these crimes—that cry out for justice.

That the majority of our shepherds would never rationalize, excuse, side with, or be silent in the face of such abuse. That they will instead rise up with the laity, root out this evil, and renew the Church.

I am blessed to have two wonderful priests. My pastor stood up this morning and began his homily by reading part of the letter from @BpOlsonFW, and then spoke from the heart, echoing my heart. It was balm for my soul and I trust for many others.

So what I have learned so far is this: If you can find the courage, ask your priest to talk about this. There is nothing to be gained from them changing/avoiding the subject, even if their intentions are to keep people from being further traumatized. That ship has sailed.

But we are all in the other boat together, and must trust that Christ will calm the stormy sea. “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid,” He told us in Matthew 14. And to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

"After they got into the boat, the wind died down."

I think I am done. And I will try my best to pray more, trust more, and yell less. Twitter has enough righteous anger (and the other kinds) without MY AGGRESSIVE ALL CAPS BISHOP TWEETING.

[goodwithagun]

@Mrs Don-o has the stats down by heart, but I’ll paraphrase her: These issues are equal to those in other Christian denominations. This article is frightening, and it’s equally frightening that it is happening everywhere.

[darroll]

Sad,
It's just like the I'll buy you a boys school story.
Our kids are being watched everywhere and the sick'o's are there.

[dfwgator]

Wonder how much Jerry Sandusky knows about this?

I still find it highly convenient that Sandusky got locked away without taking anybody else with him.

[goodwithagun]

Wonder how much Jerry Sandusky knows about this?

I still find it highly convenient that Sandusky got locked away without taking anybody else with him.

And not locked up in general pop . . .

[mountaineer]

In Light of Perverted Priest Problem, Cardinal Baldiserri’s “LGBT” Language is Terrible Timing
By Jennifer Roback Morse Published on July 31, 2018


We might as well call it the Perverted Priest Problem. Some men of homosexual inclinations are using their place within the Catholic Church to gratify themselves sexually. More disgusting than Cardinal McCarrick’s behavior is the widespread network of prelates who must have been covering for him. But even these men aren’t the whole story.

The very day the news about Cardinal McCarrick broke, the Vatican released the working document for the upcoming Synod on Youth.It used the “LGBT” acronym, the first such use in a Vatican document. This shows that high-ranking prelates are running interference for people like McCarrick.

As everyone knows by now, the Vatican removed Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from ministry, due to credible allegations that he abused a minor 47 years ago. As events have unfolded, more credible witnesses have accused the cardinal, each more revolting than the last.

Compared with horror of this magnitude, vocabulary in a Church document may seem like a trivial matter. But these two issues are related. Ideas matter. Words matters.  ...   More at Stream.org

[Absalom]

In Light of Perverted Priest Problem, Cardinal Baldiserri’s “LGBT” Language is Terrible Timing
By Jennifer Roback Morse Published on July 31, 2018


We might as well call it the Perverted Priest Problem. Some men of homosexual inclinations are using their place within the Catholic Church to gratify themselves sexually. More disgusting than Cardinal McCarrick’s behavior is the widespread network of prelates who must have been covering for him. But even these men aren’t the whole story.

The very day the news about Cardinal McCarrick broke, the Vatican released the working document for the upcoming Synod on Youth.It used the “LGBT” acronym, the first such use in a Vatican document. This shows that high-ranking prelates are running interference for people like McCarrick.

As everyone knows by now, the Vatican removed Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from ministry, due to credible allegations that he abused a minor 47 years ago. As events have unfolded, more credible witnesses have accused the cardinal, each more revolting than the last.

Compared with horror of this magnitude, vocabulary in a Church document may seem like a trivial matter. But these two issues are related. Ideas matter. Words matters.  ...   More at Stream.org

-------------------------------
Indeed the issue/matter is far greater than trivial, as attitude and behavior lie at its core.
A cardinal precept of the Natural Law is that the family unit is the linchpin of culture,
of society and therefore civilization; a notion first articulated more than 10,000 years
ago in the Fertile Crescent.
We do not need any religion to affirm this truism, as it is intuitive; yet we do need a
religion as profound and powerful as Roman Catholicism to support it, by actively
opposing the acceptance of homosexuality, as destructive of the family unit and
ultimately civilization.This it has not done to its eternal  shame.