Supreme Court Rebuffs Catholic Social Services' Right to Discriminate Against Gays

With all the problems that the Roman Catholic Church is facing ranging from declining membership (which at least so far has been partially masked by the growing Hispanic immigrant population) to the once again exploding sex abuse scandal, one would think that things other than discriminating against LGBT individuals would take a higher priority.  Not so apparently in the Diocese of Philadelphia where the diocese Catholic Social Services sued the City of Philadelphia claiming that compliance with the City's non-discrimination laws would restrict its religious beliefs.  If Philadelphia is like other jurisdictions, it likely had been paying Catholic Social Services for foster care placement services - money, the organization happily accepted.  Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take Catholic Social Services' appeal and the organization was left with the choice of ending its discriminatory practices or losing access to the taxpayer funded money trough.  Reuters looks at the the ruling.  Here are highlights:

In a decision that Catholic Social Services had said would force its foster care program to close, the justices refused the religious agency’s request for an injunction compelling the city to allow it to place children in foster homes while litigation over the dispute continues in lower courts.

In the brief order that did not give any reasons for the decision, three conservative members of the court, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, said they would have granted the agency’s request.

Five of the nine Supreme Court justices are needed to grant an injunction, but the court is one member short since Justice Anthony Kennedy retired at the end of July. The court is split 4-4 between liberal and conservative justices. President Donald Trump has nominated conservative federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy.

“We hoped for a different decision today,” said Lori Windham, a lawyer at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents the agency. She said she was encouraged that three justices agreed with their position.

The dispute arose last March after the city suspended referrals with Catholic Social Services following a newspaper report on the agency’s policy to turn away same-sex couples.

At issue is Catholic Social Services’ policy of refusing to perform home studies on same-sex couples to evaluate and certify them as foster parents, which it says would amount to a written endorsement of same-sex marriage, according to court papers.

The case underscores increasing tensions in the United States between advocates for religious groups seeking exemptions from anti-discrimination laws, and gay rights proponents who say such exemptions would be a license to discriminate.

Philadelphia says that as part of its foster care contract with Catholic Social Services, the agency must follow a city anti-discrimination law, which covers sexual orientation.

Catholic Social Services, which is part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, filed suit in federal court arguing that the city had violated its religious and free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution.

I have zero sympathy or Catholic Social Services and similar groups that want to gobble up taxpayer funded money yet then think they should have a license to discriminate against some of the very same taxpayers who are footing the bill.   If the agency cannot survive without public funds, then maybe that ought to send it message that the public doesn't support its exclusionary agenda.  Currently in Virginia, similar groups have a license to discriminate thanks to Republicans who are always willing to perform the political equivalent of fellatio for The Family Foundation and similar anti-gay hate organizations.  Hopefully, this state of affairs will end if Democrats retake control of the House of Delegates (and possibly the Senate) in the 2019 Virginia elections.

During Papal Visit Popre Francis to Meet with "Ex-Gay" Quacks

Gays being burned alive by the Church

It took the Roman Catholic Church centuries to admit that it had been wrong in supporting slavery, and centuries again to formally admit that its treatment of Galileo was wrong.  How long will it take the Church to admit that its treatment of gays nearly 800 years was wrong?   It would seem that such an admission will not be forthcoming anytime soon as we learn that while in America on his papal visit Pope Francis will be meeting with the Catholic Church's own fraudulent "ex-gay" organization insanely called "Courage."  What Courage peddles involves anything but courage.  Lies, fraud, self-deception, self-hate, and snake oil marketeers all better describe what is being promoted.  The fact that Francis will meet with a group promoting "therapy which is condemned by every legitimate medical and mental health association in America and is  legally banned in California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., speaks volumes to the sad reality that Francis is not the reformer some like Andrew Sullivan continue to want to see him as being.  He may be better than the Nazi Pope, Benedict XVI, but on issues of human sexuality, Francis is still back in the 13th century.  Think Progress looks at the group Francis will legitimize by meeting.  Here are story highlights:

[W]hen the pope travels to Philadelphia next month to attend the World Meeting of Families, he’ll be rubbing elbows with people known for advocating a very different kind of conversion: Ex-gay therapy.

Ex-gay therapy, or attempts to change an LGBT person’s sexual orientation, has been widely discredited for being ineffective at best and destructive at worst. Some former advocates of the practice have publicly recanted and apologized for promoting it, the American Psychological Association has condemned its use, and it is legally banned in California, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, D.C.

Yet so-called “reparative therapy” has long enjoyed pockets of support with conservative Christian circles, and some of its backers will be present at the World Meeting of Families next month.

Courage  . . . . officially rejects the label of ex-gay ministry, claiming instead that its employees promote a lifetime of celibacy for homosexual Catholics, saying the organization “prefers to think of itself as a ‘Pro-Chastity’ ministry.”

Yet Courage has repeatedly challenged the validity of this distinction. It has invited professional ex-gay therapists to lead trainings at conferences, and the suggested reading list on the Courage’s website includes several publications promoting ex-gay therapy written by ex-gay counselors.

The group’s executive director, Rev. Paul Check, has also voiced support for more explicit forms of ex-gay therapy. . . . he does not support laws banning ex-gay therapy organizations for children, arguing that it is an “unproven assertion” that such “change” counseling “does harm to people.”

Several other Catholic leaders with connections to ex-gay therapy are also expected to give talks or lead discussions at the convening. Dr. Janet Smith, a speaker for Courage who has publicly promoted a pamphlet that advocates for the “prevention” and “treatment” of same-sex attraction in children, is scheduled to lead a breakout session at the conference. So too is Christopher West, a theologian who has positively reviewed books on “reparative ministries” and is listed on the board of references for the Restored Hope Network, an ex-gay group.

[T]he Archdiocese of Philadelphia has refused to allow a local parish to host a workshop on gender identity during Pope Francis’ visit, forcing organizers — the Catholic group New Ways Ministry — to relocate a nearby Methodist church.

Ex-gay therapy is also widely rejected by most Catholics. A 2011 poll from the Public Religion Research Institute found that an overwhelming majority of American Catholics (69 percent) don’t believe that sexual orientation can be changed, and the group is actually more supportive of same-sex marriage than any other American Christian denomination. . . . the majority of Catholics embrace LGBT people while the Church hierarchy continues to push back against acceptance — and sometimes firing people for being “publicly” gay.

My advice to gay Catholics: walk away from the Church and encourage your friends and families to do likewise.  The Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America provide the same liturgical services - they are basically Catholic masses - without the corrupt Church hierarchy and the daily denigration of LGBT individuals.  That Francis will meet with "ex-gay" charlatans speaks volumes and none of it good. Being gay and remaining Catholic is like a black individual joining and participating in a pro-slavery, pro-segregation Southern Baptist Church.  It's insane.

Philadelphia Anti-Gay Attack Suspects Arrested

On September 11, 2014, a gay couple was severely beaten in Philadelphia by a band of white 20 somethings after the couple was taunted by anti-gay slurs.  Now, three of the attackers have been arrested.  One is the daughter of Chalfont, Pennsylvania Police Chief Karl Knott, which makes one wonder what gays must face in Chalfont from police.  The take away is that it is still dangerous to be gay in America even in progressive cities like Philadelphia. Too many of us forget the danger that lurks out on the streets.   The New Civil Rights Movement reports on the arrests:

The three, left to right, are Kevin Harrigan, 26, Kathryn Knott, 24, and Philip Williams, also 24. They are all charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person (REAP), and criminal conspiracy in the September 11, anti-gay hate attack that left a same-sex couple in the hospital.

At least one of them is accused of of having called the two gay men "dirty faggots," and asking one of the victims if the other victim was his "fucking boyfriend" before allegedly assaulting them.  

It is perhaps telling that the police chief's daughter, Kathryn Knott has a history evidenced by her twitter account of embracing the usual Christofascist/Tea Party agenda:

In addition to the homophobic tweets, there appears to be evidence of excessive drinking, a belief she is owed things, including money, anti-immigrant beliefs, and disturbing claims of privilege for being the daughter of a police chief.

Here's how police described the incident that gave rise to the arrests:

On September 11, 2014, at 10:45 pm, the complainant, a 28 year-old male, along with a friend, a 27 year-old male, were on the 1600 block of Chancellor Street when they were approached by a group of unknown white males and females. As the group approached the complainants they made disparaging remarks about their sexual orientation. The group then attacked the complainants holding them while other members of the group punched them in the face, head and chest. During the assault one of the complainants dropped his bag containing his cell phone, wallet and credit cards. When police approached one of the suspects picked the bag up from the ground. The group then fled and were last seen north on 16th Street towards Walnut Street. Both complainants were transported to Hahnemann Hospital for multiple injuries. One complainant was treated for fractures and deep lacerations to his face requiring surgery and his jaw wired shut.

Suspect Description: A group of approximately 10-12 white male and females all in their early 20′s “clean cut” and well dressed. One suspect was described as having a husky build, brown hair, wearing a brown shirt and shorts.

One member of the group is believed to have been Fran McGlinn, a former student and assistant basketball coach for Archbishop Wood Catholic High School. It is suggested that a number of the attackers were former students at Archbishop Wood Catholic High School.  Thankfully, McGlinn has been fired from his assistant coach position.

Quote of the Day: Andrew Sullivan on The Criminal Catholic Church Hierarchy

As numerous news outlets are reporting, including CNN and the Virginian Pilot, Monsignor William Lynn, 61, former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been sentenced to 3 to 6 years in prison for his role in covering up for and reassigning predatory priests to new parishes where they could molest more children and youth.  Lynn's counsel had argued that placing Lynn in Prison would be cruel and unusual.  The judge felt otherwise:

The judge said Lynn allowed "monsters in clerical garb ... to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart."  "You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong," Sarmina said.

It is long past time that members of the Catholic Church hierarchy do jail time for their actions in the worldwide criminal conspiracy to protect predatory priests and silence their victims.  Andrew Sullivan note that while Lynn's sentencing is a beginning, the Pope is guilty of an identical offense:

It's worth recalling that the Pope himself when he was Archbishop of Munich was guilty of exactly the same crime. In my view, the Pope and the entire curia should have resigned when the truth of the profound corruption emerged. But a Monsignor is, I guess, a start.

Truth be told, Benedict XVI and many of the Church's bishops and cardinals belong behind bars.  How any one with a shred of moral decency can continue to kiss up to much less respect these foul men is mind numbing.

Catholic Official Convicted For Covering Up Abuse Complaint

While he was acquitted on some of the criminal charges, Monsignor William Lynn of the Philadelphia Archdiocese was convicted yesterday of of child endangerment.  The conviction makes Lynn the first U.S. Roman Catholic church official to be convicted of a felon for covering up abuse claims as part of the worldwide criminal conspiracy orchestrated from the Vatican.  The trial made it very clear that one individual who should have been indicted for criminal conspiracy was former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua who conveniently died in his sleep before the trial got underway.  The pattern revealed in the Philadelphia archdiocese is all to familiar: the deliberate cover up for sexual predator priests who were then reassigned to unsuspecting parishes where they could find fresh prey.  Nowhere in the equation did the safety of children and youths ever factor in.  It underscores the utter moral bankruptcy of the Catholic hierarchy all the way up the chain to the current Pope and his predecessors.  Here are highlights from the New York Times coverage:

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.

Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said.

Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.  “Many in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia hierarchy had dirty hands,” Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said. “They failed to realize that the church is its people.”

He was convicted of only a single endangerment count, which carries a possible 3 1/2- to seven-year prison term.

Despite Lynn’s acquittal on the conspiracy charge, the trial exposed how deeply involved the late cardinal was in dealing with accused priests.

Bevilacqua had the final say on what to do with priests accused of abuse, transferred many of them to new parishes and dressed down anyone who complained, according to testimony. He also ordered the shredding of a 1994 list that Lynn prepared, warning that the archdiocese had three diagnosed pedophiles, a dozen confirmed predators and another 20 possible abusers in its midst.

Lynn didn’t react when the verdict was read  .  .  .   The judge revoked his bail and he was taken to jail, although his lawyers plan to ask on Monday that he be granted house arrest until sentencing. No date was set, but the judge scheduled an Aug. 13 pre-sentencing hearing.

To me it is most telling that while the Vatican and other high level clerics have continued to refuse to clean their own putrid house, they launched a jihad against gays and gay marriage and fabricated the myth that "religious liberty" is threatened by the Obama administration.  Anything, apparently, to distract the sheep in the pews from the reality that they are supporting a criminal enterprise through their contributions to the collection basket.

Catholic Church Continues to Battle Efforts to Ease Sex Abuse Suits

The hypocrisy and disingenuousness of the Roman Catholic Church leadership remains stunning.  While feigning contrition for the organized crime like world wide policy of enabling and then covering up for predator priests who preyed on children and youths, the Church continues to fight tooth and claw to avoid being held accountable for such heinous abuse - abuse that sometimes pushed victims to drugs, alcohol and suicide.  The spectacle of the criminal trial still ongoing in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the implication of at least two cardinals in the deliberate protection of predators with absolutely no concern for victims should make any thinking Catholic want to head for the church door.   Sadly, as the New York Times reports the Catholic Church leadership is doing everything possible to kill efforts to extend the statute of limitations which would allow more victims recourse for their abuse.  Here are article excerpts:

While the first criminal trial of a Roman Catholic church official accused of covering up child sexual abuse has drawn national attention to Philadelphia, the church has been quietly engaged in equally consequential battles over abuse, not in courtrooms but in state legislatures around the country. 

The fights concern proposals to loosen statutes of limitations, which impose deadlines on when victims can bring civil suits or prosecutors can press charges. These time limits, set state by state, have held down the number of criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits against all kinds of people accused of child abuse .  .  .  

Victims and their advocates in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York are pushing legislators to lengthen the limits or abolish them altogether, and to open temporary “windows” during which victims can file lawsuits no matter how long after the alleged abuse occurred. 

The Catholic Church has successfully beaten back such proposals in many states, arguing that it is difficult to get reliable evidence when decades have passed and that the changes seem more aimed at bankrupting the church than easing the pain of victims. Already reeling from about $2.5 billion spent on legal fees, settlements and prevention programs relating to child sexual abuse, the church has fought especially hard against the window laws .  .  .  .  

Changing the statute of limitations “has turned out to be the primary front for child sex abuse victims,” said Marci A. Hamilton, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University who represents plaintiffs in sexual abuse suits. 

“Even when you have an institution admitting they knew about the abuse, the perpetrator admitting that he did it, and corroborating evidence, if the statute of limitations has expired, there won’t be any justice,” she said. 

Timing is a major factor in abuse cases because many victims are unable to talk about abuse or face their accusers until they reach their 30s, 40s or later, putting the crime beyond the reach of the law. In states where the statutes are most restrictive, like New York, the cutoff for bringing a criminal case is age 23 for most serious sexual crimes other than rape that occurred when the victim was a minor.  

In New York, the Catholic bishops said they would support a modest increase in the age of victims in criminal or civil cases, to 28. But their lobbying, along with that of ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders, has so far halted proposals that would allow a one-year window for civil suits for abuses from the past.

Joan Fitz-Gerald, former president of the Colorado Senate, who proposed the window legislation, was an active Catholic who said she was stunned to find in church one Sunday in 2006 that the archdiocese had asked priests to raise the issue during a Mass and distribute lobbying postcards. “It was the most brutal thing I’ve ever been through,” she said of the church campaign. “The politics, the deception, the lack of concern for not only the children in the past, but for children today.” She has since left the church.

The new archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, who led the successful campaign to defeat such a bill in Colorado, says that current restrictions exist for “sound legal reasons.” 

There truly is no real contrition on the part of the Church leadership.  The only real concern is over the monetary cost of having been caught and exposed.  The victims don't even show up on the radar screen in Rome.  It's disgusting and a major reason I'm no longer a Catholic. 

Catholic Organizations File Suit in "Religious Freedom" Ruse - Meanwhile, More Predator Priests Exposed

UPDATED:  For a further sampling of the filth that The Catholic hierarchy wants the media to ignore, check out this Fox News story involving a Franciscan academy and the forced release of secret files.

Am I being too cynical, or is it more than a coincidence that a raft of lawsuits have been filed by Roman Catholic organizations claiming that the Obama administration is attacking "religious liberty" just as more filth and comes out of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia involving predator priests?   And leading the charge is Archbishop "Porky Pig" Dolan (pictured above) who is suspected of hiding millions of dollars while head of the Milwaukee Diocese so that victims of sexual abuse would not receive deserved compensatory damages.  The hypocrisy is palpable.  Yet the media and some conservative pundits like Michael Gerson apparently believe all Roman Catholics are so stupid that they cannot figure out that they are being played by the Church hierarchy.  Personally, I'd love to see the lazy and feckless mainstream media counter each bleating by the Church hierarchy with a story on the latest breaking sex abuse stories (my Google search agent discloses new stories EVERY day).  A story in the New York Times illustrates this point and shows precisely what the Church hierarchy hopes to keep off the front pages via these bogus lawsuits.  Oh, and note the Church's proposed punishment - a "supervised life of prayer and penance" with no reference made to turning the priests over for criminal prosecution.  Here are highlights:

Two more Roman Catholic priests from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been found unsuitable for ministry after sexually abusing children. 

 The archdiocese said Sunday that it had substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor against Msgr. George J. Mazzotta, 73, and Msgr. Hugh P. Campbell, 77, who were ordained in the 1960s and held a series of positions in Philadelphia-area parishes and hospitals.

Both men agreed to accept a supervised life of prayer and penance, and the findings were announced over the weekend to members of their most recent parishes, the archdiocese said. The priests are entitled to appeal the archdiocese’s findings to the Vatican. 

The two priests are not among the 26 who have been under investigation since a 2011 grand jury report accused the archdiocese of covering up sexual-abuse allegations against dozens of priests.  Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said on May 4 that 5 of the 26 priests had been judged unsuitable for ministry and would be barred from working as priests unless they successfully appealed the findings to the Vatican. Ultimately, they may be “defrocked,” or laicized. Three other priests were cleared, and 17 cases are still being investigated. One accused priest has died since the inquiry began.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a victims’ advocacy group known as SNAP, said the latest findings were another indication of the archdiocese’s failure to respond promptly to abuse allegations. “How do Philly Catholic officials explain keeping an admitted pedophile priest’s secret hidden for six months?” SNAP said in a statement on Monsignor Campbell.

News of the latest findings came amid the criminal trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, the archdiocese’s former secretary for clergy, who is charged with child endangerment and conspiracy on allegations that he allowed accused priests to remain in positions where they could continue to abuse children. Monsignor Lynn has denied the charges.

Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting another scandal involving the Legionnaires of Christ.  Here's a sampling:

The leader of the Legionaries of Christ admitted on Tuesday he knew for years the scandal-plagued Roman Catholic order's most famous priest had fathered a child but still allowed the popular cleric to preach about morality.

The moral bankruptcy of the Church hierarchy is nearly complete.  These lawsuits are nothing more than a disingenuous smoke screen to occupy the media and draw attention away from the real story that needs to be told and retold about the Catholic Church leadership.

 

Quote of the Day: Philadelphia Assistant DA Patrick Blessington

As noted a number of times during the prosecution's case in the Philadelphia Archdiocese sex abuse trial, the image of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy is nothing short of horrific and a case of total moral bankruptcy.  As part of the prosecution's summation, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington reportedly stated as follows according to the Philadelphia Inquirer: 

"It was all about the good of Mother Church," Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said in arguments to the judge Thursday. "They cared about money, they cared about the business of the church, not the flock and not the parishioners."

Yet people continue to give deference and respect to these foul men and their institution.  It doesn't take much to conclude that the un-churched are likely far more moral and righteous than these protectors and enablers of child rapists and sexual predators.  The Inquirer also had this to report on the image drawn by the prosecution:

The images they painted were searing: a 13-year-old son of a Philadelphia police officer, clutching a penknife in terror and hiding in a cabin after being fondled all night on a camping trip with the Rev. Francis Trauger; another boy, waking up naked next to the Rev. Thomas Smith in a motel room after the priest stuffed ice cubes in his underwear and got him so drunk he passed out; a Bucks County teen forced to engage in oral sex with the Rev. David Sicoli after they drove to Veterans Stadium to buy Phillies playoff tickets in the early 1980s.

 The graphically detailed memos were often shared with Bevilacqua, Bishop Edward Cullen, or Joseph Cistone, assistant vicar for administration.

Meanwhile, rather than cleaning their own filthy house, the U.S. bishops have invested many hundreds of thousands of dollars to deprive LGBT individuals of their civil rights.  These men simply did not and do care about the lives of children and youths.  It was and is all about money, all about power, and all about the Church's unholy reputation.  When I see these reports, I count myself lucky to no longer be a Catholic. 

Prosecution Rests in Philadelphia Sex Abuse Cover-Up Case

For the past seven weeks, the horrid dirty laundry of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been thoroughly exposed and the fact that not one, but two Catholic Cardinals had played active roles in covering up the repeated sexual abuse of children and minors brought very much to light.  While the case has garnered quite a bit of attention, it's unfortunate that coverage was placed side by side with stories of the Catholic Church's opposition to same sex marriage and/or Church criticism of Barack Obama in every newspaper in the country.  The Philadelphia trial shows the true face of the Church hierarchy and, at least to me, needs to be used to convince Catholics who prefer to stick their heads in the sand that they are bankrolling a foul institution.  An institution that will not change without the flight of Church members, drops in financial support, and hopefully more criminal prosecutions of members of the Church hierarchy.  The Catholic Church has been allowed to get away with heinous crimes for far too long.  Here are highlights from the New York Times on the prosecution's wrapping up of its case:

After seven weeks of testimony, prosecutors on Thursday rested their case against Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first senior Roman Catholic official in the United States to face criminal charges of covering up sexual abuse by priests and reassigning those suspected of child molesting to unwary new parishes. 

In rulings on Thursday, Judge M. Teresa Sarmina of Common Pleas Court dismissed one of two conspiracy counts against Monsignor Lynn, involving allegations of efforts to protect the Rev. James J. Brennan, a priest who remains a co-defendant in the current trial and is accused of the attempted rape of a child. 

But Judge Sarmina left intact the charges that Monsignor Lynn endangered two minors by failing to remove errant priests and also a second conspiracy charge, that he cooperated with other officials to protect a former priest, Edward V. Avery, who recently pleaded guilty to sex abuse. Monsignor Lynn, who has pleaded not guilty, faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 ½ to 21 years if convicted in the landmark trial. 

Monsignor Lynn was indicted after a scathing grand jury report last year accused him and other senior church officials of playing down credible abuse charges against dozens of priests, and of working to protect the archdiocese from scandal and lawsuits rather than to protect children. 

The prosecutors ended their case after calling dozens of witnesses and offering numerous examples in which, they alleged, Monsignor Lynn and other church officials did not inform parishioners about credible, often multiple abuse charges against individual priests and allowed some of them to continue in the ministry for years. 

The defense team has previously asserted that Monsignor Lynn acted responsibly, passing abuse allegations to his superiors, and that only Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, who died in January, had the authority to reassign priests or remove them. 

 

The prosecutors ended their case with a flourish, allowing jurors to inspect a frayed folder that had been locked in a secret safe for years and was mysteriously discovered and provided to prosecutors only this February, shortly after the cardinal’s death. The folder contained a list, compiled by Monsignor Lynn in 1994 at the request of Cardinal Bevilacqua, of 35 active priests who were credibly charged or confirmed as child molesters. 

Cardinal Bevilacqua later ordered the list to be shredded and, according to the prosecutors, Monsignor Lynn and other officials focused on how to prevent disclosure of archives in future lawsuits against the church. 

One of the priests on that list, Father Avery, now 69, spent six months in a church psychiatric center in 2003, after credible charges that he abused boys. Monsignor Lynn then assigned him to a new parish without warning local officials about his troubled past or insuring follow-up counseling and monitoring, according to prosecutors. Mr. Avery remained in ministry, with unrestricted contact with children, until 2003. 

Father Avery, who later left the priesthood, was originally slated to go on trial with Monsignor Lynn and Father Brennan, but pleaded guilty just before the trial began in March to sexually assaulting an altar boy in 1999 — five years after he was named on Monsignor Lynn’s list. He was sentenced to 2 ½ to 5 years in prison. As part of his plea deal, Father Avery said Monsignor Lynn and other officials had allowed him to stay in ministry, with access to children, despite knowing his history of sexual abuse.

Why any moral person continues to listen to anything said by members of the Church hierarchy baffles me - especially since complicity in the protection of child rapist priest goes all the way up to Pope Benedict XVI.

Five Philadelphia Priests Ousted For Sex Abuse - NC Bishops Attack Gays

In yet another example of the utterly f*cked priorities of the Catholic bishops, as note in a prior post, the bishops of Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, have mobilized to urge Catholics to vote in support of Amendment One to bar any legal recognition of sames sex couples in North Carolina.  When it comes to weeding out sexual predators, about the only thing the bishops do is drag their feet as illustrated by the cesspool situation in Philadelphia.  More than a year after a grand jury raised concerns about 37 accused priests, only eight of the cases are resolved with five priests being removed from ministry.  The other 29 remain thankfully have been suspended from ministry positions.  The conclusion is pretty obvious: depriving LGBT citizens of civil law rights is a high priority while protecting children and youths from would be child rapists is barely on the radar screen.  I ask you, which situation poses the greater harm?  These men are despicable and I hope exit polls on Tuesday reflect that a majority of Catholics vote against Amendment One.  Here are details from MSNBC on the morally bankrupt archdiocese of Philadelphia:

Five priests have been deemed "not suitable for ministry," the Catholic Church of Philadelphia announced Friday, in its first action since it suspended 26 priests after a January 2011 grand jury report detailed dozens of cases of sexual abuse by clergy.   Philadelphia Archbishop Chaput said three other clergy were reinstated to the ministry and one had died without a determination. 

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, sent out a statement saying they're shocked that more than a year after a grand jury raised concerns about 37 accused priests, only eight of the cases are resolved, according to NBC Philadelphia.

SNAP had called on Chaput to personally visit every parish where priests with "unsubstantiated" allegations have worked and appeal to "victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to come forrward and shed light on the accusations, one way or another." Instead, the victims group said, "we predict he'll do the bare minimum and make no real outreach efforts."

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, a 51-year-old Philadelphia man said Feret [one of the removed priests] sexually assaulted him at least 100 times in the 1970s when he was a student at St. Timothy's school in Northeast Philadelphia. The abuse occurred in the church confessional, choir loft and other places, according to the victim, who the newspaper said chose to remain unnamed.  He told the paper that he once reported the abuse to a teacher and the school principal, but nothing happened.

After the 2011 suspensions of the priests, including Feret, the man contacted and was interviewed by police. News that the priest was being removed came as a huge relief, the man told the Inquirer.  "It's affected my whole life — in every way," he said.

The Catholic laity truly needs to rise up and demand that many bishops and cardinals be thrown from office.  If the Vatican and the Nazi Pope refuse, then the laity needs to "vote with their feet" and leave.  There are many wonderful ELCA and Episcopal parishes where they could find new church homes and cease being accessories to child abuse.

Philadelphia Sex Abuse Trial Continues to Spotlight Catholic Church Moral Bankruptcy

The sex abuse trial against Msgr. William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and accused predator priests that is ongoing in Philadelphia continues to give the gift of making it painfully obvious to all but the most delusional that the Church hierarchy is morally bankrupt and that the leadership did not give a damn about the welfare of children and youths.  It was all about protecting those in the clergy.  The number of young lives damaged or destroyed never, ever mattered to these horrible bitter men.  That two cardinals played active roles in allowing the sex abuse to continue for years speaks volumes.  I truly do not know how a moral person can remain a Roman Catholic under the current hierarchy, many of whom, in my opinion, ought to be serving long prison terms.  Here are highlights from the New York Times on the latest horrors to be revealed:

Two men testified Wednesday of abuse they suffered as youths at the hands of a now defrocked Philadelphia priest. The two victims of Edward Avery, a former priest who has pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges, appeared during the landmark trial of Msgr. William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, who is charged with child endangerment. Monsignor Lynn is suspected of allowing priests accused of abuse to remain in positions where they could continue to abuse children. 

One victim, now 23, told the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas how Mr. Avery abused him in the sacristy of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Northeast Philadelphia in 1998, when he was 10 years old.   The man said that he had already been abused by the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, another priest who is charged with abuse, and that Mr. Avery said he intended to do the same thing with him. “He said he heard about my sessions with Father Engelhardt and that ours were going to begin soon,” said the man, who was an altar boy. 

 

The witness said the priest turned on music and forced the boy to do a striptease until he was naked. He then sat the boy on his lap, and forced him to perform oral sex and masturbation, and told him that he was doing God’s will. “ ‘This is what God wants,’ ” the witness said Mr. Avery told him. 

The other victim, now 49, struggled to keep his composure at times as he recalled being abused at Mr. Avery’s residence when he was 15 and again on a ski trip to Vermont when he was 18.   Last month, Mr. Avery pleaded guilty to rape and conspiracy and was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison. 

Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican can crack down on American nuns for not being sufficiently anti-gay and for focusing on social ministry, yet those who protected and enabled sexual predators remain untouched.  It is beyond sickening.

Philadelphia Archdiocese Ignored Warnings About Pedophiles

Just as the sex abuse scandal in Ireland seemed to be a constant font of evidence of the moral bankruptcy of the Church hierarchy and the callous indifference the "princes of the Church" displayed toward the safety of and well being of children and youths, so to is the ongoing criminal trial in Philadelphia against Monsignor Lynn and priests accused of sexual abuse.  It is painfully obvious that the only thing that mattered to these clerics was to  protect (i) the image of the Church and (ii) the predator priests.  The children and youth?  They were not even on the radar screen. A story on KFVS-TV yesterday revealed evidence of confessed predators being returned to parishes and gang rape attempts in seminaries.  Here are highlights:

A Catholic priest admitting a sexual relationship with a teen said he had been the victim of an attempted gang rape by fellow seminarians, according to testimony in a clergy-abuse trial.

Testimony on Monday also mentioned Pope Benedict XVI, who weighed in on the priest's 2005 censure when he was a Vatican official known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Documents show the priest had admitted to the Philadelphia archdiocese in 1992 that he had sex with the high school student for several years. An archdiocesan treatment center concluded the priest was not a pedophile, but was affected by his "traumatic sexual development." He remained in ministry for another decade.

 The priest told a therapist he had been tied down by several seminarians who tried to rape him and that a friend came to his rescue. But the same friend later twice abused him, the priest told the therapist, according to documents read in court.

The priest discussed Monday stayed in active ministry until the national priest-abuse scandal broke in 2002. His ministry was supposed to be strictly supervised so he was not alone around adolescent boys, but he lived alone in a parish rectory in Lower Merion one year, and had little if any supervision after leaving the hospital in 1993, prosecutors allege. He remains a priest today, but lives a private life of "prayer and penance."

On cross-examination, defense lawyer Jeffrey Lindy noted that Lynn got the priest to admit to the sexual relationship with the teen the same day the complaint came in to Lynn in 1992, and soon had him being evaluated. However, a detective on the stand noted that police, had they gotten such an admission, would have pursued criminal charges.   Neither the priest's admission - nor the scores of other abuse complaints brought to the archdiocese from 1948 through the 2005 grand jury report - were ever referred to police or prosecutors.

Today's Philadelphia Inquirer has additional tawdry details.  Here are highlights:

An Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest active in schools and scouting was allowed to work in suburban parishes for five years after doctors diagnosed him as a pedophile, called him “a very sick man,” and told church officials he was a “powder keg” waiting to explode.

The priest, the Rev. Peter F. Dunne, paid off one accuser himself and repeatedly resisted or ignored recommendations for therapy, according to internal church records shown Tuesday to a Common Pleas Court jury. 

When the pastor overseeing Dunne at a Bucks County parish in 1990 petitioned archdiocesan officials in a “very urgent plea” to get the priest some help, they responded by transferring Dunne to a parish 25 miles away in Montgomery County, the records show. 

Prosecutors say the files on Dunne and other priests suggest Lynn and other church leaders had long recognized the signs and depth of clergy sex abuse but chose not to act.

“Dr. Tyrrell stated quite bluntly that we are sitting on a powder keg,” an assistant archdiocesan chancellor, the Rev. John Graf, wrote in a February 1989 memo.  Tyrell warned that Dunne had an overnight camping trip with boys and other behavior typical of pedophile “grooming.” He advised church officials to remove Dunne from active ministry and bar his contact with children. Dunne remained in his post and abandoned treatment.

Remind me again - why does ANYONE continue to listen to a single thing that the Catholic bishops and hierarchy have to say given the depths of the depravity that they knowingly countenanced and tried to cover up?   These foul men are nothing less than criminal conspirators who belong behind bars.

The Nazi Pope's Misplaced Ire

While Benedict XVI, sometimes referred to as the Nazi Pope on this blog, cracks down on American nuns for not being anti-gay and anti-contraception enough, the world wide sex abuse scandal continues with daily coverage out of Australia, Ireland, and of course, the USA, especially the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of late.  With incontrovertibly evidence that bishops, cardinals, Popes - and a Trustee of Boston College - appear to have knowingly protected sexual predatory priests who likely worldwide sexually abused hundreds of thousands of children and youths, the misdirected ire of the Nazi Pope is noting short of ridiculous, not to mention the height of hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy.  A column in the Boston Globe looks at this latest display of moral bankruptcy.  Here are highlights:

Pope Benedict XVI can’t wait to crack down on “radical feminist” nuns.  But will he ever really crack down on protectors of pedophile priests?

A Vatican-led investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious cites the nuns’ silence on abortion and same-sex marriage. How bad is that up against the silence of church officials, from parish priests to the Vatican, who ignored and concealed child sex crimes?

By ironic coincidence, news about the Vatican’s effort to rein in the conference — the largest and most influential group of Catholic nuns in the United States — broke the same day the Rev. Bradley M. Schaeffer resigned from the Boston College Board of Trustees after growing public criticism over the role he played in supervising a former Jesuit priest who allegedly molested dozens of children over a span of 40 years.  

The juxtaposition of the two events exposes a familiar church mindset.  Perceived threats to his authority swiftly grab the pope’s attention. Accountability for long-ago threats to children is still something to dodge.

This follows Benedict’s recent condemnation of dissident priests. During a Holy Thursday Mass, the pope publicly rebuked a group of Austrian priests who challenged the church on priestly celibacy and the ban on female priests; disobedience would not be tolerated, he said.  What he [Benedict] does tolerate is a worldwide network of priests who enabled sexual abusers.  Unlike dissidents, they are not called out in St. Peter’s Square and no one is put in charge of reeling them in. They are free, like Schaeffer, to end up on the boards of prominent Jesuit institutions — until public pressure forces them out. 

As reported by the Globe’s Michael Rezendes, Schaeffer was the leader of the Jesuits in the Chicago area when an anguished father came to him in 1993 with concerns about an inappropriate relationship between Donald J. McGuire, then a Jesuit retreat leader, and the man’s young son. Schaeffer neither investigated the complaint nor contacted police. Instead, he sent McGuire for treatment of a sexual disorder. Afterwards, he acknowledged he knew the treatment did not cure McGuire.  Today, McGuire is serving 25 years in federal prison on child sex-abuse charges, while the Jesuits face a lawsuit for their failure to protect one of McGuire’s alleged victims. 

 

Schaeffer stepped down after the Boston College independent school newspaper, The Heights, called for his resignation and a group of faculty members met with Boston College President William P. Leahy to make a similar argument.  He continues to serve in the study center and is still a board member at Georgetown University, Loyola University Chicago, and Brebeuf Jesuit, a prep school in Indianapolis.

Benedict has apologized for the clergy sexual-abuse scandal and launched ongoing investigations of widespread allegations. But he does not jettison all those who broke the church’s sacred covenant with children. There are too many and the chain of accountability leads directly to him. It’s much easier to condemn naughty nuns.

Benedict's moral bankruptcy and hypocrisy make a tawdry whore look virtuous.  Why does anyone listen to anything this monster says?

Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston Accused of Abuse in Philadelphia Trial

The ongoing sex abuse trial in Philadelphia continues to showcase the moral bankruptcy of the Catholic Church hierarchy and in a bombshell during yesterday's testimony by an abuse victim, the witness stated that he had also been abused by Rev. Michael J. Bransfield (pictured at left), the current bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, Diocese. Bransfield has denied that he ever abused anyone. Time, of course will tell if he's lying or not. Meanwhile, the Prada wearing Nazi Pope continues to describe gays as "inherently disordered" and "inclined toward evil." That is when he's not claiming that we gays will destroy western civilization. One can only assume that Benedict XVI is looking at himself in the mirror while uttering this batshitery - or perhaps looking out over a gathering of Catholic priests. At the risk of sounding mean spirited, at this point I wouldn't put any type of sexual indecency or foul molestation past many Catholic priests given the parade of horrors this trial has been exposing. The Philadelphia Inquirer has details on this latest surprise. Here are some excerpts:

Complaining that he was blindsided while on church business in the Vatican, the bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., on Thursday angrily denied trial testimony in Philadelphia alleging that he sexually abused a child during the late 1970s.

"I have never sexually abused anyone," Bishop Michael J. Bransfield said in a statement the diocese released. Bransfield, 68, issued his statement after two witnesses at the child sex-abuse and conspiracy trial involving Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests referenced him while describing their own alleged abuse, and a prosecutor said Bransfield had been accused in a separate instance of fondling a minor.

The witness said he was building a flagstone wall when a car pulled up driven by then-Father Bransfield that contained several teen boys." 'They're his fair-haired boys,' " the witness said Gana told him after Bransfield drove away. " The one in the front seat he is having sex with.' " The witness said Gana and Bransfield were close friends and added that he was once sexually abused by Gana during a visit to Bransfield's Shore house in Brigantine.

"The implication was clear," the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington, asserted in court Tuesday after the jury had been sent home for the day. "Bransfield is having sex with those boys, the same as Gana is having sex with Gana's boys." Prosecutors are also aware of a separate allegation "of a fondling of a student by Bransfield," . . .

On Monday, another accuser told jurors that once, after abusing him, Gana put him on the phone with Bransfield, who was then in Washington. He said Bransfield told him: "I'm going to have Stanley put you on a train and come down and see me sometime." Bransfield has never been charged with sexually assaulting any children, although his friendship with Gana was mentioned in the 2005 grand jury report of clergy sexual abuse in the archdiocese.

Bransfield said Philadelphia prosecutors had been told he was not aware of or present at the Brigantine house when the alleged sexual encounter occurred between Gana and the witness. The bishop added that he let "numerous friends and priests" use the Shore house. Gana, 69, was removed from ministry in 2002. He was laicized in 2006.

Wednesday's testimony about the friendship of Gana and Bransfield came after city prosecutors told Sarmina a West Virginia judge had refused to honor a "material witness petition" from the District Attorney's Office. According to Blessington, the unnamed West Virginia judge had prevented him from calling to the stand Msgr. Kevin Michael Quirk, one of three church judges in the 2008 canonical trial of the Rev. James J. Brennan on child sex-abuse charges.

The failure to address that question was again criticized Thursday by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests: "Every day that Bransfield refuses to make Father Quirk testify, he is helping to keep alleged clergy sex crimes and cover-ups covered up. We have to wonder what Bransfield fears about Father Quirk's testimony."

What is truly disgusting is that these predatory priests felt that they could sexually molest youths as a matter of right - sort of a Droit du seigneur mindset - and their superiors seem to have gone right along with it - at least until such time as the talk and rumors could no longer be suppressed or the civil authorities became involved. What a cesspool. Yet these freaks and accessories to crimes continue to try to direct others on how they should live their lives. Why does anyone continue to listen to them?

Former Altar Boy Details Sexual Abuse in Philadelphia Priests' Trial

Even as the Catholic bishops continue their war on women and gays - even going so far as to cut off funding for small, local, and critical non-profit organizations that help minorities and the poor, if they demonstrate support for gay marriage, or any other issue the Catholic Church deems offensive (see The New Civil Rights Movement) - the true cesspool nature of the Church hierarchy continues to unfold in the ongoing trial of Monsignor Lynn and predator priests in Philadelphia. Personally, I don't understand how anyone can listen to the disingenuous and falsely pious statements from the bishops, a number of whom ought to be behind bars for their rolls in protecting sexual predators. Here are highlights from the Philadelphia Inquirer on the latest trial developments:

During three hours of emotional and sometimes contentious testimony, a former Bucks County altar boy Wednesday described how a priest in the landmark child-sex abuse and conspiracy trial molested him during an overnight visit when he was 14.

The man, now 30, broke down several times recounting the alleged 1996 assault by the Rev. James J. Brennan that he said plunged him into a spiral of drugs and crime and still haunts him.

He said Brennan, his onetime parish priest and a longtime family friend, showed him online sex-chat rooms, proposed they masturbate, then ordered him into a bed where, clad in plaid boxer shorts, the cleric pulled him close and pressed his private parts against the boy.

The developments were the most dramatic - and likely the most significant - since the trial began last week for Brennan and Msgr. William J. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

A nearly packed courtroom listened as the man outlined the details of an alleged assault that he said pushed him to the brink of suicide, and then watched as the lawyers parsed his words, drew anatomical sketches for jurors, and quibbled over the definition of spooning in bed.

The jury had already heard from four other alleged abuse victims, but each had described being molested decades ago by priests who have been defrocked, died or are not charged in the case. Unlike those claims, the Bucks County man's allegation fell within a newly amended criminal statute of limitations for child-sex crimes and became a cornerstone of the February 2011 grand jury report that led to the trial against Lynn and Brennan.

Prosecutors say Lynn, as the official who recommended archdiocesan priests' assignments and investigated their misconduct, enabled or covered up abuse by failing to act against priests suspected or known to abuse children. One such priest, they say, was Brennan, who has been on restricted ministry since the accusation emerged in 2006.

Monsignor Lynn's Defense - Blame the Dead Guy

As the criminal trial continues of Monsignor William Lynn (pictured above), Philadelphia Archdiocese Secretary for the Clergy, the lurid and disgusting details of business as usual in the archdiocese continue to spill out in putrid waves. As the Seattle Times and Philadelphia Inquirer are reporting, these details include boasting by a priest who sexually molested three boys in a single week. Meanwhile, Monsignor Lynn's principal defense/excuse has been that the now conveniently deceased Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was responsible for all the cover ups, etc. First these highlights from the Seattle Times:

Jurors in a landmark priest abuse trial on Monday heard about a priest-turned-camp prowler and another who was accused of bragging about having sex with three boys in a week.

In the day's most startling testimony, a detective read internal church memos about a priest who is said to have "joked about how hard it was to have sex with three boys in one week." The priest's accuser also stated that the priest had a "rotation process" of boys spending time sleeping with him.

Defense lawyers argue that Lynn tried to address the problem as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004 but was blocked by the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and others in the Philadelphia archdiocese. Bevilacqua died of heart disease on Jan. 31, a day after he was ruled competent to testify at Lynn's trial.

Several junior counselors complained in the early 1960s that the priest was on the prowl at night, molesting them in their tents. They said it was a well-known secret among teen counselors for several years.

The priest remained in ministry, working at three archdiocesan high schools and serving as assistant superintendent of Catholic schools through 2004. The priest, confronted after a man complained to the archdiocese in 1992, admitted the "sin" of masturbation and said he had read up on that subject because so many people were mentioning it in the confessional.

Few victims or members of the public have been attending the trial in downtown Philadelphia, but retired Philadelphia detective Arthur Baselice Jr., of Mantua, N.J., turned out Monday. His 28-year-old son, Arthur Baselice III, died of a drug overdose in 2006 after his civil lawsuit against the church accusing his high school principal of molesting him was thrown out because of legal time limits. The former principal, a Franciscan friar, is in prison for stealing from the school and the Franciscans nearly $900,000, some of which fed the younger Baselice's drug addiction, according to prosecutors.

Disgusted yet? Here are highlights from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

One priest, the Rev. John Cannon, sneaked into a cabin at night at a church-run camp, groped the boys in their beds, and forced them to do the same to him.

Another, the Rev. Stanley Gana, had a stable of boys rotate through his rectory bedroom, once inviting two at the same time so neither thought he was playing favorites. In both cases, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia left the men in ministry for years after allegations against them first surfaced, a Philadelphia jury was told Monday.

In 1992, jurors were told, Lynn met with a man who described being molested by Cannon in the early 1960s at a Lancaster County summer camp run by St. Monica Church in South Philadelphia.

By that time, Cannon had similar complaints in his secret file, according to records read at the trial by Detective David Fisher of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

A 1964 letter from a priest at St. Monica's said at least six boys had accused the priest of sneaking into their cabin at nights and molesting them when they were 12 and 13. Some said it occurred multiple times over successive summers, the letter said. After those accusations, Cannon had been transferred to another parish, the records showed. At the time, Bishop Thomas Welsh told him not to return to St. Monica's or the camp "until things died down," according to one memo.

The allegations against Gana surfaced around the same time as the ones against Cannon, the documents suggest.

In 1992, a young man told church officials that Gana had repeatedly molested him at Our Lady of Calvary in Northeast Philadelphia in the early 1980s, according to records described by Detective Joseph Walsh of the District Attorney's Office. The young man gave Lynn the names of other potential victims, including a second boy who once shared a bed with him and Gana.

Three years later, that second man came forward with his own accusation against Gana. Despite the earlier accusation, Gana had not been removed. He was still pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Bridgeport, Montgomery County.

As I have asked before, how does anyone who doesn't have their head deliberately buried in the sand or with a shred of moral decency remain a practicing Catholic. Every dollar contributed to each local parish helps fund the corrupt bishops who protect child rapists and Pope Palpatine and the foul forces at the Vatican.

Philadelphia Sex Abuse Trial Continues to Shock and Disgust

Another day and another trail of horrific details on the sexual free for all that Philadelphia Archdiocese priests were allowed to indulge in with children and youths while only drawing a wink and a nod from the senior members of the local hierarchy. In most cases, outrageous conduct nearly merited a transfer to a new unsuspecting parish. The callousness of the hierarchy is enough to make one want to vomit. Yet Catholics continue to kiss the pompous, hubris filled asses of the bishops and cardinals. WTF more will it take to get these sheep-like people to open their eyes? The Philadelphia Inquirer has several stories on the shocking conduct that the bishops and cardinals aided and abetted. Here are highlights from the first story:

A Havertown pastor testified Wednesday that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sent a priest to his parish in 2002 without telling him that the man had been caught with gay sadomasochistic videos and a sexually graphic love letter he wrote to a seventh-grade boy.

The Rev. Henry McKee, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, said nearly three years passed before he learned of the Rev. Michael Murtha's background.

McKee was one of four priests called to the witness stand Wednesday as prosecutors sought to show how Msgr. William J. Lynn and other church leaders shuffled and protected priests suspected of sexual misconduct or abuse.

Wednesday's testimony created an uncomfortable but potentially recurring scenario at the trial: a parade of priests taking the witness stand and discussing the sexual habits or proclivities of other priests, all for the prosecution of a monsignor that all knew and some clearly liked.

McKee said Lynn told him almost nothing about Murtha's background when the secretary of clergy asked if he would accept the priest at Sacred Heart in 2002. Among other duties, McKee asked Murtha to train and manage the parish's altar boys and girls.

Earlier Wednesday, jurors heard a former student at St. John Neumann High School in South Philadelphia describe how an archdiocesan priest stalked him, had him removed from a class, locked him in a conference room, then touched his leg and pressed him to talk about homosexuality. "I told you I'd find you," the Rev. Francis Trauger allegedly told the boy, then 15, in 1991.

The priest ordered the boy to kneel and unzip his pants, but their encounter abruptly ended when a faculty member began banging on the door, according to the former student, now 36.

Trauger is one of nearly two dozen priests who are not charged in the case, but who prosecutors say jurors need to hear about to understand the archdiocese's long-standing practices in responding to sex-abuse allegations.

Pretty disgusting stuff. But there's more and it wasn't just boys who were targeted notwithstanding the Vatican's efforts to blame all sex abuse on gays. Here are highlights from another story:

She was a 13-year-old girl, fifth child of seven in a devout Catholic family in suburban Roslyn whose mother attended Mass once or twice daily. But the girl dreaded Sunday mornings. Not because of a crisis of faith but because she knew it would mean another morning of groping by the Rev. Albert T. Kostelnick.

The woman, now in her mid-50s, told a Philadelphia jury this morning about how Kostelnick, now retired, fondled her for two years as she worked in the rectory of St. John of the Cross church in Roslyn - and then did the same to two of her sisters who followed her into the job.

"I didn't know what to do," the woman told the Common Pleas Court jury. "I felt helpless and trapped. My parents expected me to work."

Questioned by Assistant District Attorney Mark Cipolletti, the woman testified that her mother volunteered her to work in the St. John's rectory serving meals to the priests on Saturday's from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

She earned $5 for her work, the woman said, and endured the physical attentions of Kostelnick. The woman said the priest, who lived at St. John's, taught at an archdiocesan high school.

She said Kostelnick would dine alone at the end of a 12-foot-long conference table, farthest from the closed door. As she served his meal, she continued, the priest began holding her hands and making small talk. She said he then gradually moved his hands to her breasts.

She never told her parents at the time, she said, because they were so devout. "They wouldn't have believed me and, if they did, they wouldn't have done anything," she said.

According to the 2005 grand jury report, the priest admitted in 2004 to the Archdiocese review board his long-standing habit of fondling the breasts of young girls. By the time he was removed in 2004, the Archdiocese had reports from 18 alleged female victims.

Every Catholic who continues to give money to the Catholic Church at the local parish level ultimate helps fund the foul, nasty senior members of the hierarchy who allowed such horrors to happen or who, to date have refused to force a thorough house cleaning of those who allowed such abuse of children and youths. And yes, those with unclean hands include the current occupant of the throne of St. Peter. Had I remained a Catholic, I think I would feel physically dirty via guilt by association.

Oh, and can anyone explain to me why GOP politicians with any shred of morality are kissing the assess of the members of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops?

Philadelphia Sex Abuse Trial Exposes Catholic Church Moral Bankruptcy

So far the news coming out of the Philadelphia sex abuse trial of a longtime supervisor in the Philadelphia archdiocese, Monsignor William Lynn, is revealing truly nasty testimony as to the archdiocese's utter lack of concern for the safety of children and youths. Shockingly, diocesan priests testified about a church-run hospital in Downingtown, which conducted "Sexaholics Anonymous" meetings devoted exclusively to priests. Others priests apparently attended "Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous." I have long maintained that the Catholic Church hierarchy's bizarre and sick obsession with all things sexual truly distorts the lives of both clergy and those in the laity who listen to the Church's crazy dictates on matters of sexuality. NBC News 10 has coverage and here are some highlights:

Several Roman Catholic priests have testified in a landmark clergy-abuse case, including one who said Wednesday that he found pornography and a lewd letter to a boy in the rectory. The Rev. Joseph Okonski told jurors Wednesday that he found a box of pornographic magazines and videos in another priest's bedroom in 1995.

Okonski said he informed his pastor, who did nothing. But he soon called an archdiocesan official after finding the sexually explicit letter to a seventh-grade boy, which purported to be from a classmate and asked if the boy wanted oral sex. "You are soooo cute. I have been thinking about you for a long time. ... You're the cutest in our grade,'' the typed letter said. The author said he fantasized about seeing the boy getting spanked by his father. The boy was told to write "Yes'' on a bulletin board at the parish school if he wanted to engage in sex acts with his "secret lover.''

The priest admitted writing the letter and soon left the parish, but the next witness said he landed at his rectory, where he worked with altar boys and heard confession.

Prosecutors want to make the point that dozens of abusive priests were, at best, transferred if they got in trouble, and left in jobs involving children.

The witnesses, on cross-examination, said the archbishop had the final say in priest assignments. Lynn sometimes made recommendations, but the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua or his successor, retired Cardinal Justin Rigali, made the decision, they said.

But both current D.A. Seth Williams and his predecessor, Lynne Abraham, felt they could not successfully prosecute the cardinals or their top bishops. Williams last year charged Lynn with felony child endangerment and conspiracy. In court, prosecutors have called the archdiocese an unindicted co-conspirator.

Four others were charged with sexually assaulting boys. The Rev. James Brennan is on trial with Lynn. Defrocked priest Edward Avery will serve 2-1/2 to five years after pleading guilty last week to sexual assault and conspiracy. And two others, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and former Catholic school teacher Bernard Shero, are set for trial later this year. They allegedly raped the same boy that Avery assaulted.