Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Yet More U.S. Catholic Bishops Hypocrisy

For an institution whose top leaders worldwide ought to almost all be under prosecution for the obstruction of justice and/or as accessories to the sexual molestation of children and youths, the Roman Catholic bishops in the United States continue to display unbelievable hypocrisy and disingenuousness. Two news stories display the warped values of these nasty old men: (1) the USCCB is promoting a new anti-gay statement entitled "The Protection of Marriage: A Shared Commitment," and (2) a Yahoo News story with the headline: Top Catholic educator concealed abuse knowledge." In the later story, the cleric involved is currently the second highest ranking member of the De La Salle Christian Brothers. The forcible raping and molestation of children is fine with the U.S. Catholic bishops - unless, of course, the secret gets out to the media - while committed consensual same sex relationships between consenting adults are not. It's beyond f*cked up!! But sadly, that is the reality of the Catholic Church even if millions of sheeple want to close their eyes to the truth. First, details on the latest USCCB bullshit:
*
In an open letter released today, entitled “The Protection of Marriage: A Shared Commitment,” leaders from Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Evangelical . . . . in the United States affirmed the importance of preserving marriage’s unique meaning.
*
“The broad consensus reflected in this letter—across great religious divides—is clear: The law of marriage is not about imposing the religion of anyone, but about protecting the common good of everyone,” said Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, newly elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and one of the letter’s signers.
*
Today is the moment to stand for marriage and its unchangeable meaning. We hope this letter will encourage just that,” Archbishop Dolan said. “The Protection of Marriage: A Shared Commitment” is being circulated nationwide.
*
OK. Committed, consensual adult same sex relationships bad. But the rape of children and youths? It's apparently okay, unless the media gets wise to the story, based on these highlights from Yahoo News:
*
Kevin Price was struggling with memories of the sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a high school teacher, so he reached out to the religious order that runs the Catholic school he attended.
*
De La Salle Christian Brothers, which educates more than 1 million students around the world, apologized for Price's pain and sought to reassure him. The order's Midwest leader said the brother in question had been forbidden from contact with anyone under 18 and was working in a prison.
*
But in a 1995 letter obtained by The Associated Press, the leader neglected to mention something: The prison was for males from age 10 to 21. The writer of that letter, Brother Thomas Johnson, is now the second-ranking official in the worldwide order. . . . In fact, 21 men have filed lawsuits against Rose in cases dating back to the 1960s. Four of the suits were filed last month.
*
[T]his much is certain: The order was well aware that Rose was not supposed to be working with children — which is more than Minnesota prison officials said they knew when they hired him a year before the letter was written.
*
[Brother Thomas] Johnson is now the order's vicar general and is based at its headquarters in Rome. He did not respond to an e-mail from the AP. The man who succeeded him as the order's Midwest leader, Brother Francis Carr, said Johnson and other Christian Brothers could not be interviewed.
*
Many of Rose's accusers say the order responded to sex-abuse allegations simply by shuffling him from job to job — at Catholic high schools in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and California.
*
The Christian Brothers in 2004 paid $1.1 million to a former student at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., where Rose taught in the early 1980s. The student was among several at the school who alleged molestation by Rose. The $1.1 million was part of a $6.3 million settlement that also involved allegations against two other former teachers.
*
Most of the plaintiffs interviewed by the AP declined to discuss their settlements, though Paul Mehl of Fargo, N.D., said he got $50,000 from the Christian Brothers. Several said they were disappointed the settlement didn't include a strong statement of responsibility from leaders of the order.
*
The prison fired Rose days after learning of previous abuse allegations against him.
*
It's an indictment of the Church and the Christian Brothers order that the prison immediately fired Rose while the order never did so - nor did they report the known abuse to the criminal authorities. Why does ANYONE continue to give any deference to this morally bankrupt monsters?

No comments: