LET US PREY
by Michael Hoffman
"Alas, Most Holy Father! At times obedience to you leads to eternal damnation.”
~ St. Catherine of Siena, Letter to Pope Gregory IX, A.D. 1376
~ St. Catherine of Siena, Letter to Pope Gregory IX, A.D. 1376
After all the papal rhetoric and the penitential scene in Dublin, Ireland in January where Catholic prelates dramatically “lay prostrate" on the floor of St. Mary’s Cathedral (in preference to the floor of a jail cell), to "show forth their profound remorse,” in an “act of contrition” which "went to unusual lengths to involve victims and to gaze unflinchingly at their suffering” ~ comes another can of worms, this one out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see report, below), to be followed, surely, by more rhetoric, lament and “unflinching gazes.”
The Roman Catholic Church is, in certain respects, especially at the top of the obelisk, a secret society, and shares with all other such fraternities, the lack of accountability which their secrecy affords.
This, together with cooperation from corrupt prosecutors (as in Los Angeles, where the notorious criminal Cardinal Roger Mahony was allowed to slither into luxurious retirement scott-free), and Boston (where the notorious criminal Cardinal Bernard Law was allowed to flee "south of the border” to luxurious outlaw refuge in Vatican City, where “Blessed Pope John Paul the Great” made him arch-priest of a basilica), guarantees that more Catholic boys will be preyed upon.
Why aren’t there thousands of protesting priests and nuns filling St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, like the crowds in Cairo and Tripoli, demanding that the Vatican molestation imperium be cleaned out with an iron broom, beginning with Pope Benedict himself?
The nauseating complacency from clerics, religious and laity is overwhelming testimony to systemic apathy and moral rot.
What could be worse than an institutionalized assault on the chastity of children, in the name of Jesus Christ’s Church, across decades, including, as in Ireland, long before Vatican Council II?
Many Catholics can’t face this as effectively and militantly as they should, because to do so would call into question keystones of the papal monarchy itself (and that’s what it is, an elected monarchy, with the pope as absolute sovereign and the clerical mafia that surrounds him serving as the royalty).
As in Orthodox Judaism, where clear lines of hierarchical distinction are drawn between the superior Holy People and the inferior gentiles, a traditional Catholic priest once divulged to this writer the secret gnosis that was imparted to him, that the souls of priests are higher than those of all other souls in God’s eyes, due to their ordination as priests.
On the basis of that erroneous theology, on Sept. 8, 2001, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, in his office as "Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy” with oversight of priests worldwide, wrote a letter to a French bishop congratulating him for protecting a molester-priest from the French police. Hoyos called Bishop Pierre Pican of Bayeux-Lisieux in northern France, a model for all bishops for his handling of the case:
"You have acted well and I am pleased to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son and priest.”
(Cardinal Hoyos defended himself by saying that his letter to Bishop Pican was sent at the behest of Blessed Pope John Paul the Great).
The “higher souled” priest who preyed on youth, could not be exposed to the kind of negative publicity and prosecution that you or I would face if we were found guilty of these heinous acts; hence, the superior-souled priest must be shielded, Hoyos ruled.
Cardinal Hoyos remains a hero to traditional Catholics and he has been defended from the controversy which his letter generated by traditional Bishop Bernard Fellay. Hoyos is President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which was allegedly formed for for the regularization of the Latin Tridentine Mass. He is currently honored with the post of "Cardinal-Priest of SS. Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano."
In advocating a cover-up, Hoyos exhibited the operating logic of every freemasonry, every synagogue and every mafia on earth that protects its guilty members. Until the cover-up policy is overthrown by a radical reform of Vatican bureaucratic secrecy, nothing will change with regard to Catholic child predation, except that the ritual gestures and malarkey from the pope (who seated Mahony in a place of honor during the recent papal visit to the cathedral at Washington D.C.), will increase in melodrama and frequency.
It is too bad that prosecutors in the West have never once slapped the cuffs on a child predation-facilitating bishop or cardinal and perp-walked him to jail with the cameras rolling. Maybe then, faced with life imprisonment, someone like Mahony would finally, for once in his life, stop lying, and someone like Bishop Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, would finally recover from his remarkable, prolonged amnesia about what parishioners testified to him concerning molester priests. Until then, the “princes” of the Church enjoy continued worldwide immunity from prosecution. Coincidence or conspiracy?
Until the Roman Catholic Church stops being a secret society, until priests are made aware that their souls are inherently no higher or better than the soul of any other sinner, and until cops, judges and prosecutors begin to do their jobs and enforce the law without favoritism, Catholic children will continue to be molested in the Church that bears the sacred name of Jesus Christ. What could be more demonic?
The “higher souled” priest who preyed on youth, could not be exposed to the kind of negative publicity and prosecution that you or I would face if we were found guilty of these heinous acts; hence, the superior-souled priest must be shielded, Hoyos ruled.
Cardinal Hoyos remains a hero to traditional Catholics and he has been defended from the controversy which his letter generated by traditional Bishop Bernard Fellay. Hoyos is President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which was allegedly formed for for the regularization of the Latin Tridentine Mass. He is currently honored with the post of "Cardinal-Priest of SS. Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano."
In advocating a cover-up, Hoyos exhibited the operating logic of every freemasonry, every synagogue and every mafia on earth that protects its guilty members. Until the cover-up policy is overthrown by a radical reform of Vatican bureaucratic secrecy, nothing will change with regard to Catholic child predation, except that the ritual gestures and malarkey from the pope (who seated Mahony in a place of honor during the recent papal visit to the cathedral at Washington D.C.), will increase in melodrama and frequency.
It is too bad that prosecutors in the West have never once slapped the cuffs on a child predation-facilitating bishop or cardinal and perp-walked him to jail with the cameras rolling. Maybe then, faced with life imprisonment, someone like Mahony would finally, for once in his life, stop lying, and someone like Bishop Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, would finally recover from his remarkable, prolonged amnesia about what parishioners testified to him concerning molester priests. Until then, the “princes” of the Church enjoy continued worldwide immunity from prosecution. Coincidence or conspiracy?
Until the Roman Catholic Church stops being a secret society, until priests are made aware that their souls are inherently no higher or better than the soul of any other sinner, and until cops, judges and prosecutors begin to do their jobs and enforce the law without favoritism, Catholic children will continue to be molested in the Church that bears the sacred name of Jesus Christ. What could be more demonic?
Hoffman’s writing and research are entirely reader-funded, through donations and the sale of his books, newsletters and broadcasts.
FEAR IN PHILADELPHIA
THAT ABUSIVE PRIESTS ARE STILL ACTIVE
By Katherine Q. Seelye
March 4, 2011
Philadelphia
Three weeks after a scathing grand jury report accused the Philadelphia Archdiocese of providing safe haven for as many as 37 priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior toward minors, most of those priests remain active in the ministry.
The possibility that even one predatory priest, not to mention three dozen, might still be serving in parishes ~ “on duty in the archdiocese today, with open access to new young prey,” as the grand jury put it ~ has unnerved many Roman Catholics here and sent the church reeling in the latest and one of the most damning episodes in the American church since it became engulfed in the sexual abuse scandal nearly a decade ago.
The extent of the scandal here, including a cover-up that the grand jury said stretched over many years, is so great that Philadelphia is “Boston reborn,” said David J. O’Brien, who teaches Catholic history at the University of Dayton, referring to the archdiocese where widespread sexual abuse exploded in public in 2002.
The possibility that even one predatory priest, not to mention three dozen, might still be serving in parishes ~ “on duty in the archdiocese today, with open access to new young prey,” as the grand jury put it ~ has unnerved many Roman Catholics here and sent the church reeling in the latest and one of the most damning episodes in the American church since it became engulfed in the sexual abuse scandal nearly a decade ago.
The extent of the scandal here, including a cover-up that the grand jury said stretched over many years, is so great that Philadelphia is “Boston reborn,” said David J. O’Brien, who teaches Catholic history at the University of Dayton, referring to the archdiocese where widespread sexual abuse exploded in public in 2002.
Some parishioners say they feel discouraged and are caught in a wave of anxiety, even as they continue to attend Mass. “It’s a tough day to be a faith-filled Catholic,” Maria Shultz, 43, a secretary at Immaculata University, said after Mass last weekend at St. Joseph’s Church in suburban Downingtown. But Mrs. Shultz, who has four daughters, expressed no doubt about how the church should deal with the 37 priests. “They should be removed immediately,” she said.
The church has not explained directly why these priests, most of whom were not publicly identified, are still active, though it is under intense pressure to do so. Cardinal Justin Rigali initially said there were no active priests with substantiated allegations against them, but six days later, he placed three of them, whose activities had been described in detail by the grand jury, on administrative leave. He also hired an outside lawyer, Gina Maisto Smith, a former assistant district attorney who had prosecuted child sexual assault cases for 15 years, to lead a re-examination of the cases.
“There is a tremendous sense of urgency here,” Mrs. Smith said in an interview this week at the archdiocese, where she said she and a team had been working around the clock, without interference from the church hierarchy. “They’ve given me the freedom and the independence to conduct a thorough review,” she said, with “unfettered access to files.” She added that announcements about her initial review would be coming “sooner rather than later.” “The urgency is to respond to that concern over the 37, what that means, how that number was derived and what to do in response to it,” she said.
Philadelphia is unusual in that the archdiocese has been the subject of not one but two grand jury reports. The first, in 2005, found credible accusations of abuse by 63 priests, whose activities had been covered up by the church. But there were no indictments, mainly because the statute of limitations had expired. This time, the climate is different.
When the grand jury issued its report on Feb. 10, the district attorney immediately indicted two priests, a parochial school teacher and one who had left the priesthood, on charges of rape He also indicted a high-ranking church official on charges of endangering the welfare of children ~ the first time the courts have reached into the church hierarchy in the sex scandal in the United States. (May God bless this prosecutor ~ Hoffman). All four are due in court on March 14.
When the archdiocese learns of reports of sexual abuse, it is now supposed to report them to the district attorney, which is what led to the most recent grand jury investigation. Extensions on the statute of limitations also made prosecutions possible this time. But even with these changes, some were surprised to see the grand jury paint a picture of a church where serious problems still festered. “The thing that is significant about Philadelphia is the assumption that the authorities had made changes and the system had been fixed,” said Terence McKiernan, the president of BishopAccountability.org, which archives documents from the abuse scandal in dioceses across the country. “But the headline is that in Philadelphia, the system is still broke.”
The grand jury said 20 of the active priests were accused of sexual abuse and 17 others were accused of “inappropriate behavior with minors.” In response, Cardinal Rigali issued a statement the day of the report, saying, “I assure all the faithful that there are no archdiocesan priests in ministry today who have an admitted or established allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against them.”
The church has not explained directly why these priests, most of whom were not publicly identified, are still active, though it is under intense pressure to do so. Cardinal Justin Rigali initially said there were no active priests with substantiated allegations against them, but six days later, he placed three of them, whose activities had been described in detail by the grand jury, on administrative leave. He also hired an outside lawyer, Gina Maisto Smith, a former assistant district attorney who had prosecuted child sexual assault cases for 15 years, to lead a re-examination of the cases.
“There is a tremendous sense of urgency here,” Mrs. Smith said in an interview this week at the archdiocese, where she said she and a team had been working around the clock, without interference from the church hierarchy. “They’ve given me the freedom and the independence to conduct a thorough review,” she said, with “unfettered access to files.” She added that announcements about her initial review would be coming “sooner rather than later.” “The urgency is to respond to that concern over the 37, what that means, how that number was derived and what to do in response to it,” she said.
Philadelphia is unusual in that the archdiocese has been the subject of not one but two grand jury reports. The first, in 2005, found credible accusations of abuse by 63 priests, whose activities had been covered up by the church. But there were no indictments, mainly because the statute of limitations had expired. This time, the climate is different.
When the grand jury issued its report on Feb. 10, the district attorney immediately indicted two priests, a parochial school teacher and one who had left the priesthood, on charges of rape He also indicted a high-ranking church official on charges of endangering the welfare of children ~ the first time the courts have reached into the church hierarchy in the sex scandal in the United States. (May God bless this prosecutor ~ Hoffman). All four are due in court on March 14.
When the archdiocese learns of reports of sexual abuse, it is now supposed to report them to the district attorney, which is what led to the most recent grand jury investigation. Extensions on the statute of limitations also made prosecutions possible this time. But even with these changes, some were surprised to see the grand jury paint a picture of a church where serious problems still festered. “The thing that is significant about Philadelphia is the assumption that the authorities had made changes and the system had been fixed,” said Terence McKiernan, the president of BishopAccountability.org, which archives documents from the abuse scandal in dioceses across the country. “But the headline is that in Philadelphia, the system is still broke.”
The grand jury said 20 of the active priests were accused of sexual abuse and 17 others were accused of “inappropriate behavior with minors.” In response, Cardinal Rigali issued a statement the day of the report, saying, “I assure all the faithful that there are no archdiocesan priests in ministry today who have an admitted or established allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against them.”
The phrasing spoke directly to the church’s policy of “zero tolerance” of priests who sexually abuse minors. If any active priests have such allegations against them, the policy calls for their suspension until the charges are resolved. Still, six days later, he placed three priests on administrative leave ~ a tacit acknowledgment that perhaps there were priests facing such accusations.
Leonard Norman Primiano, a Roman Catholic who heads the department of religious studies at Cabrini College in suburban Radnor, said he was surprised that the archdiocese had not moved more quickly to suspend the 37 priests, given the “zero tolerance” policy. “It’s astonishing that they wouldn’t be as vigilant about placing a priest in a parish on leave if there were any question about that priest’s activity,” he said, acknowledging that a suspension could be devastating for a priest who is falsely accused.
The uncertain fate of the 37 active priests, whose names the archdiocese turned over to the district attorney, all but guarantees a continuing spectacle here. So do the indictments, a flurry of civil suits against the church, the continued stepping forward of victims and the potential for courtroom drama.
Three weeks into the scandal, the archdiocese said it was not clear how much the revelations had hurt attendance at Mass and donations. Daniel E. Thomas, an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, said he had heard both sides: some parishioners were attending church more to pray for the victims and “the good priests, the faithful priests,” and some have told him, “We’re angry, we’re confused and we’re distressed.”
He also said that some priests had told him that donations were not down but that he was aware of “at least a few people who have said, ‘I’m not going to be giving to the church’ ” and that some were not fulfilling their pledges to give to the church’s capital campaign. He said money for the capital campaign goes specifically to help the church fulfill its charitable mission; it cannot go toward the defense of priests or legal fees, he said, and so only the poor, the sick and the needy would suffer if those donations dried up. (Jon Hurdle contributed reporting).
Leonard Norman Primiano, a Roman Catholic who heads the department of religious studies at Cabrini College in suburban Radnor, said he was surprised that the archdiocese had not moved more quickly to suspend the 37 priests, given the “zero tolerance” policy. “It’s astonishing that they wouldn’t be as vigilant about placing a priest in a parish on leave if there were any question about that priest’s activity,” he said, acknowledging that a suspension could be devastating for a priest who is falsely accused.
The uncertain fate of the 37 active priests, whose names the archdiocese turned over to the district attorney, all but guarantees a continuing spectacle here. So do the indictments, a flurry of civil suits against the church, the continued stepping forward of victims and the potential for courtroom drama.
Three weeks into the scandal, the archdiocese said it was not clear how much the revelations had hurt attendance at Mass and donations. Daniel E. Thomas, an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, said he had heard both sides: some parishioners were attending church more to pray for the victims and “the good priests, the faithful priests,” and some have told him, “We’re angry, we’re confused and we’re distressed.”
He also said that some priests had told him that donations were not down but that he was aware of “at least a few people who have said, ‘I’m not going to be giving to the church’ ” and that some were not fulfilling their pledges to give to the church’s capital campaign. He said money for the capital campaign goes specifically to help the church fulfill its charitable mission; it cannot go toward the defense of priests or legal fees, he said, and so only the poor, the sick and the needy would suffer if those donations dried up. (Jon Hurdle contributed reporting).
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