…from Press TV, Tehran
[ Editor’s Note: I find it amazing that lay Catholics have sat on their asses and just endured being quasi-servants to an international pedophile ring. But that I don’t mean of course that all of the priesthood were pedophiles, but that they were either pedophiles or “aider and abettors”, and I use that terminology for a specific reason.
We have had US statutes on the books regarding what qualifies as criminal abuse against children. The clearest case to use as an example is the stepfather shacking up with down trodden mother and daughter.
If the mother knows her child is being abused, but does not want to report is as she will lose her meal ticket, she is charged with a Class A felony along with the new hubby or boyfriend.
This statute can grab anyone that could be proven to have known what was going on and did not report it, and thus were guilty of aiding and abetting of the abuse continuing. This was considered as horrendous an act as the primary abuser.
Enter stage left, the Catholic priesthood, who I can assure you always knew what was going on, including all of those at the top. Yet in the US, where we have this statute, it was never broadly used, nor was the RICO statute of running “an ongoing criminal enterprise”.
In fact, all those involved in pushing that problem into civil settlement versus the criminal charges they deserved, a case could be made that they were aiding and abetting themselves.
The proof of that is in the historical record that the Vatican continued it attempts to hide the extant of this crime against humanity, which it was do to its size and longevity. Catholic priests have been abusing children since the beginning.
So my advice to all lay Catholics is to do what you should have done ages ago, put the Vatican into receivership for its horrendous history of sexual abuse and take over your church from top to bottom, clean house and run it yourselves. You can hire and fire priests as needs and run the organization from the top down as many other have done, where at least in scale have not abused children as much.
Here in the US the main problem with the Protestants has been the “youth directors”, some of whom just could not resist the cute teen girls.
When caught, neither the parents or the church wanted the matter public so how it was usually handled, was to copy of what the Catholic Church did, they just moved the offender to another church far away and threatened eternal damnation if they ever did it again.
I know this as I had a close friend, getting divorced from a Protestant minister, (yes he had girl friends all around his region that he picked up in his travels). She had, on her own, hardwired a tap on their house phone with the recorder up in the attic, and he had a pattern of calling his girl friends whenever she went out.
While this was going on she was privy to their own church handling a “youth director” problem, like the phone calls where the decision was made that “if you take our bad apple, we will take one of yours”. Of course they would threaten the offenders that they were only getting one free pass.
So again to all you lay Catholics out there, take over your church and run it, where you hire and fire priests as you need or want, or use lay priests, and turn the Vatican into a historical-tourist attraction and have control over all of its assets and archives.
There is no telling what you will find in there, built on the bones of millions of Catholics who surrendered their church to what today can be viewed as an ongoing criminal enterprise with decade after decade of worldwide child abuse.
This is not a concept that I am inventing out of thin air, but a felony statute created to deal with large organized criminal activity. Leaving the fixing of this problem in the hands of the molesters could be viewed as criminal negligence in itself. Let me know what you think in the comments… Jim W. Dean ]
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– First published … March 14, 2019 –
An increasing percentage of Catholics in the United States are re-examining their commitment to the religion as more allegations of sexual abuse by priests are being revealed, according to a new poll.
Some 37 percent of US Catholics say news of the sex abuse of young people by priests has led them to question whether they would remain in the church, a Gallup poll released Wednesday finds.
Gallup said the figure was 22 percent in 2002, when the church was dealing with a similar crisis in the US.
The last time Gallup polled about this was 2002 after The Boston Globe newspaper reported on widespread abuse by Catholic priests in the Boston area and church leaders’ efforts to prevent the abuse from becoming public knowledge.
Gallup’s latest findings show that the current scandal is affecting US Catholics more than the one in 2002 did.
A significant number of both practicing and nonpracticing Catholics say they are considering leaving the church but those less committed to their religion are more likely to be questioning it, the survey found.
Whereas 46 percent of Catholics who seldom or never attend church say they have questioned whether they would remain in the faith, 37 percent of those who attend church on a monthly basis and 22 percent who attend weekly say the same.
Amid the latest scandal, about one in four US Catholics say they have very little or no confidence in US bishops and other Catholic leaders. Only 40 percent of US Catholics say they have a “great deal” of confidence in Pope Francis.
Less than a third of Catholics in the United States regard priests as honest and ethical, according to a new poll.
Since the first high-profile abuse allegations against Catholic priests emerged in 2002 in Boston, many similar cases have rocked the Church, and 2018 brought another wave of such charges.
The credibility of the Catholic Church hierarchy sank last year after new reports of old sexual abuse and cover-up were uncovered in the US, Chile and elsewhere and implicated Pope Francis himself.
Mathew Schmalz, an expert on the Church and religious studies professor at the College of The Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, says the Church may never regain its lost credibility.
In January, a former Catholic priest who had admitted to sexually abusing boys in Pennsylvania was sentenced to up to 14 years in prison – the second clergyman to be jailed in the wake of the state’s sex misconduct report.
Former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was expelled by Pope Francis from the Roman Catholic priesthood in February after he was found guilty of sexual crimes against teenage boys and adult males, according to the Vatican.
McCarrick, 88, who resigned from the Vatican’s College of Cardinals in July, became the first Roman Catholic bishop in nearly 100 years to lose the title of cardinal for sex abuse.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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JohnZ people use DENIAL it is easier to deny than admit or speak out in TRUTH and now we are seeing the New World Order put the TRUTH on trial as it is in many countries forbidden to speak the TRUTH !
Take Another Piece Of My Heart was recorded by Erma Franklin, you know her younger sister. Janice Joplin had some success with the song.
Perhaps what must be addressed is the financial stress defending pedophile priests has placed on the Church. My home Parish has placed three churches on the market for sale. Good Shepherd on Marley Creek was literally built by the Parishoners Led by Fr. John L Kelly. My 86 and 87 year old parents are beside themselves. It’s truly sad. even if you have left the Church for idealogical reasons. You don’t wish it harm. I still work at events such as Bingo fundraisers and diners for the homeless. Why not. But people are leaving; looking for better Catholic Communities.
Social acceptance and social interaction is separate from spirituality. When the two are conjoined for purpose of economics, it is corrupt. Weddings and funerals are best led by the strongest of the family that is affected, unless the family has a priest, who is not of religion, but of connection.
The corruption has evolved from a capitalist agenda taking hold of the place of spiritual connection.
The ones who have connection are the ones who have no agenda but the people. No hierarchy in the church can claim this now. They are a den of thieves and vipers. How much more evidence do people need ?
You are a smart man. What place has the church other than profit ? And misleading the good people ?
Well David, celebrating birth, death , marriage, holidays and all those Sundays in ordinary time, I guess. I don’t go to Mass any more. I gave up ritual cannibalism for Lent. But being a Past Grand Knight in a Catholic family; sometimes I bump into stuff. And I like doing charity work
Please listen, my brothers and sisters , religion changes, but original intention does not. The knowledge of time demonstrates, that religion comes and goes. It is tradition and practice of ceremony that is clung to. During the changes.
Those who benefit from your attachment to familiarity, are the priests of today and the cardinals and the popes. Their riches are vast and yours are not. Their knowledge is vast and yours are not.
Connection to the divine is through the pure heart. In the times of changes, cling to your pure heartedness. The primary message is, defend and protect the weak and unable. Religion is not your friend when the the changes come,…. as what are they but , repetitions and spells to keep the sheep gathered into a group for whatever purpose. Not usually a good cause.
Do not mistake your benevolence for their intention. Listen to your inner voice and your heart. Leaders of religions, are prone to money and agenda. This is way past due to be reconciled. Accept no substitutes , to your own center of heart. There is no text for that. No scripture, no record. It is now.
“…has been the “youth directors” who just can’t resist the cute teen girls…” – JWD
Interesting choice of the word “resist”. I have seen enough of these interactions (only the part that occurs in public spaces, mind you) that often it is the teen girl who is the initiator (if the adult male is between the ages of about 20 to 35) – but society and parents in particular remain in denial about human behavior. Quite unlike pedophilia (which by definition is a sexual attraction to prepubescent children) – no prepubescent child is ever going to make sexual advances towards an adult unless he/she has been trained by perverted parents/guardians to do so (said training may be even more damaging to the child than the sexual act itself).
I should point out that teen girls will not be attracted to nasty old men such as Donald Trump and Alan Dershowitz, and any sexual relationship would be out of coercion or desperation for money (which is simply another form or coercion).
And in Australia here just the other day Cardinal George Pell who used to be the Archbishop of Australia, a revered priest well liked and respected by even politicians in Australia, was found guilty on 2 counts of sexual abuse against two boys back in the 90’s. He got 6 years. He was 3rd ranking in the Vatican, he was their treasurer. Why on earth do the leaders of the world allow this vile group to exist? Hmm I think we all know why don’t we?
Over the last decade or so the laws have changed in so many ways even to point the accusation at someone could be called a “Hate Crime ” until substantial evidence says otherwise . On another issue of the churches in the West standing behind the pulpit can be anyone of an unnatural practice or sexual behavior it doesnt matter anymore the homo or queer or whatever or ? Can now become a Preacher or Teacher and do ?? This is also driving people not just out of the church but other ideas that were once accepted as the Truth and that is the false doctrine of Judeo/Christianity . Slowly more and more churches in some regions have said enough is too much and this is becoming unacceptable as also more westerners of European descent are finding their way back to Paganism ……
Leaving religion or simlpy leaving this church ?
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