Problems Bill Donohue can't make go away
I was brought up Catholic coming from a Sicilian heritage like I did. I went to Catechism, made my Communion and Confirmation and even took off from school for Ash Wesdnday. As I grew older I distanced myself from the ritualism that was part of the Church, but I believe that my beliefs should remain private no matter where they have taken me. I do have to admit that it does bother me somewhat when I read stories like this.
Ireland's senior Roman Catholic, Cardinal Sean Brady, said Monday he would not resign despite admitting he helped the church collect evidence against a child-molesting priest � and never told police about the crimes.
Brady, as a priest and Vatican-trained canon lawyer in 1975, said he interviewed two children about the abuse they suffered at the hands of the Rev. Brendan Smyth. He said both children were required to sign oaths promising not to tell anyone outside the church of their allegations.
Smyth went on to molest and rape scores of other children in Ireland, Britain and the United States before British authorities in neighboring Northern Ireland demanded his arrest in 1994. The Irish government of the day collapsed amid acrimony over why Smyth was not quickly extradited to Belfast.
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"Yes, I knew that these were crimes," Brady said. "But I did not feel that it was my responsibility to denounce the actions of Brendan Smyth to the police. Now I know with hindsight that I should have done more, but I thought at the time I was doing what I was required to do."
Smyth abused at least 90 children in Ireland, Britain and in U.S. parishes in Rhode Island and North Dakota from 1948 to 1993.
His Irish religious order, the Norbertines, gave him sanctuary in the Republic of Ireland in 1991 after one Belfast family told Northern Ireland police he had molested four of the family's children.
This story comes on the heels of the bombshell that fell on Pope Benedict's head.
The priest at the center of a German sex-abuse scandal that embroiled Pope Benedict XVI continued working with children for more than 30 years, even though the pope was personally involved in his case and a German court convicted the priest of molesting boys.
The priest, Peter Hullermann, who had previously been identified only by the first initial of his last name, was suspended from his duties only on Monday. That was three days after the church acknowledged that the pope, then Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, had responded to early accusations of molestation by allowing the priest to move to Munich for therapy in 1980.
Hundreds of victims have come forward in recent months in Germany with accounts of sexual and other physical abuse from decades past. But no case has captured the attention of the nation like that of Hullermann, not only because of the involvement of the future pope, but also because of the impunity that allowed a child molester to continue to work with altar boys and girls for decades after his conviction.
Bill Donohue probably will be asked to go on TV soon to comment, but will probably decline if he can. I hope he does because he always tries to refer to these types of stories as horrible, but old news. He's one of the most embarrassing people I've ever seen try and represent any religious community. Evah! What do they say about the cover up and the crime, again?
what is coming down the pope's path. Just let him try. Between the Irish story, the german choir boy story--with the pope's brother hands all over it, and the gay sex ring by the pope's usher--Benny will be lucky he doesn't go the way of John Paul I.
I've never understood why anyone thinks of Donohue as a representative for the Catholic Church at all. My mom is just as much a representative of the church as he is. Being AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE is no proof that you represent anything other than your own opinion. This guy just barged his way onto the national stage, thinking he could speak for all Catholics just because he had a bullhorn. Ridiculous, and certainly not worthy of anyone's attention, much less the national media.
But as you say, it is interesting that he's nowhere to be found when the issue is an embarrassment to the Church, isn't it? Considering how high up these scandals go, I'd be surprised if we ever hear from him again. And good riddance to bad garbage, as they say.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
. . . his job being that he's a parasite battening on the RCC.
The part of the job you don't see is him going around to well-heeled Catholics--many of them elderly and concerned that they'd better make up for past sins while there's still time--and there's Donahue, convincing them that he is practically Jesus's BFF, and He'd really look kindly on the geezers' a$$i$tance in Donahue's crusade to save Jesus's Own Church--especially since it's under attack so much by Jews and other heathens.
Of course, to reinforce that last, and so that the contributors can see their money is going someplace (i.e., to preserve the illusion that they didn't get taken by a cheap, loudmouthed hustler), he has to get out the bullhorn, as you put it, on a regular basis, whether someone is attacking the Church or not, or even on occasions (such as the present one) when the Church might actually prefer as little publicity as possible.
It is integral to Donahue's
bloodsucking scamline of work that he get on TV and carry on about threats to the Church as much as possible. That is the part of the job that you do see.Damn...
I thought it said Phil Donohue
He's Catholic too, right?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
very liberal.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
After all, that's exactly what the Vatican is doing. They've planted the idea that the stuff to come out about Benedict XVI's involvement with the German pedophile priest is some conspiracy to discredit him and the Church. As if he and the Church needed any help, sadly...
The Bill Donohues of the world and their counterparts in the Vatican leadership will never allow the survivors of clergy sexual abuse the closure and healing they so deserve.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
the Devil made them do it.
Wonder if that will hold up in court. Maybe in Poland.
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"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
... and the child molestation and cover up by the Catholic Church is just the tip of the iceberg. Travesties and human slaughter have been done under the name of religion than any other organization or government.
I don't understand how a god who can create matter and the universe doesn't have the power to take out the devil with a snap of his fingers?
All the church rules and rituals are nothing more than fear mongering tactics to support a bunch of pedophiles and their tacit approval superiors.
What kind of god brings children into the world and then gives them cancer? And yet people get on their knees to "worship" him? Do these people really have a grasp on reality?
http://jmason.org/slack/S-or-D.gif
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
covers all the bases, that's for sure.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
"Yes, I knew that these were crimes," Brady said. "But I did not feel that it was my responsibility to denounce the actions of Brendan Smyth to the police."
So what this idiot is telling us is that religion doesn't give a shit between right and wrong. - just another example of why I feel religious people are inferior. Please people, everyone needs to give up their invisible friend and take responsiblity for their own lives. - Otherwise you open up the chances for this crap to happen to your child too.
it seems like abuse to just subject a child to chruch in the first place - and that doesn't even include anything the church officials might do to the poor kid. - please people we need to smarten up!
Shouldn't that read man on boy!
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
man on dog.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
I tell them that it is child abuse. The kids should be in school, or out playing, not dressed up like undertakers and out having to "witness".
...to know about a crime and not report it? Couldn't these priests be thrown in jail for racketeering?
"Yes, I knew that these were crimes," Brady said. "But I did not feel that it was my responsibility to denounce the actions of Brendan Smyth to the police."
Note here that he admits he knew they were crimes, and he's not saying that he heard them in confession.
Any citizen has the responsibility to report a crime that they know of, and can be arrested and charged for not reporting. It's called, at the very least, accessory after the fact. The moving around of the criminal(pedophile) so that he is able to commit his crime again - that's what racketeering laws are for.
Tax the rich - that's where the money is.
Am I the only one that has the shit annoyed out of him by flashing ads?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
go away. Maybe.
Norbertines?
Maybe that should be 'Libertines'.
Apparently homosexual pedophilia has been so much a part of the Catholic Church for such a long time that it scarcely seems inappropriate to the Church's hierarchy.
I imagine the priests involved were probably seduced by priests when they were boys. And those priests were probably also seduced by priests when they were boys.
And so on and so on ..
This would explain the complete disconnect between their apparent acceptance of the practice and the public's outrage.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
incest family, both in the denial and in the passing down the sexual abuse through the generations...
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
Actually I saw that post and, though I didn't comment, agreed.
As you see I've had more or less the same thought, though I hadn't yet equated the situation with incest families, just that the "tradition" had been passed from one generation to the next.
Similar to traditional polygamous mormon families where no one thinks it odd for the 50 yr old man to take a 13 yr old girl as his third or fourth wife.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
comparison, it's been ingrained in them so long they think it's normal. Kind of like also in incest families where both perps and victims believe their situation is more common than it actually is, and many victims don't understand it's wrong.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
very enlightening about the traditional Mormon Church...and very entertaining.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
Please don't bring innocent gay people into this because it seems the motivation for pedophilia is kind of the same as for rape. it's a violent act of control over someone who is powerless to fend off the asshole committing the crime.
And also I would expect values and morality from a homosexual, I would never expect it from a catholic.
that prey on little boys instead of little girls. I know by now he didn't meant GLBT identified people.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
that's cool, but I always hear people say that if they prey on boys that they are homosexual and that doesn't even enter into it. And the gay community has enough trouble without being lumped in with something as corrupt and immoral as the church.
are heterosexual men, and they are probably responsible for the abuse of the boys in the Catholic Church.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
I'd wager the proportion of pedophiles is more or less the same in both the heterosexual and the homosexual population.
Just a guess ..
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
male priests who have sex with boys
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
While I certainly agree with your assessment of pedophilia, I can't agree with your lumping ALL Catholics into a demographic devoid of values or morality.
Some of us do have values and morality, and find them lacking in the most vocal representatives of the faith, while we are scorned as not being 'real' Christians or 'true' Catholics.
I don't mean to say that you (if you are religious, whatever religion) are lacking in values or morality, I am just suggesting that supporting the church is in itself a kind of immoral act. - I don't care how much good the church does (as religious people like to argue), I just don't know how many good deads it takes to make up for the inquisition or any of the many atrocities caused by the church and religion.
And as I said before, I wouldn't even care if the church would stay out of my life, but noooooooo.
And I thank God that I volunteered for the traffic patrol rather than be an altar boy, because it turned out one of our parish priests liked little boys.
Just ONE????
just couldn't abide the hypocrisy around women's lives--anti-abortion, no birth control. And condemnation of gays. And divorce...now, all you have to do is pay the church enough money, and voila! An annulment so you can marry again. It just seems that when the hierarchy of the Church is so corrupt....how can they dictate to others how to live their lives? The fish rots from the head down.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
the government represents me. Not!
sexual abuse in the Santa Rosa diocese. Sister Jane Kelly. She raised holy hell when the Vatican tried to keep her quiet about a predatory priest at her parish.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
is the biggest, smelliest pile of BS ever sold to humanity. All their churches, including the vatican should be looted, and the wealth given to their victims. It's hard to imagine that people still beleive in omnipotent cloud spooks.
Their homeworld was a place called Earth, located in an uninteresting part of the galaxy. They had an expression: pride goeth before a fall. Their pride was their undoing. I know. I was there....They did not listen, of course. Arrogant men never do.
that's why this country is so fuck'd most people are so chickenshit that they can't take responsiblity for themselves so they dump it on a ficticious father figure to "save" them from themselves.
I can't help but look down on anyone who tells me they are religious.
and I wouldn't even care if they didn't try to dump their bullshit god into my life all the time!
So it's wrong for the religious sorts to look down upon you, but okay for you to view them with disdain?
I'm perfectly happy discussing matters of faith and spirituality without the requirement that the listener convert to my beliefs.
Nothing in this world requires my permission or approval to exist. (And if it did, I'd be busier addressing hateful little toads like Tom Tancredo than attending to everyone's bedroom.)
Someone wise and fair like yourself?
Don't make me laugh.
I'm just saying that opposed to the way many religious people see themselves as above the crowd, a crowd they need to save by the way
Again, I'm not saying this is 100% of religious people but if you share company with dolts and fools...well, I can't help but feel the idividual needs to prove they are above the frey.
I know several people who are religious and we can have good, logical conversations, but I still feel that if people would give up the invisible friend and face life for what it was they would be much happier.
But what do I know.
the main reason I get so upset about it (irrational even) is because of the harm religion as caused, if it wasn't such a rotten voilent organization I probably could ignore it all together.
... we're going to have a full-out religious war in this country, and radical extremist Muslims are going to be a happy memory in comparison.
There's a lot of hate masquerading as faith running around out there, and the evangelicals are already convinced everyone else is going to hell, but also that they're going to get a free pass when the shit hits the fan.
The schadenfreude when they're all standing there in a post-atomic wasteland looking for the Rapture Bus is going to be awfully delicious.
because of religion, you know.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
... to dictate my behavior, or as a substitute for rational thought (in that, I *am* curious about how the universe was created, the structure of atoms, etc. ... 'God made it' is intellectually lazy and often intellectually dishonest).
My salvation does not come at the expense of someone else's damnation, nor do I view it as a spiritual Amway product.
As far as prayer goes, it's an intellectual exercise in recognizing my own failures and coming to terms with the consequences, as well as tapping into one's inner strength to choose a path other than what may be dictated by baser desires - and that's an outcome of a Jesuit education.
the Catholic church had their own rehab facilities (there was one in a small town near where I lived in 1990s). Officially it was a rehab for alcoholics but locals could tell that not all of the priests and nuns that were sent there were really alcoholics and suspected that pedophile priests were sent there as a form of punishment. Priests dying of AIDS were sent there as well.
...founder of the Legion of Christ and serial pedophile.
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/secretiv...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHyhdaTQCS4
Paedophilia is endemic to the catholic church, and is one of the many reasons why I left the church.
I really don't understand why millions of practicing catholics just shrug and look the other way, tacitly accepting the priests' criminally obscene behavior as ok. If they were as moral as they claim, they would either speak out in protest or just leave the church altogether.
Why people stay in this church, whose only desire is to put a priest between you and your God, to control and collect, is beyond me. I have a few close friends who are devout Catholics. They cannot fathom why I am not a theist, do not believe in their projections, but I am more puzzled that they stay in such a rotten organization. Totally conditioned/brainwashed.
Message to Catholics. You can have your beliefs OUTSIDE the structure of the church, and most likely, be more content and fulfilled. If you want to believe.
I'm fine without it--free.
Catholic. I am a moral, decent, hardworking, compassionate human being--and don't need a religion to tell me how to behave. I left the Church because of the hypocrisy and its domination of women (anti-choice, no birth control), and didn't appreciate it when my husband left me and I got a divorce and was told I couldn't re-marry unless I got an "annulment", which would cost money and meant my marriage would never have existed....where did that leave my 3 kids? So, for my money, the Catholic church can control other people's lives....I can take care of myself. And that doesn't mean I don't believe there is a higher being...maybe there is. I guess I'm an agnostic now.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
That's a question that I have had for a long time. If the marriage is annulled, do the children become illegitimate?
I know two people who were molested and then became gay.
Both went to private schools where they were molested.
Some people are born gay but others do become gay from incidents that occurred when they were kids.
http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/2010/03/12/f...
http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/2010/03/05/f...
http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/2010/03/07/f...
How large would an...'I'm an excaped Catholic!' gathering be? How many millions? I would be the first to sign-up.
....the fools do not realize,a population that can ,..... not paticipate .............in the 'economy'...,can not keep it viable!..........."we are listening,.......and we're not blind.,......this is your life....this is your time."
Second!!
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“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
My sister tells me she has one source that says it'll be exposed soon that Pope Rat was supplied with young boys.
We all know it's possible - and perhaps even likely.
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One huge category of unthinking, perhaps simple minded, people is that portion of humanity who, in a universe that spans a scale from quarks to having a visible diameter of 29.4 billion light years, ask for rules and explanations from a drooling old ex Nazi pedophile facilitator in a gold plated pointed hat! It takes one's breath away!
...12 years of Catholic education, altar boy, taught CCD for 5 years...that's me. I,too, do not partake of the rituals anymore. The instituation is too corrupt. I'm not quite sure if it was the anti-Kerry/pro-Bush pamphlets on my car after Mass or the newly installed $1.5 million custom designed crucifix installed on the altar that was the last straw.
I pray...always will. I believe He hears me but don't bother sending me envelopes anymore.
"Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying..."-------Roger Waters, "Comfortably Numb"
While I am pretty much a Christmas and Easter Catholic, partially because of the sex abuse scandals, I get really annoyed with the self-righteous discussion about religion that always comes up on C&L when there are posts about religion...usually from the vocal non-religious side. John's post was critical without being disrespectful, and I wish others were capable of discussing religion in the same way. I respect everyone's right to believe or disbelieve, and I think it should go both ways. I think we can discuss this issue without attacking others for their belief in a higher power or their choice to express that belief through religious practices.
Yea, where's he been. He's usually all over the news, with his loudmouth blasting anyone within earshot.
I was raised a Catholic. No longer in the fold. I remember the first time I saw this guy on TV. I thought, wow, what an asshole. My opinion has only solidified with every time he appears to defend the church's indefensible actions. But, you have to admit, he has carved out a pretty good niche for himself. What a great gig. Wonder how much he pays himself?
The man who is now the Catholic Cardinal of Ireland knew that the priest was raping children, he covered it up, and the man went on to rape dozens more children. With all due respect (and I really don't mean this as a personal attack), what does it take for these people to bother you completely?
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