Each day seems to bring more evidence that Pope Benedict XVI is up to his eyeballs in cover ups and mishandling of sexual predator priests. Yet the Catholic Church hierarchy still is in denial and trying to play the victim card. Now, more have called for what I have believed was the only solution for a number of years now: all high clerics who enabled and/or covered up for the sexual abuse of children and youths need to be purged from the Church hierarchy. And that would seem to include Benedict XVI himself. Absent a mass purge of those who permitted the wanton abuse of children and youth, I see no way for the Catholic Church to regain moral credibility by not only many Catholics and also many others around the world. First, new evidence on Benedict XVI's dirty hands via the Huffington Post:*
The abuse cases of two priests in Arizona have cast further doubt on the Catholic church's insistence that Pope Benedict XVI played no role in shielding pedophiles before he became pope. Documents reviewed by The Associated Press show that as a Vatican cardinal, the future pope took over the abuse case of the Rev. Michael Teta of Tucson, Ariz., then let it languish at the Vatican for years despite repeated pleas from the bishop for the man to be removed from the priesthood.
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In another Tucson case, that of Msgr. Robert Trupia, the bishop wrote to then-Cardinal Ratzinger, who would become pope in 2005. Bishop Manuel Moreno called Trupia "a major risk factor to the children, adolescents and adults that he many have contact with." There is no indication in the case files that Ratzinger responded. The details of the two cases come as other allegations emerge that Benedict – as a Vatican cardinal – was part of a culture of cover-up and confidentiality.
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There's no doubt that Ratzinger delayed the defrocking process of dangerous priests who were deemed 'satanic' by their own bishop," Lynne Cadigan, an attorney who represented two of Teta's victims, said Friday. . . . It took 12 years from the time Ratzinger assumed control of the case in a signed letter until Teta was formally removed from ministry, a step only the Vatican can take.
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"The tragedy is that the bishops have only two choices: Follow the Vatican's code of secrecy and delay, or leave the church," Cadigan, the victims' lawyer, said Friday. "It's unfortunate that their faith demands that they sacrifice children to follow the Vatican's directions."
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Obviously, the more that Benedict XVI denies responsibility as more evidence of nonfeasance and/or malfeasance, the worse it will be when the evidence hits a critical mass and can no longer be controlled. Meanwhile, Roland Martin has a timely op-ed at CNN that goes to the heart of the matter and calls for a purge of clerics involved in the cover ups. Here are some highlights:
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And frankly, I'm sick of some officials of the Catholic Church playing the victim. We don't need to hear another priest, bishop, cardinal or even Vatican official decrying the constant news stories that reveal the depth of the sins committed against boys by these sexual predators masquerading as men of the cloth.
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The reality is that had these deplorable priests been prosecuted for their crimes (some were) other church officials would have been liable for obstruction of justice, for hiding the evidence, for shuffling priests from one parish to another, depositing them in homes for spiritual healing and renewal and doing everything to keep the sordid details under wraps.
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[T]he real issue is trust. When the church protects these priestly predators, they are aiding and abetting them. Instead, the Catholic Church should do like Jesus, who turned over the tables and threw out the money-changers. He needed to root evil out of the synagogues. The church must remove every priest, bishop or cardinal who turned a blind eye and allowed this to fester, even if it means cutting all ties with them.
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