Catholic Officials Defend Pope Benedict XVI - Victims Say Church Covered Up Abuse Cases

A new report suggest that Pope Benedict XVI failed to report child abuse, for years. An article came out today on my local paper where the Vatican is defending how they handled molestation cases. I personally think the Catholic Church needs to take their collective heads out of the sand and face the music. They are defending the indefensible.

One case in particular, alleges that Rev Lawrence murphy sexually molested more than 200 deaf boys  at the St, John’s School for the Deaf in Wisconsin. The article states, “Some of the allegations became public years ago. But they got renewed attention this week after documents obtained by the New York Times showed that Murphy was spared a defrocking in the mid-1990s because he was protected by the Vatican office led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

 Keli Goof a commentator at the Huffington Post  says and I quote, "People of faith should -- and do -- expect more of our religious leaders, especially when these same leaders continue to try to dictate the morality of others.”

Who do the Catholic Church think they are? Do they consider themselves above not only the law but above God?

I agree with Keli Goof when she suggests boycotting the church until pedophile Catholic priests get prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I wonder, will either of these hypocrites be in heaven?

UPDATE: Saturday, March 27, 2010

U.S. Courts allow sex abuse cases against Vatican to proceed in rare legal move

Comments

[Publicado por: Calvin]

In this case the New York Times has wilfully (?) left out some relevant facts in their endeavor to implicate the Pope. If they would be honest enought to state ALL the facts of this matter, I will trust them again as a dependable source of news. I'm no pope fanatic but I've followed the media stories with my usual critical eye and have checked out everything from both sides. There is always more than one perspective on every subject. This is totally missing in the NYT and other media reports at present. Sad. For the trust we're supposed to have in the MSM.....

[Publicado por: David]

Te comento en español pues es acerca de un libro, "Los Papas y el Sexo" de Eric Frattini. El autor dice que hay un documento de 1959 en el que Juan XXIII ya prohibió a obispos y cardenales entregar a los curas pederastas a la policía. 1959!! Cuánto ha llovido y cuanto daño han hecho enfermos encubiertos por el clero de alto rango. Si viste el documental "Deliver Us From Evil" ves que el que cometió los crímenes es un sociópata, un tipo enajenado de la realidad. Pero los que lo protegieron y encubrieron NO están mal de la cabeza. Si ese documento de Juan XXIII es auténtico, todos los papas sabían, desde Pablo XI hasta este. Ya se que el Vaticano es un estado, pero los abusadores y encubridores viven en otros países. Ni perdón ni olvido. Salud y suerte.

[Publicado por: Anastasia]

I believe it's unfair to put all the apples in the same basket. Some of them may be rotten, some not. I honestly don't feel that the Pope or the whole of the Catholic church should be held responsible for crimes that some priests may have committed. Surely the culprits must be caught and punished severely. When I think of child abuse, I wish capital punishment wasn't abolished. In the Greek Orthodox Church, there have occasionally been many scandals in which some of our priests and bishops were involved. This doesn't mean that the whole Church is corrupted.

[Publicado por: r beato]

I am split on this one...In one hand it is wrong to hide and deny the fact that there are child molesters within the Church. On the other hand there are many holier than thou organizations that use this to justify calling the Roman Catholic Church as the Whore of Babylon. Or that there is no God.
Sad thing is that they hide and demean their own corruption and adulterous ways. Everyone sent fire to Nancy Alvarez and New York Mortgage with their mortgage scandal but how much coverage the Font divorce affair had? They were splitting the church properties as their own. How many televangelists become corrupted? How many stories of faith healers where the kid dies because it was God's will? How many incest cases? How many Waco Texas? How many Kool Aid cups were drank on Guyana?
Is sad when Church, that should be setting the example of justice, fairness and the general good does the exact opposite. Not just in the child molestation case, but more on issues on the closure of schools by the San Juan Archdiocese where they literally stole the construction fees collected from the parents for improvements of the Rio Piedras school to use on their own charitable institutions. Remember they decided to close this school because it was not economically solvent...of course, the money was gone because THEY WERE USING IT ELSEWHERE!
It is not that it is not correct to use money for charity, but money for a school construction was separated for that, not what Church thinks best.
I mean...power corrupts. And Church had its very own corruption for years. My wife always reminds me of Jerusalem's Bells by Coldplay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1rXfEgMQA)that expresses this point beautifully. The ideals are OK, the concepts too. The human weakness is where it fails. This is where conscience kicks in. This is what Luther nailed on the door of the church in his Thesis. Amending and correcting the errors past is required. After this we go back to the ideals and concepts, this is the glue that has held the church for over 2 millenia.
For now all I can do is have faith on my parish and pray they follow the ideals and not the flesh. I know they are righteous, I know they serve a higher purpose. Right or wrong the concepts and ideals are untarnished after all these years. I pray they all find them...

[Publicado por: Kofla Olivieri]

David, no hay problema, aqui puedes escribir en los dos idiomas. No habia escuchado el libro, gracias por mencionarlo para incluirlo en mi lista de libros para leer en el futuro. Suena interesante lo que mencionas.

Hay evidencia que la iglesia en el pasado ha protegido a muchos de estos individuos. Es una de las razones por las cuales todavia a esta fecha estan todavia pagando demandas. Este cuento es para largo rato. Gracias por comentar.

[Publicado por: Kofla Olivieri]

Calvin, it is unfortunate that the media manipulate reports and regularly fail to present all the facts. I think a lot of times it depends on who is paying the "talking head analyst" making the report. They usually twist things around to present their point of view. Thank you for your comment.

[Publicado por: Kofla Olivieri]

Anastacia you are absolutely correct. Even though I agree that the institution as a whole should not be held responsible, it has been proven that for years those in charge had overlooked, dismissed, or hide abuse. Those who have protected these pedophiles should be held accountable. The church as a whole is not corrupted, unfortunately, the rotten apples in the barrel need to be exposed and prosecuted. Thanks.

[Publicado por: Kofla Olivieri]

r beato, I agree with you that power and money corrupts. There is corruption in all facets of life. I also think one of the reasons this is becoming huge news is because even though the United States is a christian nation, catholicism only count for 23% of all Americans. Also the Pope is the most powerful religious person in the world. I am guessing keeping these pedophile reports in the forefront of the public attention, help others to recruit or convert people into their religion. Thanks for the comment.

[Publicado por: Anastasia]

Surely, justice must be done including those who cover up the paedophiles.