Recently I blogged about the fact that the Milwaukee Archdiocese had listed 8,000 instances of sex abuse in its bankruptcy case. Now after the U. S. Catholic Church bishops have helped spark a furor over the Obama administration's health insurance coverage regulations concerning contraception coverage, the Church may be about to get some just deserves. Nine members of the Wisconsin legislature are calling for a state investigation into the 8,000 instances of sex abuse listed in the Archdiocese's court filing. Oh, and did I mention that Archbishop Dolan of New York previously presided over the Milwaukee Archdiocese? I have long advocated that only criminal investigations by prosecutors and/or governmental investigators will bring the full crimes against children by Catholic clergy - and deliberately covered up by the Church hierarchy - to the light of day. One can only hope that a state investigation will be actually launched. Here are highlights from WSAU.com:
The sad truth is that the Catholic bishops and other members of the Church hierarchy long ago forfeited any right to deference or respect and now need to be investigated as the common criminals that some of them are in fact. Sexual crimes against children are heinous crimes and those who committed them as well as those who abetted and covered up for them need to be full exposed. If the Catholic Church is destroyed in the process, the blame falls on the hierarchy and the members of the laity who stuck their heads in the sand rather than demand not only the truth but accountability.
On the issue of contraception, a piece at Huffington Post well sums up what ought to be everyone's approach towards the U. S. Catholic bishops:
Nine Democratic state lawmakers have asked the Justice Department to investigate an attorney's claim that eight-thousand sex offenses were committed by people connected with the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese. At a court hearing last week, Jeff Anderson said up to 100 previously undisclosed offenders committed the crimes. If it's true, the legislators said it's nothing short of a "public safety crisis." And they said the hiding of the offenses might have resulted in hundreds of other abuses against children as well.
Justice spokeswoman Dana Brueck says the agency will review the lawmakers' request. Anderson made the allegation to a judge investigating compensation claims by over 570 victims of sex abuse by priests. Those claims were made as part of the church's Chapter-11 bankrtupcy reorganization. Peter Isley of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said he would welcome a Justice Department review.
The lawmakers seeking it are Senators Julie Lassa, Lena Taylor, Bob Jauch, and Jessica King -- and Representatives Sandy Pasch, Chris Taylor, Kelda Helen Roys, Robert TUrner, and Terese Berceau.
The sad truth is that the Catholic bishops and other members of the Church hierarchy long ago forfeited any right to deference or respect and now need to be investigated as the common criminals that some of them are in fact. Sexual crimes against children are heinous crimes and those who committed them as well as those who abetted and covered up for them need to be full exposed. If the Catholic Church is destroyed in the process, the blame falls on the hierarchy and the members of the laity who stuck their heads in the sand rather than demand not only the truth but accountability.
On the issue of contraception, a piece at Huffington Post well sums up what ought to be everyone's approach towards the U. S. Catholic bishops:
I find it highly insulting that an organization that has systematically worked to protect child rapists is able to hijack the conversation on contraception. Until the church has satisfactorily (according to the law) addressed each and every case of a child's sexual abuse by a member of the priesthood, I am one woman willing to tell the church to stay out of women's bedrooms and health concerns. You are not wanted here.
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