My Google search agent on sexual abuse and the Catholic Church is blowing up my in box of late. Not a day goes by where there is not some new revelation - many shocking and showing a level of depravity and dishonesty on the part of the Church hierarchy that is difficult to fathom. Yesterday's results were no exception. First, there is the story out of Spain about the Bishop of Tenerife who blames the victims of sexual abuse for their own victimization. Indeed, the good bishop alleges that 13 year olds want to be sexually abused and seduce the predator priests. What's even more disturbing is the fact that this false holy man has suffered no adverse consequences for such disgusting and sick statements. Here are highlights from Typically Spanish.com:*
[Bishop] Bernando Álvarez said that there are 13 year olds who are wanting to be abused, and 'if you are careless they will provoke you.' . . . He said that on occasions the abuse happened because the there are children who consent to it. There are 13 year old adolescents who are under age and who are perfectly in agreement with, and what’s more wanting it, and if you are careless they will even provoke you’, he said.
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Regarding homosexuals, the Bishop said that homosexuality was something prejudicial to the people and to society, and that we would pay the consequences in the long term. The Bishop claimed that both abuse of children and homosexuality would lead to future problems in society ‘as has occurred in other civilisations.
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WTF? What planet is this guy from and why is he still a bishop? Then there is news out of Memphis, Tennessee where court files have been unsealed that document incredible callousness and malfeasance by Church officials in continually reassigning 15 known sexual predators to positions where they could prey on additional victims. I can only ask myself how anyone can continue to financially support the Roman Catholic Church when confronted by such damning facts? Here are some highlights The Commercial Appeal:
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A judge on Tuesday lifted the seal on the files after lawyers for both sides spent a year redacting the names of victims from more than 10,000 pages. The documents show that at least 15 priests have been accused of sexual misconduct over about four decades in the Memphis Diocese. Some had been accused of sexual abuse elsewhere and had been moved from one diocese to another. . . . even a cursory background check would have shown that Duran had sexual issues involving minors in St. Louis, Panama and Bolivia, his native country.
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"The Southern Dominican Province knew Duran had committed prior acts of sexual abuse before placing him in Memphis and therefore should never have placed him here," attorney Karen Campbell, representing "John Doe," said in court papers. "Additionally, a review of Duran's résumé with a 31-year gap should have alerted the diocese to inquire into his background. This is exactly the type of information that should have raised a red flag to church officials that this was a pedophile priest."
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In many ways, the case of Father Juan Carlos Duran -- with frequent moves and silent superiors -- stands as an example of how child sex abuse was allowed to thrive for decades in the Catholic Church.
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The Bolivian-born Duran was expelled from the Franciscan Order in 1985 for sexually abusing a boy in Bolivia. Duran, however, was accepted by the Dominicans, who knew of his past yet moved him to assignments in Panama, Miami, St. Louis and Memphis with good references.
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"Revelations of thousands of cases of clergy sexual abuse have shown that the Catholic hierarchy had a standardized method of responding to reports and accusations of clergy sexual abuse," said Thomas Doyle of Virginia, a Dominican priest and addiction therapist who has testified as an expert in many abuse cases. "With rare exception, the alleged perpetrators were surreptitiously moved from one assignment to another with no warning to the receiving parish or community."
[Bishop] Bernando Álvarez said that there are 13 year olds who are wanting to be abused, and 'if you are careless they will provoke you.' . . . He said that on occasions the abuse happened because the there are children who consent to it. There are 13 year old adolescents who are under age and who are perfectly in agreement with, and what’s more wanting it, and if you are careless they will even provoke you’, he said.
*
Regarding homosexuals, the Bishop said that homosexuality was something prejudicial to the people and to society, and that we would pay the consequences in the long term. The Bishop claimed that both abuse of children and homosexuality would lead to future problems in society ‘as has occurred in other civilisations.
*
WTF? What planet is this guy from and why is he still a bishop? Then there is news out of Memphis, Tennessee where court files have been unsealed that document incredible callousness and malfeasance by Church officials in continually reassigning 15 known sexual predators to positions where they could prey on additional victims. I can only ask myself how anyone can continue to financially support the Roman Catholic Church when confronted by such damning facts? Here are some highlights The Commercial Appeal:
*
A judge on Tuesday lifted the seal on the files after lawyers for both sides spent a year redacting the names of victims from more than 10,000 pages. The documents show that at least 15 priests have been accused of sexual misconduct over about four decades in the Memphis Diocese. Some had been accused of sexual abuse elsewhere and had been moved from one diocese to another. . . . even a cursory background check would have shown that Duran had sexual issues involving minors in St. Louis, Panama and Bolivia, his native country.
*
"The Southern Dominican Province knew Duran had committed prior acts of sexual abuse before placing him in Memphis and therefore should never have placed him here," attorney Karen Campbell, representing "John Doe," said in court papers. "Additionally, a review of Duran's résumé with a 31-year gap should have alerted the diocese to inquire into his background. This is exactly the type of information that should have raised a red flag to church officials that this was a pedophile priest."
*
In many ways, the case of Father Juan Carlos Duran -- with frequent moves and silent superiors -- stands as an example of how child sex abuse was allowed to thrive for decades in the Catholic Church.
*
The Bolivian-born Duran was expelled from the Franciscan Order in 1985 for sexually abusing a boy in Bolivia. Duran, however, was accepted by the Dominicans, who knew of his past yet moved him to assignments in Panama, Miami, St. Louis and Memphis with good references.
*
"Revelations of thousands of cases of clergy sexual abuse have shown that the Catholic hierarchy had a standardized method of responding to reports and accusations of clergy sexual abuse," said Thomas Doyle of Virginia, a Dominican priest and addiction therapist who has testified as an expert in many abuse cases. "With rare exception, the alleged perpetrators were surreptitiously moved from one assignment to another with no warning to the receiving parish or community."
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The unmitigated gall and hypocrisy of the Catholic Church in getting politically involved to deny gay citizens of civil legal rights given this systematic - and yes evil - pattern of malfeasance and indifference to the safety of minors is mind boggling. Again, why does anyone continue to listen to these morally bankrupt men?
