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Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Did Pope Francis know & Conceal Bishop McCarrick crimes? - Read his accuser's testimony!

I'm reprinting this public document verbatim as I retrieved it from Scribd tonight.  I invite Susanna's comments.

https://tinyurl.com/y9no42jq

Stay tuned!
Constance

TESTIMONY by His Excellency Carlo Maria Viganò
 Titular Archbishop of Ulpiana
 Apostolic Nuncio 

1 TESTIMONY by His Excellency Carlo Maria Viganò Titular Archbishop of Ulpiana Apostolic Nuncio In this tragic moment for the Church in various parts of the world — the United States, Chile, Honduras, Australia, etc. — bishops have a very grave responsibility. I am thinking in particular of the United States of America, where I was sent as Apostolic Nuncio by Pope Benedict XVI on October 19, 2011, the memorial feast of the First North American Martyrs. The Bishops of the United States are called, and I with them, to follow the example of these first martyrs who brought the Gospel to the lands of America, to be credible witnesses of the immeasurable love of Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Bishops and priests, abusing their authority, have committed horrendous crimes to the detriment of their faithful, minors, innocent victims, and young men eager to offer their lives to the Church, or by their silence have not prevented that such crimes continue to be perpetrated. To restore the beauty of holiness to the face of the Bride of Christ, which is terribly disfigured by so many abominable crimes, and if we truly want to free the Church from the fetid swamp into which she has fallen, we must have the courage to tear down the culture of secrecy and publicly confess the truths we have kept hidden. We must tear down the conspiracy of silence with which bishops and priests have protected themselves at the expense of their faithful, a conspiracy of silence that in the eyes of the world risks making the Church look like a sect, a conspiracy of silence not so dissimilar from the one that prevails in the mafia. “Whatever you have said in the dark ... shall be proclaimed from the housetops” (Lk. 12:3). I had always believed and hoped that the hierarchy of the Church could find within itself the spiritual resources and strength to tell the whole truth, to amend and to renew itself. That is why, even though I had repeatedly been asked to do so, I always avoided making statements to the media, even when it would have been my right to do so, in order to defend myself against the calumnies published about me, even by high-ranking prelates of the Roman Curia. But now that the corruption has reached the very top of the Church’s hierarchy, my conscience dictates that I reveal those truths regarding the heart-breaking case of the Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C., Theodore McCarrick, which I came to know in the course of the duties entrusted to me by St. John Paul II, as Delegate for Pontifical Representations, from 1998 to 2009, and by Pope Benedict XVI, as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, from October 19, 2011 until end of May 2016. As Delegate for Pontifical Representations in the Secretariat of State, my responsibilities were not limited to the Apostolic Nunciatures, but also included the staff of the Roman Curia (hires, promotions, informational processes on candidates to the episcopate, etc.) and the examination of delicate cases, including those regarding cardinals and bishops, that were entrusted to the Delegate by the Cardinal Secretary of State or by the Substitute of the Secretariat of State. To dispel suspicions insinuated in several recent articles, I will immediately say that the Apostolic Nuncios in the United States, Gabriel Montalvo and Pietro Sambi, both prematurely deceased, did not fail to inform the Holy See immediately, as soon as they learned of Archbishop McCarrick’s gravely immoral behavior with seminarians and priests. Indeed, according to what Nuncio Pietro Sambi wrote, Father Boniface Ramsey, O.P.’s letter, dated November 22, 2000, was written at the request of the late Nuncio Montalvo. In the letter, Father Ramsey, who had been a professor at the diocesan seminary in Newark from the end of the ’80s until 1996, affirms that there was a recurring rumor in the seminary that the Archbishop “shared his bed with seminarians,” inviting five at a time to spend the weekend with him at 2 his beach house. And he added that he knew a certain number of seminarians, some of whom were later ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Newark, who had been invited to this beach house and had shared a bed with the Archbishop. The office that I held at the time was not informed of any measure taken by the Holy See after those charges were brought by Nuncio Montalvo at the end of 2000, when Cardinal Angelo Sodano was Secretary of State. Likewise, Nuncio Sambi transmitted to the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, an Indictment Memorandum against McCarrick by the priest Gregory Littleton of the diocese of Charlotte, who was reduced to the lay state for a violation of minors, together with two documents from the same Littleton, in which he recounted his tragic story of sexual abuse by the then-Archbishop of Newark and several other priests and seminarians. The Nuncio added that Littleton had already forwarded his Memorandum to about twenty people, including civil and ecclesiastical judicial authorities, police and lawyers, in June 2006, and that it was therefore very likely that the news would soon be made public. He therefore called for a prompt intervention by the Holy See. In writing up a memo1 on these documents that were entrusted to me, as Delegate for Pontifical Representations, on December 6, 2006, I wrote to my superiors, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and the Substitute Leonardo Sandri, that the facts attributed to McCarrick by Littleton were of such gravity and vileness as to provoke bewilderment, a sense of disgust, deep sorrow and bitterness in the reader, and that they constituted the crimes of seducing, requesting depraved acts of seminarians and priests, repeatedly and simultaneously with several people, derision of a young seminarian who tried to resist the Archbishop’s seductions in the presence of two other priests, absolution of the accomplices in these depraved acts, sacrilegious celebration of the Eucharist with the same priests after committing such acts. In my memo, which I delivered on that same December 6, 2006 to my direct superior, the Substitute Leonardo Sandri, I proposed the following considerations and course of action to my superiors:  Given that it seemed a new scandal of particular gravity, as it regarded a cardinal, was going to be added to the many scandals for the Church in the United States,  and that, since this matter had to do with a cardinal, and according to can. 1405 § 1, No. 2˚, “ipsius Romani Pontificis dumtaxat ius est iudicandi”;  I proposed that an exemplary measure be taken against the Cardinal that could have a medicinal function, to prevent future abuses against innocent victims and alleviate the very serious scandal for the faithful, who despite everything continued to love and believe in the Church. I added that it would be salutary if, for once, ecclesiastical authority would intervene before the civil authorities and, if possible, before the scandal had broken out in the press. This could have restored some dignity to a Church so sorely tried and humiliated by so many abominable acts on the part of some pastors. If this were done, the civil authority would no longer have to judge a cardinal, but a pastor with whom the Church had already taken appropriate measures to prevent the cardinal from abusing his authority and continuing to destroy innocent victims. 1 All the memos, letters and other documentation mentioned here are available at the Secretariat of State of the Holy See or at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. 3 My memo of December 6, 2006 was kept by my superiors, and was never returned to me with any actual decision by the superiors on this matter. Subsequently, around April 21-23, 2008, the Statement for Pope Benedict XVI about the pattern of sexual abuse crisis in the United States, by Richard Sipe, was published on the internet, at richardsipe.com. On April 24, it was passed on by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, to the Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone. It was delivered to me one month later, on May 24, 2008. The following day, I delivered a new memo to the new Substitute, Fernando Filoni, which included my previous one of December 6, 2006. In it, I summarized Richard Sipe’s document, which ended with this respectful and heartfelt appeal to Pope Benedict XVI: “I approach Your Holiness with due reverence, but with the same intensity that motivated Peter Damian to lay out before your predecessor, Pope Leo IX, a description of the condition of the clergy during his time. The problems he spoke of are similar and as great now in the United States as they were then in Rome. If Your Holiness requests, I will personally submit to you documentation of that about which I have spoken.” I ended my memo by repeating to my superiors that I thought it was necessary to intervene as soon as possible by removing the cardinal’s hat from Cardinal McCarrick and that he should be subjected to the sanctions established by the Code of Canon Law, which also provide for reduction to the lay state. This second memo of mine was also never returned to the Personnel Office, and I was greatly dismayed at my superiors for the inconceivable absence of any measure against the Cardinal, and for the continuing lack of any communication with me since my first memo in December 2006. But finally I learned with certainty, through Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, then-Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, that Richard Sipe’s courageous and meritorious Statement had had the desired result. Pope Benedict had imposed on Cardinal McCarrick sanctions similar to those now imposed on him by Pope Francis: the Cardinal was to leave the seminary where he was living, he was forbidden to celebrate [Mass] in public, to participate in public meetings, to give lectures, to travel, with the obligation of dedicating himself to a life of prayer and penance. I do not know when Pope Benedict took these measures against McCarrick, whether in 2009 or 2010, because in the meantime I had been transferred to the Governorate of Vatican City State, just as I do not know who was responsible for this incredible delay. I certainly do not believe it was Pope Benedict, who as Cardinal had repeatedly denounced the corruption present in the Church, and in the first months of his pontificate had already taken a firm stand against the admission into seminary of young men with deep homosexual tendencies. I believe it was due to the Pope’s first collaborator at the time, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who notoriously favored promoting homosexuals into positions of responsibility, and was accustomed to managing the information he thought appropriate to convey to the Pope. In any case, what is certain is that Pope Benedict imposed the above canonical sanctions on McCarrick and that they were communicated to him by the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Pietro Sambi. Monsignor Jean-François Lantheaume, then first Counsellor of the Nunciature in Washington and Chargé d'Affaires a.i. after the unexpected death of Nuncio Sambi in Baltimore, told me when I arrived in Washington — and he is ready to testify to it— about a stormy conversation, lasting over an hour, that Nuncio Sambi had with Cardinal McCarrick whom he had summoned to the Nunciature. Monsignor Lantheaume told me that “the Nuncio’s voice could be heard all the way out in the corridor.” 4 Pope Benedict’s same dispositions were then also communicated to me by the new Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, in November 2011, in a conversation before my departure for Washington, and were included among the instructions of the same Congregation to the new Nuncio. In turn, I repeated them to Cardinal McCarrick at my first meeting with him at the Nunciature. The Cardinal, muttering in a barely comprehensible way, admitted that he had perhaps made the mistake of sleeping in the same bed with some seminarians at his beach house, but he said this as if it had no importance. The faithful insistently wonder how it was possible for him to be appointed to Washington, and as Cardinal, and they have every right to know who knew, and who covered up his grave misdeeds. It is therefore my duty to reveal what I know about this, beginning with the Roman Curia. Cardinal Angelo Sodano was Secretary of State until September 2006: all information was communicated to him. In November 2000, Nunzio Montalvo sent him his report, passing on to him the aforementioned letter from Father Boniface Ramsey in which he denounced the serious abuses committed by McCarrick. It is known that Sodano tried to cover up the Father Maciel scandal to the end. He even removed the Nuncio in Mexico City, Justo Mullor, who refused to be an accomplice in his scheme to cover Maciel, and in his place appointed Sandri, then-Nuncio to Venezuela, who was willing to collaborate in the coverup. Sodano even went so far as to issue a statement to the Vatican press office in which a falsehood was affirmed, that is, that Pope Benedict had decided that the Maciel case should be considered closed. Benedict reacted, despite Sodano’s strenuous defense, and Maciel was found guilty and irrevocably condemned. Was McCarrick’s appointment to Washington and as Cardinal the work of Sodano, when John Paul II was already very ill? We are not given to know. However, it is legitimate to think so, but I do not think he was the only one responsible for this. McCarrick frequently went to Rome and made friends everywhere, at all levels of the Curia. If Sodano had protected Maciel, as seems certain, there is no reason why he wouldn’t have done so for McCarrick, who according to many had the financial means to influence decisions. His nomination to Washington was opposed by then-Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. At the Nunciature in Washington there is a note, written in his hand, in which Cardinal Re disassociates himself from the appointment and states that McCarrick was 14th on the list for Washington. Nuncio Sambi’s report, with all the attachments, was sent to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, as Secretary of State. My two above-mentioned memos of December 6, 2006 and May 25, 2008, were also presumably handed over to him by the Substitute. As already mentioned, the Cardinal had no difficulty in insistently presenting for the episcopate candidates known to be active homosexuals — I cite only the well-known case of Vincenzo de Mauro, who was appointed Archbishop-Bishop of Vigevano and later removed because he was undermining his seminarians — and in filtering and manipulating the information he conveyed to Pope Benedict. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the current Secretary of State, was also complicit in covering up the misdeeds of McCarrick who had, after the election of Pope Francis, boasted openly of his travels and missions to various continents. In April 2014, the Washington Times had a front page report on McCarrick’s trip to the Central African Republic, and on behalf of the State Department no less. As Nuncio to Washington, I wrote to Cardinal Parolin asking him if the sanctions imposed on McCarrick by Pope Benedict were still valid. Ça va sans dire that my letter never received any reply! 5 The same can be said for Cardinal William Levada, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for Cardinals Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Lorenzo Baldisseri, former Secretary of the same Congregation for Bishops, and Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari, current Secretary of the same Congregation. They were all aware by reason of their office of the sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict on McCarrick. Cardinals Leonardo Sandri, Fernando Filoni and Angelo Becciu, as Substitutes of the Secretariat of State, knew in every detail the situation regarding Cardinal McCarrick. Nor could Cardinals Giovanni Lajolo and Dominique Mamberti have failed to know. As Secretaries for Relations with States, they participated several times a week in collegial meetings with the Secretary of State. As far as the Roman Curia is concerned, for the moment I will stop here, even if the names of other prelates in the Vatican are well known, even some very close to Pope Francis, such as Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who belong to the homosexual current in favor of subverting Catholic doctrine on homosexuality, a current already denounced in 1986 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in the Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons. Cardinals Edwin Frederick O’Brien and Renato Raffaele Martino also belong to the same current, albeit with a different ideology. Others belonging to this current even reside at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Now to the United States. Obviously, the first to have been informed of the measures taken by Pope Benedict was McCarrick’s successor in Washington See, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, whose situation is now completely compromised by the recent revelations regarding his behavior as Bishop of Pittsburgh. It is absolutely unthinkable that Nunzio Sambi, who was an extremely responsible person, loyal, direct and explicit in his way of being (a true son of Romagna) did not speak to him about it. In any case, I myself brought up the subject with Cardinal Wuerl on several occasions, and I certainly didn’t need to go into detail because it was immediately clear to me that he was fully aware of it. I also remember in particular the fact that I had to draw his attention to it, because I realized that in an archdiocesan publication, on the back cover in color, there was an announcement inviting young men who thought they had a vocation to the priesthood to a meeting with Cardinal McCarrick. I immediately phoned Cardinal Wuerl, who expressed his surprise to me, telling me that he knew nothing about that announcement and that he would cancel it. If, as he now continues to state, he knew nothing of the abuses committed by McCarrick and the measures taken by Pope Benedict, how can his answer be explained? His recent statements that he knew nothing about it, even though at first he cunningly referred to compensation for the two victims, are absolutely laughable. The Cardinal lies shamelessly and prevails upon his Chancellor, Monsignor Antonicelli, to lie as well. Cardinal Wuerl also clearly lied on another occasion. Following a morally unacceptable event authorized by the academic authorities of Georgetown University, I brought it to the attention of its President, Dr. John DeGioia, sending him two subsequent letters. Before forwarding them to the addressee, so as to handle things properly, I personally gave a copy of them to the Cardinal with an accompanying letter I had written. The Cardinal told me that he knew nothing about it. However, he failed to acknowledge receipt of my two letters, contrary to what he customarily did. I subsequently learned that the event at Georgetown had taken place for seven years. But the Cardinal knew nothing about it! 6 Cardinal Wuerl, well aware of the continuous abuses committed by Cardinal McCarrick and the sanctions imposed on him by Pope Benedict, transgressing the Pope’s order, also allowed him to reside at a seminary in Washington D.C. In doing so, he put other seminarians at risk. Bishop Paul Bootkoski, emeritus of Metuchen, and Archbishop John Myers, emeritus of Newark, covered up the abuses committed by McCarrick in their respective dioceses and compensated two of his victims. They cannot deny it and they must be interrogated in order to reveal every circumstance and all responsibility regarding this matter. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who was recently interviewed by the media, also said that he didn’t have the slightest idea about the abuses committed by McCarrick. Given his tenure in Washington, Dallas and now Rome, I think no one can honestly believe him. I don’t know if he was ever asked if he knew about Maciel’s crimes. If he were to deny this, would anybody believe him given that he occupied positions of responsibility as a member of the Legionaries of Christ? Regarding Cardinal Sean O’Malley, I would simply say that his latest statements on the McCarrick case are disconcerting, and have totally obscured his transparency and credibility. * * * My conscience requires me also to reveal facts that I have experienced personally, concerning Pope Francis, that have a dramatic significance, which as Bishop, sharing the collegial responsibility of all the bishops for the universal Church, do not allow me to remain silent, and that I state here, ready to reaffirm them under oath by calling on God as my witness. In the last months of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI had convened a meeting of all the apostolic nuncios in Rome, as Paul VI and St. John Paul II had done on several occasions. The date set for the audience with the Pope was Friday, June 21, 2013. Pope Francis kept this commitment made by his predecessor. Of course I also came to Rome from Washington. It was my first meeting with the new Pope elected only three months prior, after the resignation of Pope Benedict. On the morning of Thursday, June 20, 2013, I went to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, to join my colleagues who were staying there. As soon as I entered the hall I met Cardinal McCarrick, who wore the redtrimmed cassock. I greeted him respectfully as I had always done. He immediately said to me, in a tone somewhere between ambiguous and triumphant: “The Pope received me yesterday, tomorrow I am going to China.” At the time I knew nothing of his long friendship with Cardinal Bergoglio and of the important part he had played in his recent election, as McCarrick himself would later reveal in a lecture at Villanova University and in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter. Nor had I ever thought of the fact that he had participated in the preliminary meetings of the recent conclave, and of the role he had been able to have as a cardinal elector in the 2005 conclave. Therefore I did not immediately grasp the meaning of the encrypted message that McCarrick had communicated to me, but that would become clear to me in the days immediately following. The next day the audience with Pope Francis took place. After his address, which was partly read and partly delivered off the cuff, the Pope wished to greet all the nuncios one by one. In single file, I remember that I was among the last. When it was my turn, I just had time to say to him, “I am the Nuncio to the United States.” He immediately assailed me with a tone of reproach, using these words: “The Bishops in the United States must not be ideologized! They must be shepherds!” Of course I was not in a position to ask for explanations about the meaning of his words and the aggressive way in which he had 7 upbraided me. I had in my hand a book in Portuguese that Cardinal O’Malley had sent me for the Pope a few days earlier, telling me “so he could go over his Portuguese before going to Rio for World Youth Day.” I handed it to him immediately, and so freed myself from that extremely disconcerting and embarrassing situation. At the end of the audience the Pope announced: “Those of you who are still in Rome next Sunday are invited to concelebrate with me at the Domus Sanctae Marthae.” I naturally thought of staying on to clarify as soon as possible what the Pope intended to tell me. On Sunday June 23, before the concelebration with the Pope, I asked Monsignor Ricca, who as the person in charge of the house helped us put on the vestments, if he could ask the Pope if he could receive me sometime in the following week. How could I have returned to Washington without having clarified what the Pope wanted of me? At the end of Mass, while the Pope was greeting the few lay people present, Monsignor Fabian Pedacchio, his Argentine secretary, came to me and said: “The Pope told me to ask if you are free now!” Naturally, I replied that I was at the Pope’s disposal and that I thanked him for receiving me immediately. The Pope took me to the first floor in his apartment and said: “We have 40 minutes before the Angelus.” I began the conversation, asking the Pope what he intended to say to me with the words he had addressed to me when I greeted him the previous Friday. And the Pope, in a very different, friendly, almost affectionate tone, said to me: “Yes, the Bishops in the United States must not be ideologized, they must not be right-wing like the Archbishop of Philadelphia, (the Pope did not give me the name of the Archbishop) they must be shepherds; and they must not be left-wing — and he added, raising both arms — and when I say left-wing I mean homosexual.” Of course, the logic of the correlation between being left-wing and being homosexual escaped me, but I added nothing else. Immediately after, the Pope asked me in a deceitful way: “What is Cardinal McCarrick like?” I answered him with complete frankness and, if you want, with great naiveté: “Holy Father, I don’t know if you know Cardinal McCarrick, but if you ask the Congregation for Bishops there is a dossier this thick about him. He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.” The Pope did not make the slightest comment about those very grave words of mine and did not show any expression of surprise on his face, as if he had already known the matter for some time, and he immediately changed the subject. But then, what was the Pope’s purpose in asking me that question: “What is Cardinal McCarrick like?” He clearly wanted to find out if I was an ally of McCarrick or not. Back in Washington everything became very clear to me, thanks also to a new event that occurred only a few days after my meeting with Pope Francis. When the new Bishop Mark Seitz took possession of the Diocese of El Paso on July 9, 2013, I sent the first Counsellor, Monsignor Jean-François Lantheaume, while I went to Dallas that same day for an international meeting on Bioethics. When he got back, Monsignor Lantheaume told me that in El Paso he had met Cardinal McCarrick who, taking him aside, told him almost the same words that the Pope had said to me in Rome: “the Bishops in the United States must not be ideologized, they must not be right-wing, they must be shepherds….” I was astounded! It was therefore clear that the words of reproach that Pope Francis had addressed to me on June 21, 2013 had been put into his mouth the day before by Cardinal McCarrick. Also the Pope’s mention “not like the Archbishop of Philadelphia” could be traced to McCarrick, because there had been a strong disagreement between the two of them about the admission to Communion of pro-abortion politicians. In his communication to the bishops, McCarrick had manipulated a letter of then-Cardinal Ratzinger who prohibited giving them Communion. Indeed, I also knew how certain Cardinals such as Mahony, Levada and Wuerl, were closely linked to McCarrick; they had opposed the most recent appointments made by Pope Benedict, for important posts such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Denver and San Francisco. 8 Not happy with the trap he had set for me on June 23, 2013, when he asked me about McCarrick, only a few months later, in the audience he granted me on October 10, 2013, Pope Francis set a second one for me, this time concerning a second of his protégés, Cardinal Donald Wuerl. He asked me: “What is Cardinal Wuerl like, is he good or bad?” I replied, “Holy Father, I will not tell you if he is good or bad, but I will tell you two facts.” They are the ones I have already mentioned above, which concern Wuerl’s pastoral carelessness regarding the aberrant deviations at Georgetown University and the invitation by the Archdiocese of Washington to young aspirants to the priesthood to a meeting with McCarrick! Once again the Pope did not show any reaction. It was also clear that, from the time of Pope Francis’s election, McCarrick, now free from all constraints, had felt free to travel continuously, to give lectures and interviews. In a team effort with Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, he had become the kingmaker for appointments in the Curia and the United States, and the most listened to advisor in the Vatican for relations with the Obama administration. This is how one explains that, as members of the Congregation for Bishops, the Pope replaced Cardinal Burke with Wuerl and immediately appointed Cupich right after he was made a cardinal. With these appointments the Nunciature in Washington was now out of the picture in the appointment of bishops. In addition, he appointed the Brazilian Ilson de Jesus Montanari — the great friend of his private Argentine secretary Fabian Pedacchio — as Secretary of the same Congregation for Bishops and Secretary of the College of Cardinals, promoting him in one single leap from a simple official of that department to Archbishop Secretary. Something unprecedented for such an important position! The appointments of Blase Cupich to Chicago and Joseph W. Tobin to Newark were orchestrated by McCarrick, Maradiaga and Wuerl, united by a wicked pact of abuses by the first, and at least of coverup of abuses by the other two. Their names were not among those presented by the Nunciature for Chicago and Newark. Regarding Cupich, one cannot fail to note his ostentatious arrogance, and the insolence with which he denies the evidence that is now obvious to all: that 80% of the abuses found were committed against young adults by homosexuals who were in a relationship of authority over their victims. During the speech he gave when he took possession of the Chicago See, at which I was present as a representative of the Pope, Cupich quipped that one certainly should not expect the new Archbishop to walk on water. Perhaps it would be enough for him to be able to remain with his feet on the ground and not try to turn reality upside-down, blinded by his pro-gay ideology, as he stated in a recent interview with America Magazine. Extolling his particular expertise in the matter, having been President of the Committee on Protection of Children and Young People of the USCCB, he asserted that the main problem in the crisis of sexual abuse by clergy is not homosexuality, and that affirming this is only a way of diverting attention from the real problem which is clericalism. In support of this thesis, Cupich “oddly” made reference to the results of research carried out at the height of the sexual abuse of minors crisis in the early 2000s, while he “candidly” ignored that the results of that investigation were totally denied by the subsequent Independent Reports by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2004 and 2011, which concluded that, in cases of sexual abuse, 81% of the victims were male. In fact, Father Hans Zollner, S.J., Vice-Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, President of the Centre for Child Protection, and Member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, recently told the newspaper La Stampa that “in most cases it is a question of homosexual abuse.” The appointment of McElroy in San Diego was also orchestrated from above, with an encrypted peremptory order to me as Nuncio, by Cardinal Parolin: “Reserve the See of San Diego for McElroy.” McElroy was also well aware of McCarrick’s abuses, as can be seen from a letter sent to him by Richard Sipe on July 28, 2016. 9 These characters are closely associated with individuals belonging in particular to the deviated wing of the Society of Jesus, unfortunately today a majority, which had already been a cause of serious concern to Paul VI and subsequent pontiffs. We need only consider Father Robert Drinan, S.J., who was elected four times to the House of Representatives, and was a staunch supporter of abortion; or Father Vincent O’Keefe, S.J., one of the principal promoters of The Land O’Lakes Statement of 1967, which seriously compromised the Catholic identity of universities and colleges in the United States. It should be noted that McCarrick, then President of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, also participated in that inauspicious undertaking which was so harmful to the formation of the consciences of American youth, closely associated as it was with the deviated wing of the Jesuits. Father James Martin, S.J., acclaimed by the people mentioned above, in particular Cupich, Tobin, Farrell and McElroy, appointed Consultor of the Secretariat for Communications, well-known activist who promotes the LGBT agenda, chosen to corrupt the young people who will soon gather in Dublin for the World Meeting of Families, is nothing but a sad recent example of that deviated wing of the Society of Jesus. Pope Francis has repeatedly asked for total transparency in the Church and for bishops and faithful to act with parrhesia. The faithful throughout the world also demand this of him in an exemplary manner. He must honestly state when he first learned about the crimes committed by McCarrick, who abused his authority with seminarians and priests. In any case, the Pope learned about it from me on June 23, 2013 and continued to cover for him. He did not take into account the sanctions that Pope Benedict had imposed on him and made him his trusted counselor along with Maradiaga. The latter [Maradiaga] is so confident of the Pope’s protection that he can dismiss as “gossip” the heartfelt appeals of dozens of his seminarians, who found the courage to write to him after one of them tried to commit suicide over homosexual abuse in the seminary. By now the faithful have well understood Maradiaga’s strategy: insult the victims to save himself, lie to the bitter end to cover up a chasm of abuses of power, of mismanagement in the administration of Church property, and of financial disasters even against close friends, as in the case of the Ambassador of Honduras Alejandro Valladares, former Dean of the Diplomatic Corps to the Holy See. In the case of the former Auxiliary Bishop Juan José Pineda, after the article published in the [Italian] weekly L’Espresso last February, Maradiaga stated in the newspaper Avvenire: “It was my auxiliary bishop Pineda who asked for the visitation, so as to ‘clear’ his name after being subjected to much slander.” Now, regarding Pineda the only thing that has been made public is that his resignation has simply been accepted, thus making any possible responsibility of his and Maradiaga vanish into nowhere. In the name of the transparency so hailed by the Pope, the report that the Visitator, Argentine bishop Alcides Casaretto, delivered more than a year ago only and directly to the Pope, must be made public. Finally, the recent appointment as Substitute of Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra is also connected with Honduras, that is, with Maradiaga. From 2003 to 2007 Peña Parra worked as Counsellor at the Tegucigalpa Nunciature. As Delegate for Pontifical Representations I received worrisome information about him. In Honduras, a scandal as huge as the one in Chile is about to be repeated. The Pope defends his man, Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, to the bitter end, as he had done in Chile with Bishop Juan de la Cruz 10 Barros, whom he himself had appointed Bishop of Osorno against the advice of the Chilean Bishops. First he insulted the abuse victims. Then, only when he was forced by the media, and a revolt by the Chilean victims and faithful, did he recognize his error and apologize, while stating that he had been misinformed, causing a disastrous situation for the Church in Chile, but continuing to protect the two Chilean Cardinals Errazuriz and Ezzati. Even in the tragic affair of McCarrick, Pope Francis’s behavior was no different. He knew from at least June 23, 2013 that McCarrick was a serial predator. Although he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end; indeed, he made McCarrick’s advice his own, which was certainly not inspired by sound intentions and for love of the Church. It was only when he was forced by the report of the abuse of a minor, again on the basis of media attention, that he took action [regarding McCarrick] to save his image in the media. Now in the United States a chorus of voices is rising especially from the lay faithful, and has recently been joined by several bishops and priests, asking that all those who, by their silence, covered up McCarrick’s criminal behavior, or who used him to advance their career or promote their intentions, ambitions and power in the Church, should resign. But this will not be enough to heal the situation of extremely grave immoral behavior by the clergy: bishops and priests. A time of conversion and penance must be proclaimed. The virtue of chastity must be recovered in the clergy and in seminaries. Corruption in the misuse of the Church’s resources and of the offerings of the faithful must be fought against. The seriousness of homosexual behavior must be denounced. The homosexual networks present in the Church must be eradicated, as Janet Smith, Professor of Moral Theology at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, recently wrote. “The problem of clergy abuse,” she wrote, “cannot be resolved simply by the resignation of some bishops, and even less so by bureaucratic directives. The deeper problem lies in homosexual networks within the clergy which must be eradicated.” These homosexual networks, which are now widespread in many dioceses, seminaries, religious orders, etc., act under the concealment of secrecy and lies with the power of octopus tentacles, and strangle innocent victims and priestly vocations, and are strangling the entire Church. I implore everyone, especially Bishops, to speak up in order to defeat this conspiracy of silence that is so widespread, and to report the cases of abuse they know about to the media and civil authorities. Let us heed the most powerful message that St. John Paul II left us as an inheritance: Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid! In his 2008 homily on the Feast of the Epiphany, Pope Benedict reminded us that the Father’s plan of salvation had been fully revealed and realized in the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, but it needs to be welcomed in human history, which is always a history of fidelity on God’s part and unfortunately also of infidelity on the part of us men. The Church, the depositary of the blessing of the New Covenant, signed in the blood of the Lamb, is holy but made up of sinners, as Saint Ambrose wrote: the Church is “immaculata ex maculatis,” she is holy and spotless even though, in her earthly journey, she is made up of men stained with sin. I want to recall this indefectible truth of the Church’s holiness to the many people who have been so deeply scandalized by the abominable and sacrilegious behavior of the former Archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick; by the grave, disconcerting and sinful conduct of Pope Francis and by the conspiracy of silence of so many pastors, and who are tempted to abandon the Church, disfigured by so many ignominies. At the Angelus on Sunday, August 12, 2018 Pope Francis said these words: “Everyone is guilty for the good he could have done and did not do ... If we do not oppose evil, we tacitly feed it. 11 We need to intervene where evil is spreading; for evil spreads where daring Christians who oppose evil with good are lacking.” If this is rightly to be considered a serious moral responsibility for every believer, how much graver is it for the Church’s supreme pastor, who in the case of McCarrick not only did not oppose evil but associated himself in doing evil with someone he knew to be deeply corrupt. He followed the advice of someone he knew well to be a pervert, thus multiplying exponentially with his supreme authority the evil done by McCarrick. And how many other evil pastors is Francis still continuing to prop up in their active destruction of the Church! Francis is abdicating the mandate which Christ gave to Peter to confirm the brethren. Indeed, by his action he has divided them, led them into error, and encouraged the wolves to continue to tear apart the sheep of Christ’s flock. In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them. Even in dismay and sadness over the enormity of what is happening, let us not lose hope! We well know that the great majority of our pastors live their priestly vocation with fidelity and dedication. It is in moments of great trial that the Lord’s grace is revealed in abundance and makes His limitless mercy available to all; but it is granted only to those who are truly repentant and sincerely propose to amend their lives. This is a favorable time for the Church to confess her sins, to convert, and to do penance. Let us all pray for the Church and for the Pope, let us remember how many times he has asked us to pray for him! Let us all renew faith in the Church our Mother: “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church!” Christ will never abandon His Church! He generated her in His Blood and continually revives her with His Spirit! Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us! Mary, Virgin and Queen, Mother of the King of glory, pray for us! Rome, August 22, 2018 Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Official translation by Diane Montagna

230 comments:

  1. If anybody has difficulty reading this, what I downloaded from Scribd is much easier to read and is formatted for better reading. Email me at cumbey@gmail.com and put "Did Pope Francis know" in the subject line and I will send you as an email attachment in .pdf form that downloaded statement.

    Constance

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here's a link to the Pennsylvania report:

    http://media-downloads.pacourts.us/InterimRedactedReportandResponses.pdf?cb=42148

    Constance

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here's a New York Times recent article about Bishop Vigano, Pope Francis' accuser:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/world/europe/archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-pope-francis.html

    Constance

    ReplyDelete
  4. More from me. Here's an article about EWTN's Raymond Arroyo, whom I respect, defending Bishop Vigano. Moreover, re the New York Times article I cited above, considering the very aggressive pro-homosexuality bent of the New York Times, who in this day and age appears to be more like the Village Voice (a pro homosexual paper), it is not surprising that they would be unflattering of any exposer of such an agenda as Vigano has courageously exposed.

    Constance

    ReplyDelete
  5. Raymond Arroyo was on Laura Ingraham's show on Fox on the 27th:

    Catholic leaders call on Pope Francis to resign

    In a nutshell, Pope Benedict took McCarrick out of public ministry in light of the alleged abuses (payoffs), yet Francis restored him, after having been informed specifically by Viganò about these issues and how this man was, according to Viganò, a "serial predator".

    ReplyDelete

  6. It gets even worse ...

    Regarding the investigation which covered 70 YEARS of sexual abuse, PA State Attorney General now states that there is evidence that illustrates that the Vatican was in receipt of WRITTEN documentation of many of these crimes. Apparently, it was standard procedure for the Bishops to provide case information to the Vatican, which makes the Vatican complicit in the cover-ups and crimes!

    Also, contemplate this ... while the Bishops were systematically DENYING (i.e. LYING) that abuses had taken place, they were documenting these cases and sending them off to the Vatican via hand delivered Diplomatic (secret) pouches. AND, the "church" continued to transfer these sex offenders to unsuspecting Dioceses, whereby they then continued their perverted crimes against INNOCENT CHILDREN! Amazing!

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/vatican-knew-pennsylvania-sex-abuse-cover-prosecutor-says-214718782.html

    ReplyDelete

  7. For quite some time, Michael Voris of the Church Militant has been very vocal on the issues of the "gay lobby" and the ongoing sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. In the past, he has been less critical of Pope Francis, that is, until now.

    Voris states, very powerfully, the MORAL problems the RCC faces, and lays much of the blame at the feet of Pope Francis. Watch this video as Voris sums up the current situation quite succinctly:

    https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vort-cm-statement-on-the-pope

    ReplyDelete
  8. Craig 8:34 AM,

    Thanks for putting it in a nutshell. Francis seems quite two-faced about homosexuality in the church.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Towards the end of the testimony he starts asking Mary for help. He seems so perplexed as to how all this corruption could have slithered into the Church.
    He calls her Mary the Mother of the Church, etc
    I don't understand why he and so many others refuse to see that the whole Marian portion of RC doctrine is flawed.
    ...And bad doctrine leads to bad behavior every time.
    No one should be praying to Mary or asking her for help.
    I think it's an insult to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus told the Apostles that he would send the Comforter, which he did,
    Mary is blessed among women, no doubt about that. It doesn't make her part of the Godhead.
    She is not the "Queen of Heaven". Even on earth there is no queen if there's a king. Heaven has no Queen, or need of one.
    Bad doctrine = bad behavior every time.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous5:25 PM

    My sentiments exactly, Paul.

    God needs no help being God. None. And is an insult to Him to suppose any differently. Isn't that what the devil wants to do, is suppose and impose that somehow there can be equality with God? Mary, for all her virtues, and greatly used of God for His purpose, was still just human, imperfect, never perfect, and in need of a Savior herself.

    God shares His glory with no one.

    Mary herself, (in RCC worshipped, venerated, whatever claim the practices are), and/or the Church itself, have their place and role in the affairs of men, but it is not, nor will it ever be, above the Lord. Bad doctrine taught and believed creates complexes of willfulness in the ego and psyche of people that bring on greater temptation to exalt people above their station and the results are awful ~ tragic ~ throughout the ages. That is not exclusive to the RCC, of course, but by it's very governmental structure , which is not the New Testament model, graphically examples this problem.
    Self righteousness is the height of pride against Holy God so when that somebody, or somebodies, or institutions get off course in belief as God prescribes He be believed and worshipped according to His Word, the Bible, great is the fall of it, of them.......

    ReplyDelete
  11. Susanna8:14 PM

    Craig and J,

    First of all, let me make it clear that I do not condone coverups of sexual misconduct....not even by popes.

    That said, I would like to play devil's advocate here for a moment with regard to Archbisop Vigano's credibility.

    I think it needs to be pointed out that the credibility of Archbishop Vigano's accusations against Pope Francis stand or fall on whether Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI imposed sanctions on Cardinal McCarrick.

    Archbishop Vigano does not produce any documentation that Pope Benedict imposed such sanctions. Vigano claims that sanctions were imposed on McCarrick by Pope Benedict "in secret."

    Viganò asserts that, sometime between 2006 and 2008, Benedict XVI became aware of further, more gruesome allegations against then-Cardinal McCarrick, no later than when news reached him of a memorandum of indictment written by a laicized priest who was himself an abuser. That document detailed sexual aggressions McCarrick and other priests and seminarians of the Newark archdiocese (which McCarrick led from 1986 to 2000), as well as other allegations detailed in a letter by the former cleric, Richard Sipe, whose career focused on the psychological study of clerics’ aberrant and abusive behavior. Viganò says that sometime thereafter, the then-Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, told him Benedict had imposed disciplinary measures on McCarrick.

    “I learned with certainty, through Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, then-Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, that Richard Sipe’s courageous and meritorious Statement had had the desired result,” Viganò writes in his testimony. “Pope Benedict had imposed on Cardinal McCarrick sanctions similar to those now imposed on him by Pope Francis: the Cardinal was to leave the seminary where he was living, he was forbidden to celebrate [Mass] in public, to participate in public meetings, to give lectures, to travel, with the obligation of dedicating himself to a life of prayer and penance.”

    If this rehearsal of the facts is accurate, it raises the question why Benedict should have kept the matter secret, not to mention why McCarrick was allowed to keep his red hat. There are other questions the former Nuncio’s letter raises, as well. It was not accompanied by a dossier containing the many memoranda and other correspondence on which he draws in his construction of events, even though it appears he kept copies of at least some of the documents to which he averts in his letter. At one point, Viganò says:

    [A]round April 21-23, 2008, the Statement for Pope Benedict XVI about the pattern of sexual abuse crisis in the United States, by Richard Sipe, was published on the internet, at richardsipe.com. On April 24, it was passed on by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, to the Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone. It was delivered to me one month later, on May 24, 2008.

    The following day, I delivered a new memo to the new Substitute, Fernando Filoni, which included my previous one of December 6, 2006. In it, I summarized Richard Sipe’s document, which ended with this respectful and heartfelt appeal to Pope Benedict XVI: “I approach Your Holiness with due reverence, but with the same intensity that motivated Peter Damian to lay out before your predecessor, Pope Leo IX, a description of the condition of the clergy during his time. The problems he spoke of are similar and as great now in the United States as they were then in Rome. If Your Holiness requests, I will personally submit to you documentation of that about which I have spoken.”


    cont.

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  12. Susanna8:28 PM

    cont.

    One wonders where the documentation to which Archbishop Viganò refers, both in the passage above and elsewhere throughout his testimony, might be. If he has it, he should share it — indeed, should have included it in his “testimony”. If he is no longer in possession of the documents, he ought to say so, and say why and how he came to be dispossessed of them. It could be simply that they remain on file with the Nunciature and/or the Secretariat of State. If that is the case, there is a strong case to be made for their immediate release to the public.

    In any case, the former Nuncio’s narrative continues to detail further misdeeds, the most damning of which he attributes to the Holy Father.

    In essence, Archbishop Viganò claims that Pope Francis knowing of the allegations against McCarrick and aware of the sanctions Benedict had imposed on him, did not act on the allegations and lifted the sanctions, allowing McCarrick to travel freely and function as a priest and a bishop. Reading Viganò’s recollection of his conversations with the Holy Father regarding McCarrick — in June of 2013, only a few months after Francis’s election — one notes that Viganò never says he explicitly mentioned any specific allegation against McCarrick. He also does a good deal of reading between the lines, and attributes motive:

    I began the conversation, asking the Pope what he intended to say to me with the words he had addressed to me when I greeted him the previous Friday. And the Pope, in a very different, friendly, almost affectionate tone, said to me: “Yes, the Bishops in the United States must not be ideologized, they must not be right-wing like the Archbishop of Philadelphia, (the Pope did not give me the name of the Archbishop) they must be shepherds; and they must not be left-wing — and he added, raising both arms — and when I say left-wing I mean homosexual.” Of course, the logic of the correlation between being left-wing and being homosexual escaped me, but I added nothing else.

    Immediately after, the Pope asked me in a deceitful way: “What is Cardinal McCarrick like?” I answered him with complete frankness and, if you want, with great naiveté: “Holy Father, I don’t know if you know Cardinal McCarrick, but if you ask the Congregation for Bishops there is a dossier this thick about him. He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.” The Pope did not make the slightest comment about those very grave words of mine and did not show any expression of surprise on his face, as if he had already known the matter for some time, and he immediately changed the subject. But then, what was the Pope’s purpose in asking me that question: “What is Cardinal McCarrick like?” He clearly wanted to find out if I was an ally of McCarrick or not.
    ...read entire article.....

    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/26/if-viganos-testimony-is-true-pope-francis-has-failed-his-own-test/
    __________________________________________________

    At the end of the day, I am not the only one who suspects that Archbishop Vigano is a disgruntled employee. His motive, according to Massimo Faggioli, a theologian and church historian at Villanova University can be traced back to the archbishop's being denied a red cardinal cap.

    After the Vatileaks fiasco, Vigano was made Apostolic Nuncio to the United States against his wishes. Vigano reportedly saw this move as a denial of his hopes of eventually being appointed president of the Vatican City State and with it, elevation to a cardinal.


    Viganò's allegations and the Vatican's verifications

    The controversy began with Italian television show "The Untouchables" on La7: Here is how the Holy See investigated the incidents cited by the current Nuncio to the United States

    1/28/2012

    http://www.lastampa.it/2012/01/28/vaticaninsider/vigans-allegations-and-the-vaticans-verifications-7Q5DcrLWprwqnkPlwoOtQJ/pagina.html


    cont.

    If so, "May the Lord rebuke him."

    ReplyDelete
  13. Susanna states (in part) @ 8:28PM

    "At the end of the day, I am not the only one who suspects that Archbishop Vigano is a disgruntled employee. His motive, according to Massimo Faggioli, a theologian and church historian at Villanova University can be traced back to the archbishop's being denied a red cardinal cap."

    "After the Vatileaks fiasco, Vigano was made Apostolic Nuncio to the United States against his wishes. Vigano reportedly saw this move as a denial of his hopes of eventually being appointed president of the Vatican City State and with it, elevation to a cardinal."

    Susanna,

    What concrete proof do you have for the assertions that you posted above? HOW exactly does Massimo Faggioli KNOW the heart of Vigano, i.e. his "motives?"

    Also, along these same lines, you claim that Vigano "reportedly," and "against his wishes was made Apostolic Nuncio, etc." WHAT exactly are you referring to when you use the word "reportedly?" How is it that your sources knew that his appointment was "against his wishes?"

    This is a very serious matter. Innocent children's lives are at stake here. Please provide concrete proof to back up your seemingly hearsay claims.

    ReplyDelete

  14. Susanna,

    Why do you think it is that Pope Francis, when given the opportunity to deny the claims of Vigano, he meekly stated that he "would not say a word" on this matter?

    I know one thing for sure; if someone accused me of being complicit in evil, obnoxious crimes that I am completely innocent of, I certainly would want to offer my defense, and would dispute it point by point!

    The Pope's silence reminds me of that lying Bishop that "couldn't remember" about 192 times during his deposition. The same one that "didn't know priests having sex with children" was a crime!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Susanna8:49 PM

    cont.

    Apparently, this is not the first time Archbishop Vigano has leveled baseless accusations against other prelates.

    Vatican officials say 'corruption' charges by envoy to U.S. are 'unfounded'
    Feb 6, 2012
    by Francis X. Rocca, Catholic News Service

    VATICAN CITY -- In an unusually public rebuke of a high-ranking colleague, Vatican officials dismissed as baseless the accusations of "corruption and abuse of power" made in letters by an archbishop who is now apostolic nuncio to the United States.

    In a statement released by the Vatican Feb. 4, Cardinal-designate Giuseppe Bertello and Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, the current and immediate past presidents of the Governorate of Vatican City State, described as a "cause of great sadness" the recent "unlawful publication" by Italian journalists of two letters addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state.

    The letters, written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano when he was the governorate's secretary general, or second-highest official, contained assertions based on "erroneous evaluations" or "fears unsupported by proof," the statement said.

    Archbishop Vigano's letter to the pope, dated March 27, 2011, lamented "so many situations of corruption and abuse of power long rooted in the various departments" of the governorate, and warned that the archbishop's (Vigano's) departure from his position there "would provoke profound confusion and dejection" among all those supporting his efforts at reform.

    Pope Benedict named the archbishop as nuncio to the United States in October 2011.

    The governorate manages the 108 acres of Vatican City State, including the Vatican Gardens and Museums.

    During Archbishop Vigano's stint at the governorate, a budget deficit of nearly $9.8 million in 2009 turned into a surplus of $28 million in 2010.

    According to the Feb. 4 Vatican statement, which was also signed by the current secretary general and a former vice secretary general of the governorate, the improved finances during the period in question were "due principally to two factors": the management of the governorate's financial investments by a different Vatican office, and, "in even greater measure, to the excellent results of the Vatican Museums."

    Archbishop Vigano's letter to Cardinal Bertone, dated May 8, 2011, complained of the cardinal's plans to remove the archbishop from his post, and accused the cardinal of breaking a promise to let the archbishop succeed the then-president of the governorate, Cardinal Lajolo, upon the latter's retirement.


    cont.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Susanna8:50 PM

    cont.

    In the letter, the archbishop blamed Cardinal Bertone's change of mind on the effects of "strategies put into action in order to destroy me in the eyes of Your Eminence," including the planting of libelous stories in the Italian press by several of Archbishop Vigano's enemies among fellow Vatican officials.

    The archbishop singled out one such official -- Msgr. Paolo Nicolini, managing director of the Vatican Museums -- for especially severe and colorful criticism, including charges of mismanagement.

    The Feb. 4 statement did not acknowledge several other recently published letters apparently written by Archbishop Vigano; but it seemed to contest certain charges made in one of those letters, dated April 4, 2011, and addressed to Pope Benedict.

    That letter alleged "corruption" in the granting of contracts to outside vendors: "Jobs were always given to the same companies ... at a cost that was double that of similar work carried out outside the Vatican."

    The letter claimed that the archbishop had been able in one year to cut the cost of the Christmas Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square by 250,000 euro ($330,000).

    The same letter criticized the "inexperience" of investment advisers whose recommendations purportedly led the Vatican to lose 2.5 million euro ($3.3 million) in a single transaction.

    By contrast, the Feb. 4 Vatican statement emphasized the regularity of the governorate's procedure for assigning major contracts, with oversight provided by a special committee appointed by the president.

    The statement also expressed "full faith" in the "illustrious members" of the governorate's financial and management committee, its departments heads and other officials, in spite of "suspicions and accusations" which have been "revealed -- upon careful examination -- as unfounded."

    ReplyDelete

  17. In case anyone out there thinks I am making up the "Bishop didn't know raping children was a crime," here is a link to the news story, along with a short video clip of this "Bishop's" testimony:

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/bishop-not-sure-if-child-molestation-is-a-crime/

    ReplyDelete

  18. Dr. Taylor Marshall provides an interesting position as to the REAL reasons that Benedict resigned ... and it involves Vigano!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q2HSJ6cbMY

    ReplyDelete
  19. Susanna9:15 PM

    Emphasis.

    Here, Vigano's very own letter is cited by Francis X. Rocca of Catholic News Service.
    The Presidency of the Governorate of Vatican City State carries with it a cardinal's hat.

    Archbishop Vigano's letter to Cardinal Bertone, dated May 8, 2011, complained of the cardinal's plans to remove the archbishop from his post, and accused the cardinal of breaking a promise to let the archbishop succeed the then-president of the governorate, Cardinal Lajolo, upon the latter's retirement.

    In the letter, the archbishop blamed Cardinal Bertone's change of mind on the effects of "strategies put into action in order to destroy me in the eyes of Your Eminence," including the planting of libelous stories in the Italian press by several of Archbishop Vigano's enemies among fellow Vatican officials.


    Vigano's unfortunate letters surfaced during the VatiLeaks Scandal.

    Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi published letters from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, in which he begged not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions in higher contract prices. The name "VatiLeaks" is a play on the word WikiLeaks, a not-for-profit media organisation whose goal is to bring important news and information to the public.….

    ….Among the documents were letters written to the pope and to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, by then apostolic nuncio to the United States, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, complaining of corruption in Vatican finances and a campaign of defamation against him. Viganò, formerly the second ranked Vatican administrator to the pope, begged not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions in higher contract prices. However, John L. Allen Jr. suggests Viganò's transfer could have been about personality rather than policy. "[T]his would not seem to be about a courageous whistle-blower who's trying to expose wrong-doing or prompt reform. The motives seem more personal and political."


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_leaks_scandal
    ________________________________________________________________

    Vigano's accusations later proved to be unfounded. Catholic News Article posted above at 8:49PM and 8:50PM.

    As for the reason why Pope Francis is remaining silent at this time......I am sure he will speak.... when the time is right.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Susanna9:31 PM

    Dr. Taylor Marshall provides an interesting summary of Archbishop Vigano's accusations against Pope Francis.

    Who is Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò? The Nuncio that accused Pope Francis of covering up McCarrick’s sexual abuse

    by Dr Taylor Marshall

    https://taylormarshall.com/2018/08/archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-nuncio-accused-pope-francis-covering-mccarricks-sexual-abuse.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. Susanna,

    In the comments section of the link you just provided, Dr. Marshall makes the following comment in responding to another:

    I do believe Abp Vigano is trustworthy and he is telling the truth. And if it is true: Pope Francis must repent publicly and resign.

    ReplyDelete

  22. Archbishop Vigano answers his critics (IMO, attackers) in this exclusive interview:

    https://onepeterfive.com/vigano-crow-truth/

    My personal observations ...

    I have noticed a very consistent pattern regarding virtually any scandal, controversial quotation, practice, critical news story, book/author, etc. involving the Catholic Church. Whenever such occurs, immediately vicious attacks are made upon the messenger (or the news source) and the attacks are relentless. I believe the reason for this is to discredit the messenger in order to deflect away from the matter in question, and, to cause doubt as to its validity. It is a very effective method and is used virtually without exception.

    There is one person in here that is a master at this. On virtually every controversial statement made by Pope Francis, immediately the charge is "he has been misquoted," "you can't trust the source," etc. in spite of the fact that the quotations are NEVER refuted by the Vatican and the quotes appear in multiple venues! Scandals of every kind are simply brushed away, personal testimony of the victims are ignored and the messenger is attacked.

    The corruption of the hierarchy in the RCC is monumental. IMO, it always has been. It is a money loving machine with vast wealth that rivals any economic corporation on earth. It remains one of the largest land/real estate owners in the entire world. The Vatican Bank is well known to be a money laundering operation with a long history of well documented corruption. The ongoing sex abuse scandals, however, is what really gets the attention of normal people, because virtually everyone detests sexual rape (except for a great deal of people inside the RCC hierarchy & clergy), let alone when it is perpetrated upon CHILDREN ... and the Internet has been the source that has exposed the light on this evil. That is why Pope Francis attacked it as "fake news." (Look for more efforts by the elite to limit and or shut down all conservative access to sites).

    If you hate these crimes, pray that God would bring down His righteous hand of judgment upon them! Pray too that the blessed name of Jesus Christ would cease to be dragged through the dirt of this corrupt institution, along with others like it!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous9:40 AM

    Well said RayB

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:09 AM

    Nobody, no one, here, or otherwise, and the Pope himself that some place such stock and reverence in, can excuse away the despicable actions and coverups that have gone on for long decades, even centuries now. Silence has always only and always, bought more time and opportunity for this to continue.
    Where is the perspective and outrage of those faithful, that should be abhorring what has been perpetrated on individuals and communities, and where is the desire for a massive exposure and the repentance and clean up this needs, since this vileness and wickedness has been done in the Lord's Name?

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm remembering a dear friend and courageous Catholic ally I had, a Dominican priest by the name of Fr. John F. O'Connor. He started corresponding and telephone contact with me almost as soon as my first radio broadcasts on SW Radio Church in 1982. He was forced to retire and die in poverty because of his courageous expose's and call for repentance for the homosexual/child molestation scenes. He courageously spoke. I have transferred to DVD one of his aging videos on the subject. I met him personally in Michigan at my dear friend Liz Collins' house as they were housing him for a speaking engagement in our area on this subject. He was respected by Fr. Vincent Miceli, another brave speaker on things transpiring to advance the wrong Kingdom! I wish he were here now to speak to about these issues.

    Constance

    ReplyDelete
  26. Some of Fr. John O'Connor's sermons are on YouTube:

    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Fr+john+o%27connor


    Here he is speaking about homosexual infiltration of Catholic seminaries:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0zl9xMCCvo

    ReplyDelete
  27. Susanna only said she was playing devil's advocate. She is so used to straw man arguments that I don't blame her for not immediately believing an attack on the Catholic church. She needs to determine for herself what the strongest possible case is to defend her church against critics...because she surely knows she will not get it from most posters here. Maybe if the anti-Catholic bias were not so relentless, she would be more trusting of what people are saying this time around.

    I for one appreciate the high standard of knowing the strongest argument for both or all sides before making up my mind. If the case is really strong against Francis, it can still be made, regardless of the strongest possible case in his favor.

    ReplyDelete
  28. To J:

    Thank you for your comments and very wise statements!


    Constance

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous10:28 AM

    Susanna has been playing devil's advocate here for over a decade.

    Your lukewarm J. Your an egotistical religionist who finds some good in everything. You would have argued with Christ when he harshly condemned the Pharisees. Oh, but Lord, the Pharisees do some good things!!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous11:24 AM

    Susanna,
    You generally are such a nice poster here but something is lacking in your discourse. Honestly, I feel you should at least be expressing some dismay and displeasure at what is reported and verified in the Pennsylvania priest scandal and the cover up that has occurred over a long period of time. I would not (and have not defended) my denomination over scandal of any kind and spoken out about such. We all have a stake in this as Christians, and wrong is wrong no matter who it is. We should all mourn the damage done and want this ugliness changed that hurts the Lord and the people who wear His Name. The truth should be allowed to prevail, but also the victims deserve to be acknowledged and helped to heal. Defense and denial is counter-productive to that. A tiny slip of the lip statement in passing is nothing. Am I wrong to think this? I believe anger at sin is righteous and expected of a Christian. That is words and deeds to match to fit the situation
    The Bible says be angry and sin not...important words to consider.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous12:21 PM

    Pat Buchanan: A Cancer On The Papacy

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-31/pat-buchanan-cancer-papacy

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous12:45 PM

    In light of Matthew 10:37 those who not only defend a dead, and vulgar religion, but actually speak highly of it, and rarely, if ever give praise to the Savior, who alone is worthy of all our praise, is guilty of idolatry.

    Unfortunately, the putting of family, tradition, nation, institutions etc. before the Heavenly Father have eternal consequences! The name of The Lord, must not be incorporated with perversion!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I'm going to requote something Susanna wrote at 8:14 PM. I'm interested in replies that are relevant and not emotionally driven.

    "Craig and J,

    First of all, let me make it clear that I do not condone coverups of sexual misconduct....not even by popes.

    That said, I would like to play devil's advocate here for a moment with regard to Archbisop Vigano's credibility.

    I think it needs to be pointed out that the credibility of Archbishop Vigano's accusations against Pope Francis stand or fall on whether Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI imposed sanctions on Cardinal McCarrick.

    Archbishop Vigano does not produce any documentation that Pope Benedict imposed such sanctions. Vigano claims that sanctions were imposed on McCarrick by Pope Benedict 'in secret.'"

    ReplyDelete
  34. It looks like the National Catholic Register stands by the claim that Pope Benedict sanctioned Cardinal McCarrick.

    National Catholic Register stands by claim that Pope Benedict sanctioned McCarrick

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/national-catholic-register-we-stand-by-report-that-pope-benedict-recalls-di

    “What Archbishop Gänswein said is entirely accurate: Any assertion that the Pope Emeritus had seen the entire testimony, and confirmed it, is untrue. The Register also never reported this,” stated Ed Pentin, the Register’s Rome correspondent, in an article published August 28.

    “What we did report, given by an inside source close to Benedict in July, was that Benedict had issued sanctions against then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick but was unable to remember their precise nature. That has not been denied.”

    Pentin is referring to his own article about the Viganò statement, which was published on Saturday and which included the affirmation that “The Register has independently confirmed that the allegations against McCarrick were certainly known to Benedict, and the Pope Emeritus remembers instructing Cardinal Bertone to impose measures but cannot recall their exact nature.”

    ReplyDelete
  35. Vigano has been accused of quashing the Nienstedt investigation, but he provided a statement and letters to prove that he did not do this.

    Viganò issues new statement, documents to clear his name of false charges

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vigano-issues-new-statement-documents-to-clear-his-name-of-false-charges?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=1c8821fd72-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S._COPY_322&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-1c8821fd72-401446345

    ReplyDelete

  36. Five years ago, Australia convened a royal commission with the authority to investigate child abuse in that country. Their findings are astounding. They found that 7% of all Catholic clergy, between the years 1950 and 2009 had been accused of sexually abusing children . The 7% obviously does not account for the number of sexual abuses by Catholic clergy that were NOT reported during that period, which no doubt is substantial.

    Among the recommendations of the royal commission was that the Australian Catholic Church be required to report all child sex abuse accusations to law enforcement authorities, including those heard in the Confessional, which the Bishops of Australia soundly rejected, on the basis of the “sanctity” of the Confessional. To illustrate just how ludicrous the Bishops’ stand is, try to imagine a child abuser clearing his conscience to YOU by confessing that he has abused children sexually, and that one of those children happens to be your child. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Remain silent? Or immediately report this crime to the police? Unless you are the worst parent in the world, you would call the police.

    There is no “sanctity” in covering up crimes. This is just another example of a non-Scriptural invention of the RCC, along with real life consequences, which in this case, are the lives of innocent children!

    https://www.npr.org/2018/08/31/643591126/australias-bishops-reject-reporting-evidence-of-abuse-heard-in-confession

    ReplyDelete
  37. Susanna8:47 PM

    J,

    The latest.....

    Former nuncio now says sanctions against McCarrick were ‘private’
    Posted on September 1, 2018 by Newsroom

    ROME (CNS) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former nuncio to the United States who called on Pope Francis to resign for allegedly lifting sanctions placed on Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, now says those “sanctions” were “private” and neither he nor now-retired Pope Benedict XVI ever was able to enforce them....

    ….In a Register blog post Aug. 31, the author of the original story, Edward Pentin, provided more information from his source, saying the retired pope is now “unable to remember very well” how the supposed sanctions were handled. “As far as (Pope) Benedict could recall, the source said the instruction was essentially that (then-Cardinal) McCarrick should keep a ‘low profile.’ There was ‘no formal decree, just a private request,'” Pentin wrote.


    https://cnstopstories.com/2018/09/01/former-nuncio-now-says-sanctions-against-mccarrick-were-private/
    __________________________________________________________________

    Check out photo at the following link.

    May 2, 2012: Vigano greets guests on behalf of Benedict XVI at Pontifical Mission Societies gala honoring McCarrick! http://cny.org/stories/recalling-pagan-babies-and-the-sense-of-mission-they-inspired,7503 … This is well *after* Vigano alleges B16 sanctioned McCarrick. His letter deserves careful scrutiny. @jdflynn @roccopalmo @AmericanPapist

    https://twitter.com/DawnofMercy/status/1033892103141486593
    ____________________________________________________________________



    Archbishop Vigano is currently "in hiding."

    When all is said and done, it was Pope Francis who actually imposed sanctions on Cardinal McCarrick and made them stick.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Susanna9:43 PM

    P.S. J,

    Aug. 31, 2018

    Further Questions Emerge About Benedict XVI’s Sanctions on McCarrick

    Despite the high probability Benedict did impose sanctions against McCarrick, it appears the attitude was to ignore his willingness to flout them.

    Edward Pentin

    …..Asked if the Pope Emeritus’ office would be willing to issue a statement to provide additional clarity, a spokesman said Benedict was “unable to meet” the request. A number of questions still remain, however, in particular the following:
    •Why were Benedict XVI’s sanctions against McCarrick never made public, and given only in the form of a private instruction?
    •Why were the sanctions not properly enforced after they were ordered?
    •What role did Cardinal Bertone play in the execution of Benedict’s order (in his testimony, Archbishop Vigano asserts that the cardinal had obstructed it)?
    .....

    http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/further-questions-emerge-about-benedict-xvis-sanctions-on-mccarrick
    _________________________________________________

    Although Benedict reportedly cannot remember the exact nature of the punishment ( Pope Benedict just turned ninety ) he imposed on McCarrick, he recalls having instructed Cardinal Bertone, his then Secretary of State, to impose “measures” against the cardinal. It has also been reported that Cardinal Bertone did not impose the measures against the cardinal.

    Again:

    In a Register blog post Aug. 31, the author of the original story, Edward Pentin, provided more information from his source, saying the retired pope is now “unable to remember very well” how the supposed sanctions were handled. “As far as (Pope) Benedict could recall, the source said the instruction was essentially that (then-Cardinal) McCarrick should keep a ‘low profile.’ There was ‘no formal decree, just a private request,'” Pentin wrote.

    https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/09/01/former-nuncio-now-says-sanctions-against-mccarrick-were-private/

    _______________________________________________

    As for myself personally, anyone who knows me knows that I am a staunch conservative. If I were to say who I would LIKE to see occupying the chair of Peter, it would be Pope Benedict XVI. Constance and I are in total agreement on that score.

    That said, the point needs to be made that regardless of whether or not I happen to like a particular pope, I would never deny a pope I happened to dislike due process.

    As hideous and satanic as children being sexually abused by priests is, falsely accusing a priest - or anyone else - of such a heinous crime is no less evil. God is the one who gave the commanded "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

    Rod Dreher, senior editor at the American Conservative, was spot on when he wrote just a couple of days ago:

    One of the first truths I learned in covering the abuse scandal in the early 2000s is that the left-right framework is fairly useless as a guide to understanding matters. Conservative prelates like Cardinal Law covered up, as did liberal prelates like Archbishop Rembert Weakland (who used church money to pay off his gay lover). If you decide that the only bad guys are those on the other side, you commit yourself to believing all manner of lies to maintain that fiction.

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/vigano-catholic-church-pope-francis/
    _________________________________________________________

    ReplyDelete
  39. Susanna10:38 PM

    Constance 1:59 PM

    Father John F. O'Connor was an American Catholic priest, who belonged to the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans. He was notable for opposing the homosexual agenda, in society and within the Church, producing popular tapes in the late 1980s. For this he was persecuted by Donald Goergen (Dominican Provincial Superior) and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago.

    Father O'Connor was portrayed as "psychologically insane" by his enemies and expelled from the Dominicans in 1991. He was proven correct, however, in the early 2000s as it emerged that extensive homosexual-paedophile abuse against children had taken place in the Chicago archdiocese, while Cardinal Bernardin headed the archdiocese.

    I am also a great admirer of the late Father Vincent Miceli. His book The Antichrist which he wrote just a year before he died ( 1992 ) is a classic and will forever be his legacy.

    Writing of the apostasy of our own time, he said,

    "More than a century ago, when times were rather peaceful, even Christian, compared to the general apostasy and religious confusion of our times, John Henry Cardinal Newman, with the vision of a prophet, predicted the desolation of our day: “Surely there is at this day a confederacy of evil, marshalling its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself, taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ in a net, and preparing the way for a general apostasy from it. Whether this very apostasy is to give birth to Antichrist or whether he is still to be delayed we cannot know; but at any rate this evil apostasy and all its tokens and instruments are of the Evil One and savor of death.” Fr. Vincent Miceli

    ****************************************

    cont.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Susanna10:39 PM

    cont.
    By the way, did you ever follow the story of the Father Alfred Kunz murder? He was a very traditional Catholic priest who, twenty years ago, was found with his throat slit at a parish school in rural Wisconsin.

    The following story three-part report appeared in THE CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT in August, 2018:

    The unsolved murder of Fr. Alfred Kunz (PART 1)

    Twenty years ago, a priest was found with his throat slit at a parish school in rural Wisconsin. Today, investigators are urging the public to come forward with any clues that might break the case.
    August 8, 2018

    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/08/the-unsolved-murder-of-fr-alfred-kunz/
    _________________________________________________________

    “I don’t know if they will ever reveal why he was murdered” (PART 2)

    Some friends believed Fr. Kunz’s work as an exorcist or his investigations of sexual corruption in the priesthood may have been factors in his 1998 murder.

    Father Malachi Martin was an exorcist, bestselling author, former aide to Pope St. John XXIII, and onetime professor at the Vatican’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. He was also a friend of Father Alfred J. Kunz, and he believed the Wisconsin priest’s 1998 murder bore the marks of satanic evil.

    “He was found at 7 o’clock in the morning with his throat cut from ear to ear,” Martin said on a national radio program in May 1998. “In his own blood, face down into it and with various acts of desecration of his body which are normally associated with satanist-inflicted death.”

    The author of Hostage to the Devil, The Keys of This Blood, Windswept House, and more than a dozen other books said Kunz consulted with him on exorcisms. The country priest was “picked off” by someone who wanted to permanently silence him, Martin said. He referred to the murder as the “assassination of Christ’s hero.”
    …..read entire article...

    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/15/i-dont-know-if-they-will-ever-reveal-why-he-was-murdered/
    _________________________________________________________________

    Detectives hope trail won’t go cold in priest’s murder probe (PART 3 )

    As it enters its third decade, the investigation into the murder of Fr. Alfred Kunz is taking on a new urgency, police say.

    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/22/detectives-hope-trail-wont-go-cold-in-priests-murder-probe/
    ____________________________________________________


    As reported, Father Kunz was very good friends with the late Father Charles C. Fiore and the late Father Malachi Martin.

    ReplyDelete

  41. Dr. E. Michael Jones is interviewed by Peter Helland in this extremely interesting video. Dr. Jones is a conservative Roman Catholic, investigative author, that expresses a great deal of understanding as to the homosexual cabal that is virtually in charge of the hierarchy of the RCC. He reveals that an astounding 90% of all professors at Notre Dame University openly favor same sex marriage! Dr. Jones has a lot of information regarding the Vigano letter and the controversies surrounding it. If you want to know what is really happening, and who it is behind all this .... this is the video to watch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNf-UTeUy2M

    ReplyDelete
  42. Susanna5:06 PM



    Sep. 1, 2018

    Archbishop Viganò Responds to Videos of Papal Meeting, Speech

    The inconsistency is something that continues to be a source of question and concern

    Edward Pentin


    Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has responded to two videos published which some have argued shows that he is not giving an accurate recollection of events in his recent testimony.

    In a first video, the former nuncio is seen greeting Pope Francis for the first time, at a meeting of all the Holy See’s nuncios in Rome on June 21, 2013:.....

    …..In a second video, Archbishop Viganò is shown giving a speech at the Pontifical Mission Society in New York six months after taking up his post. He expresses warm words for then-Cardinal McCarrick, saying he was “very much loved by us all.”


    Cindy Wooden
    ✔ @Cindy_Wooden


    Abp Carlo Maria Vigano at a gala honoring then-Cardinal McCarrick in May 2012, six months after the archbishop now says he was given instructions about Pope Benedict's supposed sanctioning of McCarrick.

    http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/archbishop-vigano-responds-to-videos-of-papal-meeting-speech


    ReplyDelete
  43. Susanna8:32 PM

    Today’s Palace Coup News
    August 28, 2018 by Mark Shea

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2018/08/todays-palace-coup-news.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Best+of+Patheos&utm_content=57

    ReplyDelete

  44. The Pope has broken his silence! Forget about Vigano ("not one word"), there are far more important issues to address!!

    How about PLASTIC? Yep, plastic. In a bold, breathtaking move, the Pope has elevated plastic to emergency status ...

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/09/pope_franciss_plastic_emergency.html

    ReplyDelete
  45. Anonymous10:58 PM

    "First of all, let me make it clear that I do not condone coverups of sexual misconduct....not even by popes."
    Ok, Susanna, so what do you think of how the current Pope is handling all of what happened in Pennsylvania priesthood scandal since he is the head of your denomination? Is he addressing it directly and calling out and chastising the perpetrators to your satisfaction? Are the abuse victims of the Catholic priests in Pennsylvania getting treated fairly in your opinion? If not, what more do you think should be done for them?

    ReplyDelete
  46. Susanna2:47 AM

    OK Anonymous, let me ask YOU a question. How would you like to be falsely accused of sexual misconduct and then be denied due process so that you were deemed guilty until proven innocent?

    Do you feel absolutely certain that the sexual misconduct in your own denomination ( assuming, of course, that you are a Christian ) has not been swept under the rug and that the bad actors in your own back yard are being called out and chastised to your satisfaction? Do you feel that your own religious denomination is without sin and that you are therefore entitled to cast the first stone?

    Are the abuse victims of your own religious leaders getting treated fairly in your opinion? If not, why not?

    As far as far as I am concerned, the Church can NEVER do too much for the abuse victims.

    Don't you feel that hiding behind your "anonymous" moniker while self-righteously grilling me is a tad hypocritical.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Fantastic analysis on Asia Argento and the MeToo movement:

    Lies, Damned Lies, and Asia Argento

    This vloggers channel deserves a lot more subscribers.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Susanna said (in part) @ 2:47 AM ...

    "OK Anonymous, let me ask YOU a question. How would you like to be falsely accused of sexual misconduct and then be denied due process so that you were deemed guilty until proven innocent?"

    Susanna,

    I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but the RCC has "denied due process" to nearly ALL of their victims of clerical sex abuse. The local dioceses, where these crimes took place, have hidden evidence from law enforcement; that is precisely what the PA State Attorney General's Grand Jury uncovered. By NOT REPORTING these wicked CRIMES to the proper authorities, "due process" was denied to THE VICTIMS. Not only that, but because these criminals were not punished by "due process," they were moved to other dioceses where they continued to prey upon more innocent children!

    By shifting your argument to Anon's own "denomination" is nothing other than a deflection on your part. You seem to be saying, "hey, this goes on everywhere, so let's not look at all that nasty stuff that is being found out about how the Catholic Church secretly operates by "sweeping it under the rug," because, you guys do the same thing."

    Feel free to point us to a "denomination" that has a long history of homosexual pedophilia that is even a fraction of the amount that the RCC is guilty of, along with the obstruction of justice by hiding criminal activity from law enforcement.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Anonymous10:40 AM

    Susanna,
    You are way too (may I say even over the top) defensive about your church denomination. I wanted to know your simple human response to what (if i can assume this about you) would grieve your heart like scandalous things 9of many kinds) in the Church at large (any denomination in other words) grieves me. And I'm sorry, but the due process with which the Catholic leadership is going about this is awful, I think, by anyone's standard. The headlines are telling that story. My Catholic family (and friends) are sickened by all this. Can't you separate yourself and your denomination for one minute to address my questions? You act like I accused you personally of this behavior, but I did not.

    So you just answered rather curtly, the official type of denominational defensiveness that has been around for a long time.
    I find that sad.
    I guess I hoped for better than that from you, as one Christian to another.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Anonymous1:47 PM

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/under-attack-pope-calls-silence-prayer-140408631.html

    So spiritual. NOT!


    The elephant in the room is begging the Pope's silence.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Pope Francis adds to his "I will say not one word" statement regarding the Vigano 11 page statement. Now he calls for "SILENCE" and "Prayer." There should be a "Chutzpah of the Year Award," kind of like a Nobel Prize. This guy would win it hands down!

    "With people who lack goodwill, with people who seek only scandal, who seek only division, who seek only destruction, even within the family: (there is nothing but) silence. And prayer."

    To paraphrase "his holiness:"

    You people that seek to reveal what we have done to innocent children lack goodwill. It is YOU that are evil because you continue to bring this scandal to the attention of others. It is you who are creating "division" between well meaning people and the evil cabal that seeks to keep these things hidden (wink, wink). It is you that is causing this division between our "family." From now on, we should never talk about this again. Shut up and sit in that corner ... keep repeating the rosary over and over again until your mind can no longer think for itself. Think nothing other than silence ... and prayer ... and don't mind that wool being pulled over your eyes ... it's for your protection (and ours .. wink, wink).

    ReplyDelete
  52. Susanna3:38 PM

    RayB

    Your bigoted anti-Catholic diatribes don't give due process to anyone who does not agree with you. The only thing you are displaying is your zeal to exploit scandals in the Catholic Church in order to justify your own bigotry and/or wrongdoing. Actually, we don't even know what Christian denomination you belong to. Looks like YOU are the one who is deflecting. What are YOU hiding? No. Don't tell me. I don't need to know your dark little secrets or those of your religious comfreres.

    After you claimed to be an "ex Catholic" and cited Alexander Hislop and other anti-Catholic ignoramuses of his ilk , I had your number. So let's get one thing straight. I don't care what you think of the Catholic Church . I neither need nor want the approval of an apostate. And I have every intention of ignoring any future posts that you address to me.

    And just for good measure, I will just repeat little aphorism my mother used to say:

    "Be careful when you spit in the air lest it land on your own nose."

    So now go knock yourself out with your pope-bashing.

    *********************************************

    Anonymous 10:40 AM

    You bet I defend my church....and with no apologies. Not to you. Not anyone.

    If you are not accusing me personally, then what right do you feel you have to grill me?

    Besides, who are you kidding? You don't merely want to know my "simple human response." The only thing that you and your anti-Catholic confreres want to do is to score points against the Catholic Church. Now THAT's sad!.

    From where I am sitting, your religion is not Christianity. Your religion is like RayB's anti-Catholicism DISGUISED as Christianity. Sure, you pay lip service to Jesus on occasion but just how close is YOUR own heart to Jesus. Given the behavior of certain "Christians" here, things don't look too promising.

    Regarding abused children, let's talk about separating ourselves from our denominations for a minute.

    Have you ever had the experience of looking into the big innocent blue eyes of a six-year-old child and listening in growing horror as he described every detail of being sexually assaulted and then asking you "WHY?" Well I have!!! And I have no intention of saying anything more about it.

    ReplyDelete

  53. Susanna said to RayB (in part):

    "After you claimed to be an "ex Catholic" and cited Alexander Hislop and other anti-Catholic ignoramuses of his ilk , I had your number. So let's get one thing straight. I don't care what you think of the Catholic Church . I neither need nor want the approval of an apostate. And I have every intention of ignoring any future posts that you address to me."

    Susanna,

    I realize these must be trying times for you, but I must respond to your post. I sincerely hope it doesn't add to your angst.

    I HAVE NEVER BEEN, NOR HAVE I EVER CLAIMED TO BE, an "ex Catholic." You obviously have me completely mixed up with someone else, but having said that, I don't know what being an "ex Catholic" has to do with what is going on with all the homosexual/pedophile scandals and their subsequent lack of "due process" for the victims meanderings.

    By the way, Susanna, do you consider Michael Voris and his entire crew at Church Militant to be apostates as well? They are all on board for every Diocese in every state in America to release their SECRET FILES that document sex abuses and their subsequent cover-ups. They also want to see States Attorneys General to open investigation in ALL 50 states. Are YOU in favor of that, or, do you consider that to be "anti Catholic" bigotry? Voris and his crew also call for the Pope to resign ... will you label them "anti Catholic bigots," or is that label only applied when dealing with your imaginary "apostate, ex Catholics?"

    ReplyDelete
  54. also ...

    Susanna stated to RayB (in part) @ 3:38PM:

    "... your zeal to exploit scandals in the Catholic Church in order to justify your own bigotry and/or wrongdoing. Actually, we don't even know what Christian denomination you belong to. Looks like YOU are the one who is deflecting. What are YOU hiding? No. Don't tell me. I don't need to know your dark little secrets or those of your religious comfreres."

    More than a little strange that I am accused of "wrongdoing" and having "dark little secrets" because I have been outspoken regarding the well-documented child sex abuse scandals of the Catholic Church.

    Susanna's method of deflection and attack is right out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" ... the "book" that was dedicated to none other than Lucifer.
    Alinsky stated in his book, that in order to silence your enemy, attack your enemy by accusing them of the very same thing that they are accusing you of. This is precisely what the Homosexuals used so effectively. Remember their tactic; "if you are against Homosexuality, it's because you are a closet Homosexual yourself." Then, they added "you are a person of hate" because you opposed same sex marriage, etc. Susanna is using this very same tactic. SHAME!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Anonymous6:48 PM

    Well, Susanna, you are surely deflecting and you are defending alright, but some things are indefensible. You still do not answer about the Pennsylvania matter I asked about, which is well documented and as a Christian, terrible things like this should be common ground for those us who actually care for the victims and their plight. It is lifelong, Susanna, as you atest that you know. This should be a common concern no matter which church parking lot we pull into on a Sunday morning shouldn't it? So it is surprising that you are not showing your more tender side, which I assumed you have, but for whatever reason, will not show it here for the blatant regard of your church denomination, to the disregard the victims, in my opinion. I am talking above and beyond an institution, I am talking about people instead. This issue, and many others Churchwide, does not deserve a downplay at all. I have not singled out your denomination but singled out that particular scandal. I did not make it about you, but about that.
    I have left a local church myself, a church family I loved for a long time, but needed to leave for some very important reasons and also had left a denomination I grew up in due to compromises that were just too much within it. Over time more came to light and made national news. Problems that rose to a level bad enough at that time, that I did not understand others staying for more of the same, because of the issues of a person in very high leadership position, that were not dealt with correctly, biblically. And the hurt goes on..There was attempted cover up and silence in that instance, too.

    Actually, I personally know a young woman in her very early twenties who was abused when 17 years old by a local church worship leader. I know his parents. I knew his grandmother, who thankfully has passed away never knowing about this. I know the pain of this one (of his several victims) and have seen in this young girl's eyes, the hurt and distrust that is now part of her life. She used to have a vibrant faith in the Lord. She is a shadow of herself. She is a friend of our daughter who is trying to minister to this young woman who has been a victim of a sexual crime herself (not church related though).
    It's too bad you won't allow dialogue that could and should cross denominational lines. I asked of you, made an appeal to something higher for us to talk about.
    Jesus came and gave His life and blood to forgive, save, and heal, people, not institutions.
    Truth and transparency are so badly lacking in this whole thing.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Controversial Sexual Habits in Ancient Times. Egypt, Rome, Greece

    https://www.discovery-zone.com/controversial-sexual-habits-ancient-times-egypt-rome-greece/


    This is intended to put it all into perspective, please realize that the same church you (legitimately) criticize historically reformed morals so that you even think to criticize what you do. Without the historical existence of the Catholic church, you would not even have the norms that make you find pederasty abhorent. It would just be considered part of life.

    It's not always clear whether people who criticize the Catholic church would prefer to clean it up or would prefer to destroy it.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Those who are truly concerned about protecting victims need to pay attention not only to Catholic priests and bishops but also to secular culture. Here is a selection of examples of attempts to begin to normalize pedophilia.

    The age of consent is only 13 in Japan. In France, there were no minimum age of consent laws. Now there is talk of making the age of consent 15, after two cases in which adult men escaped rape convictions after sex with 11 year old girls who were alleged to have consented.


    Think All Pedophiles Need to Register as Sex Offenders? You’re Wrong

    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dani-bostick/think-all-pedophiles-need-to-register-as-sex-offenders-youre-wrong_b_7730280.html


    The pedophile I could not help: He was not a monster or a molester. The system destroyed him anyway

    https://www.salon.com/2015/10/27/the_pedophile_i_could_not_help_he_was_not_a_monster_or_a_molester_the_system_destroyed_him_anyway/


    TEDx | Pedophilia is a natural sexual orientation | Mirjam Heine | University of Würzburg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy4AUzsGbfE

    ReplyDelete
  58. The Southern Baptists Dumped a Predator or Two, but Let’s Hold Off on the F-word

    https://rewire.news/religion-dispatches/2018/07/16/southern-baptists-dumped-predator-two-lets-hold-off-f-word/

    The #metoo and #churchtoo movements have put SBC leaders on the defensive, as earlier revelations of widespread child sexual abuse by priests did to the all-male Roman Catholic hierarchy. Yet both groups continue to deny that there could be any connection between all-male power and the sexual abuse of women and children.

    Southern Baptists need to clean up their own house. Why never a word about them here?

    Notice this writer is connecting the problem of abuses of women and children to all-male hierarchy. Would you agree, or would you consider that an over-generalization? If you would call it an over-generalization, please explain how it differs from over-generalizations about the Catholic church.

    And what about campus rape culture claims by feminists? Do you agree that college campuses have rape cultures or consider that to be too demonizing to young men? If is not okay to demonize all men, why is it okay to demonize all men who are Catholic priests?

    People don't want to drop this topic. Well, if you want to make a federal court case out of it, you've got one now. Let's talk all about male sexual predators everywhere. Shall we?

    I've noticed some conservative men exhibit a tendency to scapegoat only other groups of men: black men, Muslim immigrant men, or Catholic priests.

    So think carefully about what standard you want to apply to all men -- including even Catholic priests.

    ReplyDelete
  59. List Convicted CHILD MOLESTER RABBIS

    https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/soc.culture.canada/Poo-75MPQyw/HyxlMEFgTtAJ


    Rabbi, Why Did You Welcome A Child Molester Into Our Shul?

    http://hevria.com/anonymous/rabbi-welcome-child-molester-shul/

    "How could you, Rabbi? I walked into the shul on Shabbos and, lo and behold, the alleged molester is back in the congregation, on the bimah, next to the bar mitzvah boy. Are my eyes deceiving me? This could not be happening. Then you get up and wish Mazal Tovs all around, singling out the excellent bar mitzvah tutor by name on a job well done. My ears cannot be hearing this. What about all the children of the congregation? What about the promises not to allow this man on the shul’s property? What about all the women who have been heckled by this man? Rabbi, have you thought how you have silenced them all?

    Rabbi, your shul president has slandered me in a public letter for spreading rumors and lies. You know the truth, but you chose to remain silent. Rabbi, I have a special needs kid. He is a prime target for molestation. Why did you put this stumbling block before your congregation? Why did you not warn the parents of all that you knew? Why did you make it look and sound that a dear guest has returned?"

    ReplyDelete
  60. Art Inside Tony [Podesta's] Home

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHQObjFyJzM

    ReplyDelete
  61. The one weird court case linking Trump, Clinton, and a billionaire pedophile

    https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/04/jeffrey-epstein-trump-lawsuit-sex-trafficking-237983

    "A woman suing in connection with Jeffrey Epstein’s underage sex ring claims she was first approached while working as a towel girl at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort."

    ReplyDelete
  62. Trump Posed in Photo With Pedophile George Nader for $189,000 RNC Donation: Report

    https://www.newsweek.com/trump-posed-photo-pedophile-george-nader-189000-rnc-donation-938354

    ReplyDelete
  63. Mormon Bishop Covering for Sex Offenders - CNN iReport

    http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-413785



    Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of child sex abuse

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses%27_handling_of_child_sex_abuse



    Lawsuit accuses Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1970s of supporting convicted child molester's habit

    https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/08/lawuit_accuses_seventh_day_adv.html



    ReplyDelete
  64. Buddhist Monk Accused Of Sex Abuse Allegedly Made Bihar Boys Dance Naked

    https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/buddhist-monk-accused-of-sex-abuse-allegedly-made-bihar-boys-dance-naked-arrested-in-bodh-gaya-1909697



    The ‘King’ of Shambhala Buddhism Is Undone by Abuse Report

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/nyregion/shambhala-sexual-misconduct.html




    The Shadow of the Dalai Lama – Part I – 3. The tantric female sacrifice

    http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Part-1-03.htm

    ReplyDelete
  65. Interview: Leader of Clinton-Connected Sex Cult ‘Believes Himself To Be Lucifer’

    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/interview-leader-of-clinton-connected-sex-cult-believes-himself-to-be-lucifer/

    ...

    “'According to his teachings, he believes that sex with children is only prohibited by law, it’s a disadvantage to children he thinks…he doesn’t put it in pamphlet form he just taught it to students who were in the cult strongly enough that they think he’s divine. He said mothers give their sons oral sex and that fathers are attracted to their teenage daughters because they are reminded of their mothers when they were young,' Parlato said.

    'He’s a master hypnotist and he has women who help him with the hypnosis. They actually put people to sleep. It’s called different names like exploration of meaning therapy, but what they do is put people to sleep and hypnotize them, then brainwash them that Raniere is the savior and that to go against Raniere will trigger great fear…He is a psychopathic person who gets off on the destruction of other people.'

    'He believes himself to be Lucifer, he will give hints from time to time, he will say I’m really a demon,' Parlato said of Raniere, confirming the Luciferian nature of this cult."

    ReplyDelete
  66. Sex, drugs and the Rolls Royce guru: The incredible story of the free-love cult, the 'conman mystic' with 93 Rolls-Royces who led it and the biggest mass poisoning in US history

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5560301/A-free-love-cult-conman-mystic-93-Rolls-Royces-biggest-mass-poisoning-history.html

    "In the years since the cult's heyday, former members have exposed ugly truths about the free-love culture: some women were raped, abortions were sometimes enforced and nearly 90 per cent of disciples had a sexually transmitted disease."

    ReplyDelete
  67. Sexual Abuse Cases in United Pentecostal Churches

    http://www.spiritualabuse.org/history/upcabuse.html



    Youth pastor admits to sexually abusing boys, prays for healing

    https://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2015/05/youth_pastor_admits_to_sexually_abusing_boys_prays_for_healing.html



    Children abused amid climate of fear at pentecostal school, commission hears

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/13/children-abused-amid-climate-of-fear-at-pentecostal-school-commission-hears

    ReplyDelete
  68. Freemason Leaders and Schoolteachers Convicted of Sexual Abuse of Minors

    http://protestantya.com/index.php/freemason



    Alleged ritual abuse by Freemasons and The Order of the Eastern Star, otherwise known as Co-Freemasonry in Australia

    https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2011-conference/alleged-ritual-abuse-by-freemasons-and-the-order-of-the-eastern-star-otherwise-known-as-co-freemasonry-in-australia/



    Paedophile Mason Ran Lodge Set Up for GCHQ

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/579523/Paedophile-Mason-lodge-GCHQ




    THE WATERHOUSE REPORT
    BIGGEST MASONIC CHILD ABUSE COVER-UP IN UK HISTORY!!!

    http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Illuminati/waterhouse_report.htm

    ReplyDelete
  69. Sex trafficking of children: Las Vegas’ deep, dark secret

    https://lasvegassun.com/news/2012/nov/01/sex-trafficking-children/

    "By the time police arrested Mary for soliciting prostitution, she already was 18 years old. But she met her pimp as a juvenile, a situation law enforcement officials say has long been a problem in Las Vegas that’s just now getting more attention.

    'It’s a deep, dark secret that no one wants out of the closet,' said Rashell Zerbe, a detective in Metro’s vice unit who investigates child prostitution cases."



    Boys — the silent victims of sex trafficking

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/nation-now/2018/02/08/boys-silent-victims-sex-trafficking/1073799001/

    "SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The silence nearly killed Tom Jones.

    As a child, Jones was raped, abused and sold to men for sex. The brutality ended when he was 15. But, like many male victims, Jones didn’t seek help, didn’t tell anyone about the trauma he had suffered.

    Instead, he buried his pain and shame deep inside, carrying the burden alone and in silence for another 15 years.

    Silence did not equal acceptance. 'I’m lucky, because I shouldn’t be here,' Jones says. 'I put a lot of focus and energy into taking my own life.'

    Two suicide attempts failed. And Jones says he was preparing for a third attempt when he decided finally to reach out for help."



    Katya's story: trafficked to the UK, sent home to torture

    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/apr/19/sex-trafficking-uk-legal-reform

    "When they assessed her case, British immigration officials knew that Katya, a vulnerable 18-year-old from Moldova, had been trafficked and forced into prostitution, but ruled that she would face no real danger if she was sent back.

    Days after her removal from the UK, her traffickers tracked her down to the Moldovan village where she had grown up. She was gang-raped, strung up by a rope from a tree, and forced to dig her own grave. One of her front teeth was pulled out with a pair of pliers. Shortly afterwards she was re-trafficked, first to Israel and later back to the UK."



    ReplyDelete
  70. Former NYPD Human-Trafficking Detective Discusses Relevance of PizzaGate & More

    http://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/conspiracy/former-nypd-human-trafficking-detective-discusses-relevance-of-pizzagate-more/

    "Former professor at University of Minnesota Duluth, and avid independent media activist and researcher, James Fetzer, held an interview late last year with former NYPD Human-Trafficking and Vice-related Crimes Detective James Rothstein.

    In the interview, Rothstein uses his career investigating satanic cults like the Process Church of the Final Judgement in relation to human trafficking, pedophilia, drug-smuggling, organized assassinations, occult human sacrifice, and levels of political corruption that involve any and all of these topics—and applies this to a detailed analysis of the Pizzagate story."

    ReplyDelete
  71. WATERGATE WAS PEDOGATE

    https://pedophilesdownunder.com/2018/06/08/watergate-was-pedogate/

    "The Watergate break-in was strictly based on one thing – the pedophile records that were being kept at the Democratic National Headquarters.

    – Det. James Rothstein, NYPD, Retired"

    ReplyDelete
  72. This is about Roy Cohn, Donald Trump's mentor, written in 2014, before Trump Derangement Syndrome.


    The Ghost of Roy Cohn

    http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/2014/08/24/the-ghost-of-roy-cohn/

    "In an interview with former NYPD detective James Rothstein, this author discovered that such operations do exist and go far back into America’s secret history. Rothstein is no conspiracy theorist. He is a legend in American law enforcement and speaks from experience. Furthermore, he gave me two notable examples from his time as a detective. Rothstein had an opportunity to have a sit-down with infamous McCarthy committee counsel Roy Cohn. During this sit-down, Cohn admitted to Rothstein that he was part of a rather elaborate sexual blackmail operation that compromised politicians with child prostitutes (Rothstein, no pagination). Cohn told Rothstein that this operation was being carried out as part of the anticommunist crusade of the time (no pagination)."

    ReplyDelete
  73. Clintons Caught Flying Commercial, Reading Book About Child Rape

    https://yournewswire.com/clintons-flying-commercial-book-child-rape/



    Bill Clinton identified in lawsuit against his former friend and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein who had 'regular' orgies at his Caribbean compound that the former president visited multiple times

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2584309/Bill-Clinton-identified-lawsuit-against-former-friend-pedophile-Jeffrey-Epstein-regular-orgies-Caribbean-compound-former-president-visited-multiple-times.html



    Gloria Steinem on her Bill Clinton essay: 'I wouldn’t write the same thing now'

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/30/gloria-steinem-on-her-bill-clinton-essay-i-wouldnt-write-the-same-thing-now

    ReplyDelete
  74. This just about says it all.


    Both Trump And Clinton Went To Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Slave Island.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/5749/both-trump-and-clinton-went-jeffrey-epsteins-sex-amanda-prestigiacomo

    "One Twitter user once asked me, 'Is it too much to hope that *one* of our parties would pick someone with no links to a pedophile sex-slave island?'

    Apparently, it is too much to ask for."

    ReplyDelete
  75. Lawyer Lisa Bloom resigns as adviser to Harvey Weinstein amid criticism

    https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/07/harvey-weinstein-lisa-bloom-resigns



    Seal Accuses Oprah of Knowing About Harvey Weinstein’s Sexual Abuse ‘For Decades’

    https://www.indiewire.com/2018/01/seal-accuses-oprah-harvey-weinstein-sexual-abuse-1201916357/



    Hillary Clinton Refuses To Apologize For Laughing About 12-Year-Old Rape Victim She Maligned In Court

    http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/08/hillary-clinton-refuses-to-apologize-for-laughing-about-12-year-old-rape-victim-she-maligned-in-court/

    ReplyDelete
  76. The rape of men: the darkest secret of war

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men




    Male-on-male rape in the military is 15 times more prevalent than the Pentagon are reporting, according to a new study

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3303087/Male-male-rape-military-15-times-prevalent-Pentagon-reporting-according-new-study.html



    Sex in men's prisons: 'The US system cultivates rape. If you treat people like animals, they behave like it'

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sex-in-mens-prisons-the-us-system-cultivates-rape-if-you-treat-people-like-animals-they-behave-like-9155241.html



    ReplyDelete
  77. Anonymous5:23 PM

    Bored J said...
    and then J said... meanwhile J said... and so J said...
    Got nothing else to do J said...?
    LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  78. Former Models for Donald Trump’s Agency Say They Violated Immigration Rules and Worked Illegally
    “It’s like modern-day slavery.”

    https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration/




    "We All Knew About the Trafficking"-The Untold Story of Trump Model Management (Part 1)

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/6/1578544/-The-Untold-Story-of-Trump-Model-Management-A-Daily-Kos-Exclusive-Part-1




    I Was A Child Model for Donald Trump's Buddy, John Casablancas & It Wasn't

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/12/1686382/-I-Was-A-Child-Model-for-Donald-Trump-s-Buddy-John-Casablancas-It-Wasn-t-Pretty



    Justice For Jane Does: Trump, Sex Trafficking & The Writers Who Stopped Writing About It

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/29/1685180/-Justice-For-Jane-Does-Trump-Sex-Trafficking-The-Writers-Who-Stopped-Writing-About-It

    ReplyDelete
  79. NBC News: Hillary Clinton ‘Covered Up’ Pedophile Ring At State Department (2013)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb6JeX6dvEk

    ReplyDelete
  80. Susanna5:50 PM

    RayB 4:41 PM

    Re: I HAVE NEVER BEEN, NOR HAVE I EVER CLAIMED TO BE, an "ex Catholic." You obviously have me completely mixed up with someone else...

    Upon further investigation, I realize that I may have indeed gotten you mixed up with someone else. For that I do sincerely apologize.

    ReplyDelete

  81. Michael Voris of Church Militant gives details as to the battle being currently waged within the RCC between conservative Catholics and the radical left which is primarily controlled by a homosexual cabal. He provides names and commentary on the main players and refers to the crisis as a "Civil War."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YVtr99l29s

    ReplyDelete

  82. Breaking News ... New York Attorney General has just announced an investigation has been officially opened regarding sex abuse into all 8 Catholic dioceses.

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-new-york-launches-abuse-probe-into-all-8-catholic-dioceses-in-stat

    ReplyDelete
  83. Fiona Barnett claims in this blog article both that she was a child victim of Billy Graham, and that she spoke with retired NYPD Rothstein, who confirmed he knew Billy Graham was a rampant pedophile.

    WaterGate was PedoGate

    Who knows if this could be part of the reason why Billy Graham's grandson claims 'evil' Evangelicals are 'worse' than Catholics for sex abuse.

    ReplyDelete
  84. From Michael Aquino’s Last Desperate Attempt to Silence his Victims

    "My article ‘Watergate Was Pedogate’ continues to receive massive views. This article proposes that Watergate was solely about obtaining VIP pedophile records that were being kept at Democratic Headquarters. NYPD Detective James Rothstein who arrested Watergate burglar Frank Sturgis has publicly stated such on numerous occasions. When I phoned him, Rothstein told me privately that disgraced Nixon’s very close pal Billy Graham was known to him and his colleagues as a rampant pedophile.

    My article has subsequently raised some questions about the US government’s involvement in CIA child sex trafficking. For example: Why was Hilary Clinton kicked off the Watergate Commission? Who ended up possessing the Little Black Book containing the list of Washington VIP pedophiles and their proclivities? Why has Hilary Clinton held major political power ever since Watergate? People are starting to conclude that head of Clinton Foundation child trafficking front, Hilary, has possessed the Little Black Book all along."

    ReplyDelete
  85. Kim Beazley Senior: ASIO Agent and Child Trafficker

    "Kim Edward Beazley was a former Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives and Education Minister for 32 years. He is the father of the current Ambassador of Australia to the United States, Kim Christian Beazley – who has previously served as Minister of Defence and attended the Bohemian Grove. Both are known for being strong supporters of the CIA and both were involved with a well documented CIA-backed, psychological operation that took the form of a Christian-spiritualist movement. This movement was first known as the Oxford Group, and later evolved into what is known as Moral Re-Armament (MRA). It was founded by Nazi supporter, Frank Buchman, who planned on using MRA as the basis to form a world religion. Beazley Senior was heavily involved with MRA’s anti-communist operations in Australia and abroad. He was also the was the man who oversaw the trafficking of Fiona Barnett to VIP’s at Parliament House in Canberra – as part of a ‘dirty tricks’ operation to compromise and control politicians.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Kidman Connections: The CIA, Secret Societies & Ritual Abuse

    "In 1527, Ignatius of Loyola was let off with a warning by a Christian court for having sympathy with the Alumbrados of Spain, also known as the Spanish Illuminati. In 1534, Loyola became the founder of The Jesuit Order. In 1773 the Pope ordered the Supression of the Jesuits and Adam Weishauptbecame a professor of Canon Law at a Jesuit University. Weishaupt founded his Order of the Illuminati in 1776.

    Antony Kidman and his brother went to St. Aloysius College in Sydney, a Jesuit school. After graduating, Antony’s brother went on to pursue the ‘spiritual’ side of his education and decided to become a Jesuit. While in training to become a member of the secret society, he developed schizophrenia and had to abandon his plans.

    Catholicism remained strong in the Kidman family. They attended the Star of The Sea Jesuit Church in North Sydney and Father Paul Coleman was their family priest. This was also the place chosen for the funeral of Antony in 2014, which only came a month after he was formally notified of Fiona Barnett’s allegations. Coleman also officiated the marriage of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban in 2006. It is interesting that Nicole maintains her Jesuit links while being connected with The Church of Scientology, a CIA/MKULTRA linked cult.


    ReplyDelete
  87. I suspect that focusing solely on the Catholic clergy abuses is a limited hangout, because this article describes Catholic abusers as part of a vaster network that included repatriated Nazi war criminals, as well as all types of pillars of the secular community.

    Trapped inside Australia's vast child abuse network (Part 1)

    ...

    "I witnessed child sex trafficking between Sydney, Wollongong, Bathurst, and Canberra. Crimes were committed in the Engadine BoysTown chapel; Holsworthy military barracks, which sits adjacent to Engadine; Regina Coeli Memorial Catholic church at Beverly Hills; St John’s College Catholic Chapel at Sydney University; the Caltex oil refinery in Kurnell; Garrawarra Cemetery, near Waterfall; Bathurst City Hall; and in many of the national parks located between Sydney and Wollongong."

    ...

    "In 1985, I witnessed approximately 10 children raped and murdered in Bathurst, during the weekend of the famous Bathurst car race. Some of these children were victims of kidnappings. Other children were born unregistered so that they could be used as sex slaves. The abuse was orchestrated by a former Whitlam Government Education Minister Kim Edward Beazley, a police commissioner, an Australian sporting icon, a Sydney University lecturer and a prominent screen actor. The latter raped me in front of a large crowd that included numerous priests and police."

    ...

    "I first came out in 2008, in response to the publicity surrounding similar abuse allegations experienced by fellow victim Tor Nielsen and many other students at the private Catholic boarding school Saint Stanislaus College in Bathurst, NSW."

    ...

    "Tor Nielsen’s testimony was detailed on his popular website ‘The Catholic Cover-up’, which the Catholic Church forced him to pull down just prior to the announcement of the current Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

    ReplyDelete
  88. I don't know what to say about this. I'm open to evidence both for and against these claims (about Jesuits).

    I hope Fiona Barnett is over-reaching in characterizing the whole Roman Catholic church in the way that she has, as based upon Mithraism. It may be her early trauma with psychopaths embedded within Catholic institutions caused her to mistrust the entire Catholic church.

    Witness Statement by Satanic Ritual Abuse Survivor, Fiona Barnett – Calling Out Her Pedophile Abusers

    "My name is Fiona Barnett. I was born Fiona Rae Holowczak, on 28 October 1969, in Sydney, Australia. I am a victim of CIA child trafficking, Luciferian ritual abuse, and Project MK-ULTRA.

    Child trafficking is run as a single integrated world operation. This operation is coordinated by the CIA in collaboration with British and Australian intelligence services. Retired NYPD Detective James Rothstein was appointed to the first US taskforce to investigate this child trafficking operation which, he found, went all the way up to the Whitehouse. Detective Rothstein found that the CIA were behind a blackmail operation in which child prostitutes were used to honeytrap and compromise politicians, military brass, top businessmen, and key government officials. Rothstein, who arrested the key Watergate perpetrator, said Watergate solely concerned this human compromise racket, and specifically was an attempt to obtain a list of compromised pedophile VIPs and their proclivities that was held at the Democratic National Headquarters. I spoke with Rothstein who said he knew of an identical VIP pedophile ring that existed here in Australia, and that an Australian intelligence officer named Peter Osborne knew the details of this."

    ...

    "Leonas Petrauskas was a close associate of my Lithuanian grandmother Helen Holowczak. Like the Holowczaks, Petrauskas was granted asylum through the International Refugee Organisation. In fact, the IRO employed him as a medic for a period in Europe. Petrauskas was educated in a Jesuit school. The Jesuits are Luciferians who practice ritual murder and child rape. An increasing number of Australian politicians who hold power are Jesuits<.

    Owing to his Jesuit training, Leonas Petrauskas assumed the role of head Luciferian priest within the Sutherland Shire Catholic diocese. Roman Catholicism stems from Mithraism, the ancient Luciferian cult in which male priests were married to boy brides (alter boys), and temple prostitutes (nuns) bore children to the priests for ritual murder on key ritual dates. The Latin mass is a whitewashed version of the high Luciferian black mass in which a new-born baby is ritually murdered, and its blood and flesh eaten. This is the ritual that occurred at Bathurst City Hall in 1985, presided over by the AHRC President.

    Most of my perpetrators were raised Catholic, and many associated with the Catholic colleges located at Sydney University, particularly Patricia Ann Conlon who lived at Sancta Sophia College at Sydney University. Patricia Ann Conlon (nee Carden) was the Grande Dame of the Sydney area.

    As Jesuit high priest, Leonas Petrauskas presided over Luciferian rituals committed in the following Catholic Churches:

    * Regina Coli Church,
    * Beverly Hills, Sutherland Shire (which was gifted by, and closely associated with, the US military),
    * BoysTown chapels located at Engadine, Sutherland Shire,
    * John Bosco church located opposite Engadine BoysTown

    Other key Catholic sites of Luciferian ritual were: St James chapel located on Sydney University campus, St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney City."

    ReplyDelete
  89. Anonymous4:21 PM

    At 6:08 PM and 2:36 PM
    The Barnett woman is victim of both?
    Many accusations, yet no proofs to verify?

    Excuse me, while I find all of this sounding a bit too much to believe.

    Information diffused with no several sourced backups seems to be only gossip and just takes up space.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Many of her stories and accusations actually have been corroborated over the years in MSM.

    For example, she mentioned St. Stanislaus, subject of a scandal written about here:

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/man-at-the-centre-of-an-unholy-scandal-20080828-gdssr8.html

    For a second example, she mentioned Engadine BoysTown, written about here:

    Priest to stand trial over Boys' Town abuse claims

    The problem is not lack of corroboration. The problem is all the time it would take to detail how much corroboration there really is.

    ReplyDelete
  91. P.S. Her claims are not that fantastic or unprecedented. Other child abuse networks have been proven to exist in other countries. Don't view or read these things unless you are not a sensitive person or you are not in a depressed or unstable mood. Otherwise, if you can handle the truth about it, I refer you to these documentaries:

    60 Minutes Spies, Lords and Predators Part 1 (free on YouTube)

    This one is the easiest introduction to this topic.

    Conspiracy of Silence full documentary (free on YouTube)

    This one is very difficult to watch.

    Also see the Child Abuse Research Center on isgp-studies.com.

    Be forewarned the author includes as evidence confiscated pictures that you cannot unsee.



    ReplyDelete
  92. P.P.S. She says the key to understanding child abuse networks is to understand the influence of repatriated Nazi war criminals. You've heard of Operation Paperclip, right?

    ReplyDelete
  93. Susanna5:20 PM

    J, 8:47 PM,

    FYI The Alumbrados were basically the Spanish Illiminati ( alum - brados - illuminated. Alumbradismo has its origins in Gnosticism and is by all orthodox Catholic and non-Catholic Christian standards heretical.

    Illuminati (Alumbrados)
    Illuminati (ALUMBRADOS), the name assumed by some false mystics who appeared in Spain in the sixteenth century and claimed to have direct intercourse with God. They held that the human soul can reach such a degree of perfection that it contemplates even in the present life the essence of God and comprehends the mystery of the Trinity. All external worship, they declared, is superfluous, the reception of the sacraments useless, and sin impossible in this state of complete union with Him Who is Perfection Itself. Carnal desires may be indulged and other sinful actions committed freely without staining the soul.....read more...

    https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/illuminati-alumbrados
    ________________________________________________________

    Regarding Ignatius Loyola,

    In September 1523, Íñigo made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with the goal of settling there. He remained there from September 3 to 23 but he was sent back to Europe by the Franciscans.

    He returned to Barcelona and at the age of thirty-three began to attend a free public grammar school to prepare himself for entrance to a university. When his preparation was complete, he then went on to the University of Alcalá,[26] where he studied Theology and Latin from 1524 to 1534.

    There he encountered some women who had been called before the Inquisition. These women were considered alumbrados (Illuminated, Illuminati, or Enlightened Ones) – a group that was linked in their zeal and spirituality to Franciscan reforms, but had incurred mounting suspicion on the part of the administrators of the Inquisition. At one point, Íñigo was preaching on the street when three of these devout women began to experience ecstatic states. "One fell senseless, another sometimes rolled about on the ground, another had been seen in the grip of convulsions or shuddering and sweating in anguish." This suspicious activity had taken place while Íñigo was preaching without a degree in theology. Íñigo was then singled out for interrogation by the Inquisition; however, he was later released.
    ....

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola
    ___________________________________________________________

    cont.

    ReplyDelete
  94. Susanna5:21 PM

    cont.


    Regarding the Jesuits, the Order is not all bad, but it is not all good either. The corruption is such that good Jesuits like Father Joseph Fessio S.J. who studied under Pope Benedict XVI, have been marginalized, suppressed and/or "exiled," while the bad actors have been allowed by their corrupt religious superiors to flourish...…

    Jesuits Implode
    https://spectator.org/52958_jesuits-implode/
    ____________________________________________

    The following describes the controversy over Father Fessio's St. Ignatius Institute:

    ST.IGNATIUS INSTITUTE
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Ignatius_Institute
    _____________________________________________________

    Father Fessio was fired from Ave Maria University for his opposition to beliefs and practices that appear to be redolent of the old Alumbrado heresy in Spain. But of course ordinary Catholics don't hear much about this in the "main stream" religious and secular publications.

    ...Shortly after the Griffith dust-up, Healy made it known that he wanted to bring in a new charismatic “healing” priest by the name of Father Richard McAlear. Fr. McAlear had been involved with the charismatic renewal since the early days back in 1972, and according to his bio, part of the “healing ministry” since 1976. Healing Masses are services where after Mass or sometimes even during Mass, the priest or lay people touch or anoint with oil the body parts of those who wish to be “healed” of real or perceived spiritual and physical ailments. These dramatic rituals are marked by lots of hand waving, emotional outbursts and scenes of attendees channeling “the spirit.” Congregants often have to step over those who are laid-out in the aisles or rolling around on the floor after having been “slain in the spirit.” What starts out as what was supposed to be a Catholic Mass, usually devolves into a rather helter-skelter affair by the time it’s all over.

    Healy intended to make regular “healing Masses” available at AMU. Of course Father Fessio, who considers healing Masses to be an “abomination,” wanted none of it. Father attempted, to no avail, to stop the healing Masses from coming to campus. His unsuccessful efforts only further deepened the rift between him and Healy.

    Not long after these two incidents, Healy approached Tom Monaghan and attempted to convince him to remove Fr. Fessio from AMU altogether. Although Father Fessio wasn’t fired outright, he was removed from the chaplaincy. Monaghan never gave Father Fessio the courtesy of speaking with him about the demotion before rendering the decision. Monaghan, a college dropout, would soon replace Father Fessio as University Chancellor, and University Chaplain - Father Robert Garrity - would report to Nick Healy instead of Fr. Fessio.

    One source, who had spoken to AQ about the liturgical situation at AMU prior to the most recent Fr. Fessio controversy, is from a family that has been involved with AMU since the very beginning. His father sits on an AMU board and one of his brothers plans to open a business in the town of Ave Maria. The source and another brother had in the past been enthusiastic involved with the new university, once going so far as to fully finance a retreat to Atlanta for ten AMU students. Because of the disappointments they’ve encountered along the way, the brothers have no further plans of aiding AMU, financially or otherwise for the foreseeable future. He said:

    “As far as Ave Maria, it appears to be degrading...…..


    http://www.angelqueen.org/articles/07_04_amu.shtml
    __________________________________________________________

    What many do not understand is that no religious order is indispensable to the Catholic Church. As the article above says, "one wonders how long the Vatican will permit this insult on his (St. Ignatius') memory to persist.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Susanna5:25 PM

    J, 8:47 PM

    P.S.

    Have you seen the following?

    January 5, 2018 Entertainment, Other 14 Comments

    Victim Who Exposed Satanic Elite Pedophile Ring, Missing, Feared Dead

    A child trafficking survivor who exposed a massive Satanic elite pedophile ring is missing and is now feared dead.

    Fiona Barnett aka “Candy Girl” was thrust into the spotlight in 2014 when she named Nicole Kidman’s father Dr. Antony Kidman as a high-ranking member of a global child-killing pedophilia cult. Shortly after Barnett’s exposé, Dr. Kidman mysteriously died after fleeing to Singapore to escape accusations of his involvement in a child-murdering Satanic network in Sydney, Australia.

    According to friends of Barnett, she has now been missing since September 2017 and is now feared dead.

    One of her closest friends, who wishes to remain anonymous over safety concerns, says she has “completely disappeared,” adding: “She hasn’t been seen or heard from in months.

    “Her phone is dead and she doesn’t reply to messages or emails. “Something isn’t right. “Even if she needed to go away for a while, she would let someone know where she was. “She wouldn’t leave people worrying about her. “She’s just not that sort of person.” Fiona Barnett says she was raped by ex-President Richard Nixon when she was a child.
    ….read entire article...

    http://thepedogate.com/other/victim-who-exposed-satanic-elite-pedophile-ring-missing-feared-dead/
    _______________________

    ReplyDelete
  96. I'll take a minute to expose more of the tip of the iceberg, so you can see it's just not so that it is all fantasies with no evidence.


    Salesians apologise over abuse

    "Describing sexual abuse as 'respulsive and repugnant', Salesians Australian head, Fr Frank Moloney SDB, has apologised to victims of a former priest Paul Evans convicted last week of a series of offences.

    'The fact that a professed Catholic priest was capable of it is just disgusting,' Fr Moloney said in a statement.

    'I sincerely apologise to the victims of Paul Evans, their families and friends and to all the good and trustworthy staff who have worked, and continue to work wonders at Boys' Town.'" (Engadine Boys Town, the same one mentioned by Fiona Barnett)

    Also see this article in the Sydney Morning Herald:

    Sex abuse priest jailed for nine years



    Chief Justice Tom Bathurst behind judicial paedophile and bribery cover-up evidence shows

    This is about the Bathurst pedophile ring Fiona Barnett mentions a lot throughout her writings and in this article run in Independent Australia.


    Something was even written up in Wikipedia about the Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service.

    "The Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service (Wood Royal Commission) was held in the State of New South Wales, Australia between 1995 and 1997. The Royal Commissioner was Justice James Roland Wood. The terms of reference were to determine the existence and extent of corruption within the New South Wales Police; specifically, it sought to determine whether corruption and misconduct were "systemic and entrenched" within the service, and to advise on the process to address such a problem.

    In 1995, the Commission received letters patent widening the terms of reference to include investigating the activities of organised paedophile networks in New South Wales, the suitability of care arrangements for at-risk minors and the effectiveness of police guidelines for the investigation of sex-offences against minors."

    Also see this article in the Illawarra Mercury: Long struggle to expose evil abuse of children in the Illawarra

    You can see a picture of mayoral candidate Frank Arkell, with the caption, "Frank Arkell is all smiles at the launch of his campaign to become lord mayor again in 1995. He was killed before his first appearance in court on sex charges."



    ReplyDelete
  97. Here's another one:

    Premier Mike Baird & Chief Justice Bathurst fail to act on paedophile supporter Judge Garry Neilson

    "Judge Neilson scandalised the courts when it was revealed in July that he had previously made statements in court such as 'the community may no longer see sexual contact between siblings and between adults and children as "unnatural" or “taboo”'. (Click here to read more)"

    ReplyDelete
  98. Anonymous11:33 PM

    So the Barnett woman claimed abuse and rape by Billy Graham, a Catholic priest, and now add Richard Nixon to the list huh? Wow, she really got around.


    You're really going out there for this topic.
    I looked your posts over and think...nah.
    It looks like fodder so now I think you are just trolling.

    ReplyDelete

  99. Church Militant's Michael Voris reports that the investigations into RCC child sexual abuse is widening. Following New York's recent announcement, New Jersey's Attorney General has announced that they are likewise opening official investigations into all NJ dioceses. Voris's sources have informed him that the Federal Justice Department is seriously looking into a nationwide investigation regarding RICO violations.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e29aHS4zYZY

    Regarding "J's" posts above, there is no doubt whatsoever that many of the elitists of the world (and many that are not part of the elite) are practicing SATANIC child sex abuse rituals, where the crimes are beyond imagination ... including ritual sacrifice. As Voris reports, Pres. Trump laid his cards on the table during a private meeting with the pope and announced his plans to fight this scourge via an Executive Order. Is THIS perhaps one of the primary reasons that the elites are attempting to end Trump's presidency? IMO, it is.

    ReplyDelete

  100. ... more:

    The late Ted Gunderson was the former Chief of the Los Angeles FBI ... a higher echelon post. Prior to his death, Gunderson was very active in exposing Satanic, mind control, sex slave and trafficking. I've seen some of his videos on youtube, and the evidence that he provided, along with the testimonies of some of the victims. IMO, it seems very credible. You can find some of his videos on youtube.

    ReplyDelete

  101. New comments from Michael Voris.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcBpVN_LwwQ

    ReplyDelete
  102. Anonymous8:54 PM

    Your non-answer to me (6:48 PM and a couple of other posts before that) says everything, Susanna.
    You're too afraid of criticism to admit what is obvious, I suppose.
    Me, and my denomination, with our own troubles, too (I've seen the faces of abused young people, one is in my own family so I can speak to this subject) are not worthy of a response, since according to your beliefs, you are part of the only true Holy Roman Catholic Church, the only Church in your estimation obviously, and the rest of us are mere aspostates.
    Signing myself anonymous is no different than you hiding behind what you are hiding behind, though you state your name. Do I even know anything about you? Just that you are a prolific poster here and have at times had good information and insight. But, no, I can't say I know you, except that you defend the indefensible, (and I hear your many excuses for such) when I did not defend wrong behavior by a church of a differing denomination than yours, and it's leadership, that I know of personally, right here where I live.

    I hoped you had something to say to validate and defend the victims abused in Pennsylvania.
    I guess not.
    To me, as we are speaking to this topic, a victim is a victim, no matter which church.


    Your posts are full of hypocrisy.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Susanna12:02 AM

    Anonymous 8:54PM

    If you spent less time "rejoicing in wickedness" ( i.e. gloating over the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church) and more time looking for hard evidence that these accusations are all actually true, then maybe I would be less inclined to suspect that YOUR posts are full of hypocrisy.

    If we are going to discuss the victims, let's discuss ALL the victims.

    One reason I have not been commenting on the Philadelphia situation is because the Philadelphia legal system is such a cesspool of corruption that it cannot be trusted to fairly adjudicate cases of alleged sexual misconduct whether by priests or anyone else.

    That is why I have chosen to reserve judgement until I am in possession of sufficient facts.

    The "poster child" of this aforementioned corruption involving the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is the case of Msgr. William J. Lynn, Father Charles Engelhardt and a Catholic school teacher Bernard Shero who were all falsely accused and convicted of raping a former altar boy Danny Gallagher ( a.k.a. "Billy Doe") who was later proven to be a liar. And even after the guilty verdict was overturned, the teacher, Bernard Shero, was required to plead guilty of other lesser crimes he did not commit and agree not to demand a new trial in order to be let out of prison. Msgr. Lynn refused to be let out of prison if he had to fraudulently plead guilty to ANY crime that he did not commit and is still awaiting a retrial.

    A new trial - if it ever takes place - will probably expose all of the prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. Father Engelhardt died in jail after being denied life-saving treatment for a heart condition. He continued to profess his innocence on his deathbed.

    Throughout the trial, corrupt District Attorney Rufus Seth Williams - who is currently in prison on bribery charges among other things - boasted about his "historic" prosecution of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Abuse accusations of the past - whether true or not - are being glommed onto in order to divert attention away from the gross prosecutorial and judicial misconduct and corruption.
    Evidence was withheld that would have favored the defendants' cases. There was no hard evidence that these priests and the teacher were guilty of sexual misconduct. "Billy Doe's" father was a police detective whose kid apparently could do no wrong.

    Funny no one seems to want to know about THESE injustices. Here are some links to what has been dubbed "The Philadelphia story." I will allow them to speak for themselves.

    Report: Key witness in Philadelphia abuse case lied to investigators

    Michael O'Loughlin
    Jan 20, 2016

    https://cruxnow.com/church/2016/01/20/report-key-witness-in-philadelphia-abuse-case-lied-to-investigators/
    _____________________________________

    Friday, March 22, 2013

    "A Tragic Miscarriage Of Justice"

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/03/a-tragic-miscarriage-of-justice.html
    ___________________________________

    Wednesday, April 3, 2013

    The Day 56 Bags of Heroin Disappeared

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/04/the-day-56-bags-of-heroin-disappeared.html

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    ReplyDelete
  104. Susanna12:04 AM

    Wednesday, June 12, 2013

    Judge Ceisler Puts Away Engelhardt And Shero

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/06/judge-sentences-defendants-families.html
    ___________________________________________________________________

    Friday, June 14, 2013

    How Two Innocent Men Wound Up In Jail
    By Ralph Cipriano

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/06/how-two-innocent-men-wound-up-in-jail.html
    ____________________________________________________________

    Monday, July 22, 2013

    Filmmaker Sees Parallel Between Red Purges And Local Prosecution Of Catholic Priests
    http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/07/documentary-filmmaker-sees-parallel.html
    _____________________________________________________________

    Tuesday, August 13, 2013

    Defense Lawyers Allege Prosecutorial Misconduct, Judicial Errors

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/08/defense-lawyers-allege-prosecutorial.html
    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Tuesday, September 17, 2013

    Appellate Judges In Msgr. Lynn Case Ask Philly D.A. Some Questions He Can't Answer

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/09/appellate-judges-in-msgr-lynn-case-ask.html

    _______________________________________________________________
    Saturday, November 8, 2014

    Priest Stricken In Prison

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/11/father-engelhardt-stricken-in-prison.html
    ___________________________________________________________________________

    Monday, November 17, 2014

    Handcuffs And A Hospital Bed

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/11/father-engelhardt-dead.html
    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Wednesday, December 31, 2014

    A Priest's Dying Declaration In Prison

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/12/a-priests-dying-declaration-in-prison.html
    _______________________________________________________________

    Tuesday, March 22, 2016

    Msgr. Lynn's Lawyers: D.A. "Breathtakingly Dishonest"

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2016/03/msgr-lynns-lawyers-da-breathtakingly.html
    _____________________________________________

    ReplyDelete
  105. Anonymous10:17 AM

    "If we are going to discuss the victims, let's discuss ALL the victims. "

    That was your response to this?
    "To me, as we are speaking to this topic, a victim is a victim, no matter which church."
    Obviously I am claiming there are victims in other denominations and I sited personal knowledge to such. I wanted to talk about that.


    And then you go back and talk about the Philadelphia priests?

    You do not talk about the victims, you deflect back to defend who and what has mounting evidence against it.

    I called it.
    Your posts remain full of hypocrisy.

    Post all you want to deflect and defend, but as for me, I see no brotherhood/sisterhood in your Christianity. That says it all. Your Church is the "holy" one no matter what the world sees and deals with from it's leadership that begs to differ. I can separate the common Christian people in the pews from the leadership that leads them astray. You cannot.
    You are diehard...and wrong.

    This can of worms you defend is not going away, Susanna.



    ReplyDelete

  106. Thanks to Susanna we now know that all these reports of sex abuse is nothing other than fake news produced by a bunch of Catholic bigots.

    If it wasn't for Susanna, we would have never known that the PA legal system is ... well ... let's let Susanna say it; "the Philadelphia legal system is such a cesspool of corruption that it cannot be trusted to fairly adjudicate cases of alleged sexual misconduct whether by priests or anyone else." SEE? Wasn't that easy? Susanna has nailed it. DO NOT TRUST THE PA Attorney General's Grand Jury report, because they are crooks! But wait! The PA Grand Jury report was based upon DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE that was obtained by the PA Catholic dioceses in question! Maybe those Bishops are conspiring with those crooks in the Attorney General's office?

    So who can we trust? Well, our Susanna answers that too! We CAN TRUST the unbiased, truth lovers such as the Catholic League, the National Catholic Reporter. We can also trust the Big Trial internet site, which happens to be run by a reputable law firm that makes its millions by chasing ambulances and suing Doctors, among other things. On a personal note, my grandfather once attempted suicide by attempting to breath deep while visiting one of these types of law firms. Thankfully, he somehow survived, or I wouldn't be here.

    ReplyDelete

  107. In addition to the above, Roman Catholic Michael Voris of the Church Militant, in no uncertain terms, lashes out at the Catholic League and the National Catholic Reporter (along with many others) for attempting to provide cover for the Homosexual Child Sex abuse scandals. He has stated that Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League is being paid $500,000 per year to provide cover for the radical left/Homosexual wing of the Catholic Church. It was Donohue that had the chutzpah to actually proclaim to the media, regarding the PA Grand Jury report, that "some of the so called victims weren't even children. Some were 16 or 17 years old." Yep, a voice of virtue and reason that Bill Donohue is.

    ReplyDelete

  108. Read what the Weekly Standard has to say about the Catholic League and its Dr. of Spin President ($500,000 per year) Bill Donohue:

    https://www.weeklystandard.com/andrew-ferguson/with-friends-like-bill-donohue

    ReplyDelete

  109. Isaiah 5:20-24

    20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

    21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

    22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

    23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

    24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.


    ReplyDelete

  110. A letter from an insider ...

    'I myself saw photos of McCarrick nude on all fours on a seminarian's bed'

    Ex-seminarian Paul Wood wrote this open letter to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, copying a lawyer and addressing it specifically to his ordinary, Toronto archbishop Cdl. Thomas Collins. Collins responded, claiming that the "problem of homosexual immorality was dealt with several decades ago" and what Wood experienced in the past "is definitely not true" in the seminary today. Collins reiterated Church teaching that chastity is required of all and that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, concluding, "This is a long struggle, for we are going against powerful forces in the media and society that oppose the Gospel, but the faith is clear and that is what we proclaim."
    *******

    Dear Bishops,

    I am writing you requesting to know what steps you are going to finally take about the undeniable rampant homosexual practice and sexual abuse in our parishes, schools and seminaries. By now, and in light of McCarrick, we all know that the Catholic Church since the 60s has been deliberately rocked by homosexuals, rectors and bishops leading gays into the seminaries — hence the unheard-of callous abuse of young people. This is not a mere McCarrick issue; he represents thousands of abusive priests and abused faithful young men. The time has come! The horse is out of the stable.

    When I was a seminarian at St. Augustine's in Toronto in 1980, the rector, Fr. Brian Clough, told us, "If you don't like it, get out." This report to Clough included ongoing gay activity within the seminary, including the gay orgy in the seminary organized by Fr. John Tulk. The auxiliary bishop in charge of the seminary, Abp. Aloysius Ambrozic at the time, responded to me, "Grow up." I sent a reverent and fulsome report to Abp. Marcel André Gervais. He sent it back. [Clough and Tulk were eventually expelled from the seminary in the mid-1980s for homosexual misconduct. -ed.]

    This must not be the road or attitude you must take now. We know the problem is homosexuality. I hold two master's degrees in Catholic theology. I know what is going on. My vocation and that of many outstanding candidates was destroyed because of the gayism and gay-friendly rectors. And no one could say I was nasty, loud, uninformed or belligerent. I was devotional, well-researched and reverent.

    ReplyDelete
  111. (continued)

    We know the problem is homosexuality.

    Never have I ever heard a bishop or priest speak against homosexuality, about sin, about life issues — never — not since the days of beloved Frs. Ted Colleton, Cummerford and McGoey. Pope John Paul's encyclicals were totally ignored in theological studies, and the gay culture in our schools is "thick" anti-male and all they get. I have 35 years experience in the school system. This omission reveals cover-up, acceptance and even promotion of homosexuality and gayism in our Church. Some agree that the Church wants to normalize gayism. We won't tolerate this anymore. Additionally, we are horrified by the clergy's insensitivity to the many victims of clerical homosexual abuse.


    Decent leaders in decent organizations fling out the source immediately; their consciences are intact and they retain love in their hearts. Our Church leaders have not done that. You have made us feel "uncool," old-fashioned, "a pain in the butt" when we address sin, the sins of gayism. We as faithful Catholics do not except gayism as the secular culture does. The gay culture, like it or not, is unhealthy, lonely, dangerous and devious. In sum, instead of opposing gayism in the Church, clerics have accepted it and have joined the culture. Nothing very evangelical about that, is there?

    If it will be hard for you to address this issue due to public acceptance, that is still your task, and it is your fault for saying nothing over the decades and sending us many gay priests to preach to us about "homophobia." They're not too concerned about the lives they have destroyed or about the billions spent on legal fees and payouts, which should have been used for the needy. Any good atheist would have been sickened by this ongoing raping of our youth and would have eradicated it immediately. But in the name of the Church and Christian charity, you have not done that.

    ReplyDelete

  112. (continued)

    How do you think we Catholics feel about the ice-cold refusal to protect young people, and instead to be silent on activity that destroys lives? We know you are all aware because we informed you.

    Indeed, our clerics have fallen from grace! I myself saw photos of McCarrick nude on all fours on a seminarian's bed. That didn't outrage bishops who saw the same photos and videos, yet any non-Catholic and faithful Catholic in the pews vomits from disgust. A prince of the Church on all fours, and he went on and on, until caught. No one said anything until caught. We all saw similar behaviours of many priests over the decades. Good, moral Catholic seminarians were made unwelcome.

    I myself saw photos of McCarrick nude on all fours on a seminarian's bed.
    We are wondering if you are going to collectively finally teach what the Church teaches, has always taught on homosexuality. Will you pass this on to all clergy so that all teach "with the mind of the Church"? We will tolerate no less, we are incensed and your salvation depends on it. The Church is aflame because of you. Only addressing the infiltration of gays in our Church will put the flame out.

    ReplyDelete

  113. (continued)

    We are now very informed, outraged and concerned about our Church and our people — seemingly more so than you. You must react. You are rendering our Church meaningless and a haven for gays. Encouraging gay-friendly bishops and cardinals does not help — Cdl. Joseph Tobin, Fr. James Martin, S.J., Cdl. Kevin Farrell, et al.

    This time around, we will not go away. We trusted you for 50 years. No longer! We will not tolerate you dismissing our reports and covering up the filth so that it may continue. We won't tolerate People's Magazine-style homilies.
    Kindly respond stating to us what you plan to do to address homosexual activity among clergy in the Church and when and how you will finally preach on Church moral teachings and condemn clerical gay predation.

    Thank you for your attention.

    Paul Wood, Toronto

    Paul Michael Wood is a teacher of elementary bilingual education and high school theology. He holds a B.A. in Modern Languages, a B.Ed., a Master of Religious Studies and a Master of Theological Studies. He is sixth in a family of 10 children, and is a member of the Knights of Columbus and a Benedictine Oblate. He was a seminarian at St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto from 1980–81.

    ReplyDelete

  114. In the words of Constance at the beginning of this thread ....

    "I invite Susanna for her comments."

    ReplyDelete
  115. Susanna2:53 PM

    Anon 10:17 PM

    Make no mistake. It is YOUR posts that are laden with hypocrisy! And that is exactly why I haven't felt in the least bit obliged to answer your questions. You don't want to know what I have to say. I see that you just want to use ANY reply I make as an excuse to slime the Catholic Church. So who are you kidding?

    Moreover, unless you are somebody else also posting as "anonymous," YOU are the one who asked me to comment on the Philadelphia situation at 6:48 PM and 11:24 AM. So you just made my argument for me.

    You are not looking for justice. ( Is it "just" for a priest to be falsely accused of sexual misconduct with a minor and imprisoned? ) The fact that you come across as thinking it is no big deal tells me that you are cherry-picking your atrocities with a view to to manipulating people's emotions. This is how people like you and your confreres attempt to deploy the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in the service of your own anti-Catholic agenda that you so desperately and unsuccessfully try to disguise as "Christianity." Nice try.

    I have no use for a so-called "Christianity" that glosses over the fact that two Catholic priests and a lay Catholic teacher were falsely accused by a drug addicted liar who was not only proven to have lied, but also admitted to lying, saying that he "made stuff up." One of the innocent priests died in jail after being refused life-saving medical treatment for a heart condition.

    Scandals such as the recent sex abuse scandals are nothing new to the Catholic Church. Ergo, faithful Catholics are not generally inclined to turn tail and run. They are more inclined to stand and fight.

    Are there actual cases of pedophile priests in the Catholic Church? Yes. There always have been. But the Catholic Church does not exactly have a monopoly on pedophiles among members of the clergy. There are cases of pedophilia everywhere and in every religious communion.

    And where such instances of sex abuse of children have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a proper court of law - and not the corrupt kangaroo courts such as the one in Philadelphia - no punishment is too severe.

    I know that your favorite meme is to superciliously accuse me of "deflecting and defending," but that merely shows me that you have no better arguments with which to defend your own "Christian" beliefs other than to accuse the Catholic church of all manner of perfidy. Maybe you don't see any brotherhood/sisterhood in the Catholic church, but I certainly see no brotherhood/sisterhood in your version of "Christianity."

    By gloating over the scandals in the Catholic Church on this blog and peddling anti-Catholicism almost to the exclusion of everything else, YOU are the one doing the deflecting.

    I make absolutely no apologies for defending the Church which I believe to have been the Church established by Christ. If you or anyone else doesn't like it, tough!

    You may have the last word. Knock yourself out. You have just been added to my list of anti-Catholic bigots to be ignored.

    ReplyDelete
  116. Susanna3:10 PM


    Constance 11:28 PM


    PENNSYLVANIA GRAND JURY REPORT DEBUNKED

    Bill Donohue, Ph.D.
    President
    Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
    August 16, 2018

    Unlike most commentators and reporters, I have read most of the Pennsylvania grand jury report. The purpose of this statement is to debunk many of the myths, and indeed lies, that mar the report and/or interpretations of it.

    Myth: Over 300 priests were found guilty of preying on youngsters in Pennsylvania.

    Fact: No one was found guilty of anything. Yet that didn’t stop CBS from saying “300 ‘predator priests’ abused more than 1,000 children over a period of 70 years.” These are all accusations, most of which were never verified by either the grand jury or the dioceses.

    The report, and CBS, are also wrong to say that all of the accused are priests. In fact, some were brothers, some were deacons, and some were seminarians.

    How many of the 300 were probably guilty? Maybe half. My reasoning? The 2004 report by the John Jay College for Criminal Justice found that 4 percent of priests nationwide had a credible accusation made against them between 1950-2002. That is the figure everyone quotes. But the report also notes that roughly half that number were substantiated. If that is a reliable measure, the 300 figure drops to around 150.

    During the seven decades under investigation by the grand jury, there were over 5,000 priests serving in Pennsylvania (this includes two dioceses not covered in the report). Therefore, the percent of priests who had an accusation made against them is quite small, offering a much different picture than what the media afford. And remember, most of these accusations were never substantiated.

    Importantly, in almost all cases, the accused named in the report was never afforded the right to rebut the charges. That is because the report was investigative, not evidentiary, though the report’s summary suggests that it is authoritative. It manifestly is not.

    The report covers accusations extending back to World War II. Almost all the accused are either dead or have been thrown out of the priesthood. For example, in the Diocese of Harrisburg, 71 persons are named: 42 are dead and four are missing. Most of those who are still alive are no longer in ministry.

    There are some cases that are so old that they are unbelievable. Consider the case of Father Joseph M. Ganter. Born in 1892, he was accused in 2008 by an 80-year-old man of abusing him in the 1930s. Obviously, nothing came of it. But the priest was accustomed to such charges.

    In 1945, at the request of Father Ganter, a Justice of the Peace interviewed three teenage males who had made accusations against him. Not only did they give conflicting stories, the three admitted that they were never abused by Ganter. But don’t look to the media to highlight this case, or others like it.

    Myth: The report was warranted because of the on-going crisis in the Catholic Church.

    Fact: There is no on-going crisis—it’s a total myth. In fact, there is no institution, private or public, that has less of a problem with the sexual abuse of minors today than the Catholic Church. How do I know?

    Over the past two years, .005 percent of the Catholic clergy have had a credible accusation made against him. No one knows exactly what the figure is for other institutions, but if there were a grand jury investigation of the sexual abuse of minors in the public schools, people’s heads would explode—it would make the Catholic Church’s problems look like Little League. But no district attorney or attorney general has the guts to probe the public schools.....read entire report..

    https://www.catholicleague.org/pennsylvania-grand-jury-report-debunked-2/

    ReplyDelete

  117. Don't be fooled into believing the Catholic League's Bill Donohue. He is a paid (as in $500,000 per year) propagandist that is tasked with defusing and deflecting the scandals, as in ANY scandal, from the RCC.

    Here is Church Militant's take on Donohue. In HIS OWN WORDS, Donohue ADMITS he knew (as in "everyone knew") about McCarrick's homosexual abuse of young seminarians ... and did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Donohue meekly states "who am I, what could I do?" With YOUR connections to the hierarchy, you could have REPORTED what you knew to them, instead you kept your job, stayed silent, and did NOTHING. In effect, Mr. Donohue, you are complicit in these evil acts!

    https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/bill-donohue-i-knew-about-mccarrick

    ReplyDelete

  118. It really is shameful of Susanna to ignore the victims, which adds insult to their injuries, by excusing away these crimes as nothing other than Catholic bigotry and "attacks upon my church."

    Susanna, whether she realizes it or not, is aligning herself with the radical left pro-homosexual cabal of her church.

    This scandal is not going away. In fact, it is deepening. The public will continue to be exposed to these seedy crimes, cover-ups, etc. as more and more investigations open in an increasing number of states. These crimes are not limited to within the USA, it is GLOBAL!

    Susanna, where do you stand on the following?

    Do you support opening ALL SECRET SEX ABUSE FILES in every single diocese?

    Do you support EXTENDING THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS for child sex abuse crimes?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring that all known reports of sex abuse be reported to local law enforcement?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring the full cooperation of all dioceses to cooperate with law enforcement, including providing any and all evidence, as pertaining to alleged child abuse crimes?

    Do you support the immediate defrocking of any cleric that is found to be a practicing homosexual, supporting homosexuality, or found to be guilty of child sex abuse?

    ReplyDelete
  119. Susanna9:17 PM

    I wonder if RayB is aware that Michael Voris has come out about his homosexual past.

    Voris claimed to have gotten wind of a sinister plot by the New York Archdiocese to leak stories of his sinful homosexual past in order to discredit him and that is why he came clean.

    In a way, it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black since Voris himself has built his own reputation on accusations, half-truths, innuendoes, and a lust for gossip that equals, if it does not surpass, anything New York Archdiocesan operatives might conjure up.

    Moreover, it is hardly likely that the Archdiocese would want to risk making a martyr of an entrepreneurial, self-promoting gadfly whose over the top enterprises include his infamous "Lenten cruise." As one wag put it, no need to go rogue over the Second Coming of Savonarola.

    As for the 2013 "Lenten cruise," called the "Lenten retreat at sea," the devil certainly appears to have been in these details. Ah yes! Wasted away in retreatville! A seven-day roundtrip Caribbean cruise aboard the Ruby Princess that featured stopovers at the Bahamas and other balmy tropical islands. The Ruby Princess is a huge five-star luxury cruise ship with a crew of over 1,200 and room for 3,080 passengers. Oh, and don’t forget the “welcome aboard” cocktail reception! Nothing sets the tone for a good Lenten retreat better than knocking down a few tasty margaritas!

    Curiously, the flyer’s content was changed in the wake of a not so flattering article, and the reference to the “cocktail reception” was replaced with “welcome reception” —a clear sign of damage control, as the “Year of Faith” Retreat at Sea came under considerable fire, even from fans of the noted “celebrity” Voris and even possibly from some potential participants who are well aware of the potential spiritual dangers involved in surroundings where there would likely be immodestly dressed young women sunning themselves on the various decks or enjoying one of the swimming pools. And there was still the Ruby Princess’s bustling nightlife to contend with, and the nightlife was hardly contemplative and otherworldly.

    In a word, there were plenty of worldly distractions to go around, with a number of them providing serious occasions of sin.

    It gives one a whole new appreciation for the meaning of the term "jumping the shark."

    ReplyDelete
  120. Susanna said (above, in part)...

    "I wonder if RayB is aware that Michael Voris has come out about his homosexual past."

    Actually, I did know and I also posted in the past that Michael Voris is a FORMER homosexual, by his own admission. As to how that admission came about is irrelevant. Clearly, Voris's MESSAGE was attacked by outing his PAST sinful behavior. There isn't a human being alive, if they are honest, that would want to have all their sinful acts and thoughts made public ... not a single one. That's because we ALL are born with a sinful, rebellious nature that seeks not God, but our own self satisfaction. Repentance, the Bible teaches, is a gift from God. If Voris has been given this "gift," who are we to throw stones at his past? By all accounts, Voris has sincerely repented from that life of sinful behavior. I would MUCH rather discuss Voris's MESSAGE, and would hope in the future you would address specific issues of that message.

    As to the "Lenten Cruise" that you cite in your post, I agree with you. I find all "religious" cruises distasteful, and is an example of the pampered world we live in.

    Having said that, I still would appreciate you providing us with answers to the following questions:

    Do you support opening ALL SECRET SEX ABUSE FILES in every single diocese?

    Do you support EXTENDING THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS for child sex abuse crimes?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring that all known reports of sex abuse be reported to local law enforcement?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring the full cooperation of all dioceses to cooperate with law enforcement, including providing any and all evidence, as pertaining to alleged child abuse crimes?

    Do you support the immediate defrocking of any cleric that is found to be a practicing homosexual, supporting homosexuality, or found to be guilty of child sex abuse?

    ReplyDelete
  121. RayB recommended Ted Gunderson in one of his posts above. I just wanted readers here to be aware that Joel of the Institute for the Study of Globalization and Covert Politics does not recommend Ted Gunderson. Take this information into consideration at your own discretion. You can read more details here if interested. Gunderson is included in this discussion of Alex Jones, as Gunderson is one of the conspiracy theorists who is promoted by Jones:

    Alex Jones of Infowars Admits to CIA and "Army Special Forces" Family; Supports Death Squads, Dictators, Drugs, Disinformation...and the CNP

    ReplyDelete
  122. Susanna4:09 PM

    Ray B said,

    There isn't a human being alive, if they are honest, that would want to have all their sinful acts and thoughts made public ... not a single one. That's because we ALL are born with a sinful, rebellious nature that seeks not God, but our own self satisfaction. Repentance, the Bible teaches, is a gift from God. If Voris has been given this "gift," who are we to throw stones at his past? By all accounts, Voris has sincerely repented from that life of sinful behavior. I would MUCH rather discuss Voris's MESSAGE, and would hope in the future you would address specific issues of that message.

    With all due respect, I basically agree with that and I think that the same standards that RayB wishes to see applied to Michael Voris should be applied to all persons - including the Catholic clergy who have been accused but not found guilty and convicted of sexual abuse of children or of anyone else. Those articles I posted from BigTrial - which are being cited in several other reputable publications - are a perfect example of what I am talking about.

    As long as members of the clergy are given DUE PROCESS, and as long as hard evidence of their alleged crimes can be presented in a court of law, I feel that no punishment is too great for any priest or bishop legitimately found guilty of the sexual abuse of children which, as far as I am concerned, amounts to "soul murder."

    Regarding opening ALL SECRET SEX ABUSE FILES, that is a difficult question and I honestly don't know how I feel about that.

    This is not because I believe in coverups, (I don't) but because first of all, we have to be careful not to equate an accusation with a conviction. Anyone can accuse anyone of anything. And once a sex abuse accusation is leaked to the public, the person accused could (due to a false accusation) turn out to be as innocent as a newborn babe, but his reputation will nevertheless be tainted irreparably and permanently and he will always be viewed with suspicion by those who know about the sex abuse accusation.

    Moreover, coming as I do from a family of law enforcement professionals, one of whom was head of a detective bureau before being promoted, I have learned that in many instances of past abuse cases before it was "OK to be gay," it has been the PARENTS of the abused child who wanted to keep everything on the QT because some of them are operating under the assumption ( whether true or not ) that their little Johnny would wind up being labeled as "gay" in the eyes of his peers if anyone had found out that he was sexually abused by a homosexual predator.

    As for EXTENDING THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, since it is the cause of action that dictates the statute of limitations, I wouldn't have a problem with that because crimes considered heinous by society should have NO statute of limitations. For example, there is usually no statute of limitation on murder.....and a good thing too because not too long ago a 25-year-old murder case was solved near where I live. At the time, even though DNA testing was still in its infancy, the aforementioned former detective gathered the appropriate evidence and preserved it for FUTURE DNA testing in the event that the murderer should ever be found.

    cont.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Susanna4:10 PM

    cont.

    As for the Pope declaring church law requiring that all known reports of sex abuse be reported to local law enforcement, I am all for it as long as it does not require any member of the Catholic clergy to violate the seal of the confessional.

    However, a priest can certainly refuse absolution to a person unless he turns himself in. I would assume that if a person is even bothering to go to confession to begin with, he is already being tormented by his own conscience and therefore has serious concerns about the state of his immortal soul. Therefore, the refusal of absolution by his confessor might be just the nudge he needs to turn himself in to law enforcement officials. Here is an interesting story which gives an example explaining why the Seal of Confession does not help criminals.

    Dec. 17, 2017

    Does the Seal of Confession Help Criminals?
    The answer is no, and here’s why.

    Jennifer Fitz

    In the news recently: A laicized priest who murdered one of his penitents back in 1960 has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The case finally came to trial after a second now-laicized priest, who had heard the murderer’s confession, came forward in 2002 with the information he received in a confession back in 1963.

    Cases like this cause people to question whether priests should, in fact, always keep confessions secret. Would justice be better served by allowing, or even requiring, that priests divulge the contents of certain confessions?

    The answer is no, and if we look closely at the details of this case, we can see why
    .....read more....

    http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jenfitz/does-the-seal-of-confession-help-criminals
    ________________________________________________________________

    In other words, the police did not need Fr. Dale Tacheny to violate the seal of the confessional because the police were already onto him but cut a disgraceful crooked political deal to stop the investigation out of a concern that if a priest was charged in Garza’s death, Kennedy’s presidential campaign and the re-election chances of the local Catholic sheriff would be at stake.

    As for whether or not I support the immediate defrocking of any cleric that is found to be a practicing homosexual, supporting homosexuality, or found to be guilty of child sex abuse I certainly do! Because first of all, homosexuals do not belong in the Roman Catholic priesthood. Since they are incapable of properly relating to women, they are incapable of embodying the nuptial relationship on a spiritual level between Christ the Bridegroom and the Church His Bride. They should not be admitted into the seminary to begin with, but they should definitely get the boot if they are living active homosexual lifestyles as priests. If found guilty of child sex abuse, it goes without saying that they should be defrocked before being sent off to prison where they can conduct whatever services they choose while wearing orange vestments and doing "ordinary time" - like life!

    Regarding homosexuals and liberals in the Roman Catholic priesthood there is an excellent book out entitled

    Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic ChurchHardcover – May 1, 2002

    by Michael S. Rose
    https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Good-Men-Liberals-Corruption/dp/0895261448
    _____________________________________________________________________

    ReplyDelete
  124. There is a YouTube video from the time he went on CSPAN2 BookTV and talked about his book.

    Michael S. Rose "Goodbye, Good Men"

    ReplyDelete
  125. Susanna7:32 PM

    J 5:47 PM

    WOW! Thank you for that link to Michael Rose's talk.

    ReplyDelete

  126. Susanna said (in part) @4:09 PM:

    "With all due respect, I basically agree with that and I think that the same standards that RayB wishes to see applied to Michael Voris should be applied to all persons - including the Catholic clergy who have been accused but not found guilty and convicted of sexual abuse of children or of anyone else."

    Susanna,

    Allow me to clarify my statement regarding our "past sins." The difference between the accused Catholic clergy and Michael Voris is that his life has changed and he has repented from his past sinful homosexual lifestyle. The Catholic clergy CANNOT be "found guilty" by trial because of the fact that the statute of limitations has run out, something that the RCC has actively campaigned against extending the time of limitations. Most of the clerics named had multiple, documented complaints filed against them, followed by pay for silence schemes, monetary settlements, etc. Furthermore, it is a fact that pedophiles rarely forsake their criminal behavior against children, as illustrated by so many pedophile priests that were moved to other dioceses, only to commit their crimes again and again. The RCC, in America alone, has paid out over $2 Billion in settlements to sex abuse victims. Obviously, there was an awful lot of guilty parties to cause that amount in settlements. Again ... the PA Grand Jury evidence was obtained from the dioceses which meticulously documented these crimes by the clergy, along with settlements, etc.

    If Voris ranted against the Homosexual/pedophile scandals, and remained a Homosexual himself, I wouldn't pay any attention to him. Personally, I believe he deserves to be respectfully heard because he has given up that sin, and knows first hand the evil, destructive nature that it is.

    ReplyDelete
  127. Anonymous10:47 AM

    You can't tell me that all the charges being brought are bogus.
    Other denominations have seen some heads roll, why not yours, Susanna?

    I'm glad to see some softening of the defensiveness in your recent post.
    A little bit, anyway.
    You are still talking about priests, etc., though, not the victims, and what could and should be a recourse for them.

    ReplyDelete
  128. Susanna1:03 PM

    Regarding RayB's comments at 10:07 PM

    Allow me to clarify as well. "Past sins" are not the same as "no sins." Michael Voris voluntarily came out. He was guilty of living a homosexual lifestyle. I am not judging him. I am merely stating a fact. No one falsely accused Michael Voris of anything - although Michael Voris falsely insinuated that the Archdiocese of New York was out to get him.

    But as usual, RayB has tried to weasel-word my answer in order to justify his own double standard.

    The priests in question in the Philadelphia situation have been involuntarily accused by others and have not been convicted of anything. I am not saying that they are necessarily all innocent. What I am saying is that they have not been given due process and proven guilty. To go around saying that someone is guilty of something when it has not been proven is bearing false witness against one's neighbor.

    RayB's "guilty until proven innocent" mentality as applied only to people he doesn't happen to like speaks volumes.

    In this country, a person is innocent until proven guilty - whether one happens to like them or not.

    The presumption of innocence is the principle that one is considered innocent unless proven guilty. It was traditionally expressed by the Latin maxim ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat (“the burden of proof is on the one who declares, not on one who denies”).

    In many states, presumption of innocence is a legal right of the accused in a criminal trial, and it is an international human right under the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must collect and present compelling evidence to the trier of fact. The trier of fact (a judge or a jury) is thus restrained and ordered by law to consider only actual evidence and testimony presented in court. The prosecution must, in most cases prove that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. If reasonable doubt remains, the accused must be acquitted.

    Under the Justinian Codes and English common law, the accused is presumed innocent in criminal proceedings, and in civil proceedings (like breach of contract) both sides must issue proof.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presumption_of_innocence
    _________________________________________


    I think I have already more than adequately answered RayB's questions, including the fact that I am in favor of not having any statute of limitations on such heinous crimes. After a careful examination of all the legal repercussions, I might even be in favor of the statute of limitations being applied retroactively.

    By the way, contrary to what Anonymous FALSELY claimed at 10:47 AM, I never said all the charges were bogus. What I did say is that no convictions had been made because no accused priest had been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (as in a court of law.)

    If we want to talk about "heads rolling," let's talk about "heads that have rolled" after being falsely accused.

    In Philadelphia, there are two priests who were falsely accused and imprisoned because after the Prosecutor discovered that there was evidence the accuser lied, the priests refused to falsely plead guilty to crimes they did not commit as a condition of being freed from prison albeit with some other unacceptable provisions.

    The accuser, Daniel Gallagher ( a.k.a. "Billy Doe"), was not only proven to be a liar (See articles posted above) but even admitted it himself in terms of "I made stuff up."

    ReplyDelete
  129. Susanna1:05 PM

    cont.

    The District Attorney, Rufus Seth Williams, who prosecuted the priests as well as the Catholic lay teacher Bernard Shero, who was also falsely accused, salivated over the idea of a historic "trophy trial" but is currently serving a jail sentence himself for, among other things, bribery, extortion and even ripping off his own mother. In the annals of corruption, the current D.A. is no prize either.

    As for the payoffs by bishops without a civil lawsuit, I normally regard such payoffs and hush money as disgraceful cowardly behavior on the part of bishops who do this. When such payoffs are made, the accused priests are still not given due process and such payoffs merely contribute to the appearance of guilt on the part of the accused priest. It also suggests that the bishops themselves may have something to hide.....which was the case several years ago in my own diocese.

    Archbishop Charles Chaput, for example, has come under heavy criticism for paying off Daniel Gallagher, the person who falsely accused the two aforementioned priests and lay school teacher in Philadelphia.

    In fact, Chaput has been dubbed "Checkbook Charlie." He paid off Daniel Gallagher to the tune of $5 million! To be fair to Archbishop however, given the cesspool of corruption that Philadelphia has become, ( i.e. Assistant DA Sorenson's serving as a member of SNAP's board of directors and her close association with SNAP and the SNAP kickbacks to attorneys and attorney "donations" to SNAP), Archpishop Chaput may have thought that he was getting off cheap since a lawsuit/ civil trial may have resulted in a significantly bigger payout.

    In 2007, Marci Hamilton, a Yeshiva University law professor, discovered that,

    "SNAP does not focus on protecting or helping survivors," the lawsuit says. Instead, "it exploits them" while "routinely accepts financial kickbacks from attorneys in the form of 'donations,'" according to the lawsuit filed by attorneys Bruce C. Howard and Richard S. Wilson of Chicago.

    "In exchange for kickbacks, SNAP refers survivors as potential clients to attorneys, who then file lawsuits on behalf of the survivors against the Catholic Church," the suit says. "These cases often settle, to the financial benefit of the attorneys and, at times, to the financial benefit of SNAP, which has received direct payment from survivors' settlements."
    ....read more...

    http://www.bigtrial.net/2017/01/snap-lawsuit-alleges-kickbacks.html
    ______________________________________________

    Father Charles Engelhardt, who was one of the priests accused by Daniel Gallagher, died in prison after being denied life-saving treatment for a heart condition. He professed his innocence even on his death bed. This special kind of confession can sometimes be admissible in court and in fact, Father Englehardt's cellmate, Paul Eline, filed as an intervenor in his appeal case but it was denied. Nevertheless, Father Engelhardt's order, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, have continued to battle to exonerate him posthumously, calling his conviction and imprisonment "a complete injustice."

    When I read posts like that of Anonymous 10:47 AM I have to conclude that He/she only cherry picks those victims that he/she assumes will enable him/her to fire up the angry emotions of people he/she wants to manipulate and control. For certain professional anti-Catholics, the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church is analogous to what it was to the corrupt DA Rufus Seth Williams...their "trophy scandal." However, their day will come even as it came to Willimas.

    I, on the other hand, am considering ALL the victims. "Innocent until proven guilty" is not merely being "defensive" about my religion. It is the law. Anyone who doesn't like this law can always go live someplace else - like China or North Korea.

    ReplyDelete
  130. Susanna,

    You have documented clear financial incentives to lie and to advocate for liars. It is sickening. It adds another layer of corruption that complicates the whole thing even more. What a mess!

    What is interesting to me is that conservatives are usually so quick to advocate for men who have been accused of rape. In fact, in publication after publication in the conservative media, I have seen a pattern of one woman writer who only writes about one subject, rape. And she always writes about one side of rape, the side of the falsely accused.

    Where are the conservatives writing about the falsely accused Catholic priests?

    ReplyDelete
  131. Falsely accused of child sex abuse: ordeal of innocent priests

    In his victim impact statement to the courts in Dublin a priest, falsely accused of raping a child, said he would have preferred to have been shot through the head than go through what he had since the allegation was made.

    He had to stand down from public ministry, leave the presbytery where he had lived for years, and deal with rumour, and rumours of rumour.

    The priest, who was not named in court proceedings but who was, and remains, deeply respected in the archdiocese, made his impact statement at the trial of his accuser who was jailed for four years in 2007, reduced on appeal to three years.

    In June 2003, Paul Anderson made a statement to gardaí at Kevin Street in Dublin, falsely accusing the priest of indecent assault and buggery between February and May 1981 while being prepared for First Communion.

    The priest said his ordeal had given him “a deeper insight into the mind of Christ” who had also been falsely accused. “And since his standard of forgiveness was ‘70 times seven times’ then surely I must be able to find it in me to forgive Paul Anderson – which I now do – and I do so wholeheartedly. So may I sincerely ask that this be taken into merciful consideration by the court when sentence is being passed,” he said.

    ____________________________________________________________________________________


    Church ‘leaving falsely accused priests in limbo’

    Carmelite father Chris Conroy, 81, who is banned from saying public Mass and is defying orders to leave his family home and live in a monastery, says the Catholic Church has its own “Guantanamo Bay” for falsely-accused priests.

    The former missionary from Co Wicklow, who was the subject of an award-winning documentary about his work with the Indians of the Peruvian Andes, says he has been in limbo for the last 10 years since his court case ended.

    In his memoirs, to be launched next month, he accuses Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of interfering without authority to have him prevented from saying Mass and says his Order has shown undue deference to the Archbishop in attempting to impose other restrictions.

    ____________________________________________________________________________________


    SNAP apologizes to accused priest as part of settlement

    ST. LOUIS – A support group for victims of clergy abuse has apologized to a Roman Catholic priest who sued after child molestation charges against him were dropped and jurors in a separate lawsuit concerning the allegations sided with the China-born priest.

    The Archdiocese of St. Louis on Monday disclosed the apology from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

    "SNAP acknowledges that false claims of clergy sexual abuse injure those clerics falsely accused and the Roman Catholic Church," the group said. The group added that it apologized for "any false or inaccurate statements" related to the accusations against the Rev. Xiu Hui "Joseph" Jiang that "in any way disparaged" him, the archbishop and other archdiocese officials.

    ReplyDelete
  132. Duluth priest sues man who accused him of sexual abuse

    A Duluth priest has turned the tables on a man who is accusing him of sexual abuse.

    The Rev. William C. Graham, pastor at St. Michael's Catholic Church in the Lakeside neighborhood, is suing his accuser, who claims that he was abused by the priest nearly four decades ago.

    Graham, 66, has been on administrative leave from the Diocese of Duluth since May 23, when his name surfaced in a lawsuit filed anonymously by a man identified as Doe 446.

    The filing identifies St. John's Church, St. Benedict's Church and the Marshall School (formerly Cathedral High School) as defendants. Graham is not personally named as a defendant, but is mentioned in the suit as the focus of the abuse allegations.

    On Friday, Patrick Neaton, a Chanhassen, Minn., attorney for Graham, provided the News Tribune with a nine-page complaint that he said will be served on Doe 446.

    Graham's suit accuses the man of engaging in a "last-minute effort to obtain some sort of pecuniary gain," citing the fact that the lawsuit was filed two days ahead of the expiration of the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which temporarily suspended the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse lawsuits.

    ____________________________________________________________________________________

    Chicago archdiocese wins claim against false sex abuse allegations

    A Chicago man who filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Chicago alleging sexual abuse by a notorious former priest has been ordered to repay the church for the money it spent defending itself, a Cook County circuit court judge ruled earlier this month. Church officials in Chicago say that revelations regarding other fraudulent cases could be forthcoming, a prospect that both the archdiocese and victim advocates say will be a disservice to genuine victims.

    ____________________________________________________________________________________

    Merrillville priest who was attacked was accused of child abuse in 2004, church denies allegation

    While the FBI is continuing its investigation into an Aug. 20 attack on a priest at St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Church in Merrillville, a Byzantine church bishop told the congregation recently that an abuse complaint against the priest in 2004 wasn’t deemed credible.

    The Rev. Basil Hutsko, 64, was knocked unconscious by an unknown assailant around 9 a.m. Aug. 20 inside St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Church, 557 W. 57th Ave., according to police.

    ReplyDelete
  133. Susanna said (in part) @ 1:09 PM...

    "But as usual, RayB has tried to weasel-word my answer in order to justify his own double standard."

    "The priests in question in the Philadelphia situation have been involuntarily accused by others and have not been convicted of anything. I am not saying that they are necessarily all innocent. What I am saying is that they have not been given due process and proven guilty. To go around saying that someone is guilty of something when it has not been proven is bearing false witness against one's neighbor."

    "RayB's "guilty until proven innocent" mentality as applied only to people he doesn't happen to like speaks volumes."


    This is truly amazing. FIRST, the Statute of Limitations has run out on most of these crimes. The Catholic church has dedicated itself to OPPOSING ALL EFFORTS to extend the statutes. WHY IS THAT SUSANNA?

    SECOND, Susanna claims "innocent until proven guilty," but fails to recognize that the alleged criminals CANNOT BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL because of the obstacles, obstruction of justice, failure to report crimes to the authorities, bribes for silence, etc. ALL designed to NOT BRING THESE CRIMINALS TO TRIAL !!!

    Susanna remains on her "Joan of Arc" horse valiantly defending the criminals. I've yet to read any real heartfelt rage regarding what has happened to these INNOCENT CHILDREN! Instead, she self righteously denies the overwhelming evidence of these crimes by meekly declaring "I don't deny some of this happened" BUT BUT BUT, let's not be too quick to judge. Susanna, I wonder how you would explain to us how it is that the RCC has paid out over $2 BILLION (BILLION WITH A B) in settlements if so many of these homosexual pedophiles weren't guilty???

    ReplyDelete

  134. NOTE: the $2 BILLION in payouts were made in America alone. That doesn't count all the untold amounts that had to be paid out wherever in the world the RCC has a foothold, and where the pedophiles feasted upon their prey!

    ReplyDelete

  135. The Catholic church's ongoing child sex abuse scandal continues to widen. Now the spotlight is on Germany.

    According to a confidential study commissioned by the German Bishops conference, German priests sexually abused 3,677 minors between 1946 and 2014.

    The study found that 1,670 clerics and priests from 27 German dioceses were involved in the abuse, that the victims were mostly young males, and that the majority were under the age of 13 when they were abused.

    Read the full story here:

    https://qz.com/1387827/a-new-report-details-the-extent-of-sexual-abuse-at-the-catholic-church-in-germany/

    ReplyDelete
  136. Anonymous10:44 PM

    "I've yet to read any real heartfelt rage regarding what has happened to these INNOCENT CHILDREN! Instead, she self righteously denies the overwhelming evidence of these crimes by meekly declaring "I don't deny some of this happened" BUT BUT BUT"

    That is the point I was trying to drive home.....and why I found her posts full of hypocrisy.

    Children are the true victims here.

    ReplyDelete
  137. Anonymous10:44 PM

    "I've yet to read any real heartfelt rage regarding what has happened to these INNOCENT CHILDREN! Instead, she self righteously denies the overwhelming evidence of these crimes by meekly declaring "I don't deny some of this happened" BUT BUT BUT"

    That is the point I was trying to drive home.....and why I found her posts full of hypocrisy.

    Children are the true victims here.

    ReplyDelete

  138. PLEASE FORGIVE ME ... I WAS WRONG! We should all admit when we are wrong, and that is exactly what I am doing. I feel better already getting this burden off my chest.

    I stated in my posts @ 7:04 PM & 7:06 PM that the Catholic church has paid out, in America alone, over $2 Billion in pay-offs and settlements. I WAS WRONG, and by a lot.

    The real figure is not $2 Billion, it's $3 Billion. That's right. $3 Billion paid out of the coffers that the faithful thought was going towards supporting things like Catholic Charities, instead it went to buy off the victims of pedophiles. Amazing!

    ReplyDelete

  139. Incidentally, here is one link (among many available) that accurately states the pay out figure to be "more than $3 Billion for America.

    https://www.npr.org/2018/08/18/639698062/the-clergy-abuse-crisis-has-cost-the-catholic-church-3-billion

    ReplyDelete
  140. RayB and Anonymous,

    You are not being fair. Susanna has stated:

    "And where s uch instances of sex abuse of children have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a proper court of law - and not the corrupt kangaroo courts such as the one in Philadelphia - no punishment is too severe."

    "As long as members of the clergy are given DUE PROCESS, and as long as hard evidence of their alleged crimes can be presented in a court of law, I feel that no punishment is too great for any priest or bishop legitimately found guilty of the sexual abuse of children which, as far as I am concerned, amounts to 'soul murder.'"

    ReplyDelete
  141. If I may express one opinion about all of this. The argument that money payouts prove guilt doesn't pass muster, when Susanna provided an example in this very discussion thread of a $5 million payout in a case where the original accuser subsequently admitted lying.

    But in my opinion, the massive payouts show a pattern of behavior that can't prove how often the accused really were guilty -- but can prove the church is more willing to part with money than to risk reputation. The priority has been consistently on reputation, not on defending the innocent -- whether the innocent are falsely accused priests or whether the innocent are victims abused by priests.

    I've provided ample examples in this discussion thread of all church denominations disgustingly behaving in a similar way. The Catholic church has the most examples simply because it has the most members and the deepest pockets.

    That said, for some reason, I feel resistant about jumping on this anti-Catholic bandwagon at this present time, because I can tell that the whole media is gunning for it. For the very reason I know I'm meant to be manipulated, I am choosing skepticism. It's a gut feeling that just won't quit.

    ReplyDelete
  142. Anonymous11:46 AM

    Well looking at this with a skepticism is good but begs that we look at the whole matter. Just protecting priests (or in other denominations pastors for that matter) innocent or otherwise - is unbalanced at best, and deeply grievously wrong, at worst.
    If truth is on your side, if your heart and ministry is to serve and care for others then you can risk your reputation for their sake and let truth prevail. And besides the powerful should be willing to go to bat for children at a cost to themselves, if they are innocent. There is a saying among Christians that says: in the world never expect justice, but you, yourself, never cease to give it. That exemplifies Jesus. The Lord Jesus of course, was horribly and unjustly treated when He is totally righteous so He can speak to that with His great authority, and expect that those who say they love Him and serve Him should do the same. The servant is not greater than his Lord. Isn't that what people with a right heart to minister do? Better to be the wronged than wrong yourself. God is the Judge. Shouldn't people of faith place themselves in God's hands? Plus, look at the payout and how that repeatedly robbed God's work also. Only more injustice in that case. Terrible!!!!!!!
    So money doesn't fix that, honesty and integrity will exhonerate the wronged, and if the wrong one, mercifully, repentance and renewal will do that. If you trust God as your defense you will do the righteous thing, not a compromised hidden and hiding thing. Moving priests around from parish to parish when issues showed up never solved the problems did it? That spread the poison. The powerful priests have a lot more say-so than children do. Hushing them up did not solve the problem did it? The impact on the vulnerable is very grievous and I think it a shame that that part of this gets a bum's rush...no justice from people who are supposed to be all about that.
    Shame is written all over this!!!!!

    None of the defenses are holding water.

    ReplyDelete

  143. J,

    You cite ISOLATED incidences of fraud regarding civil suits in order to establish a beach head against the massive amounts of legitimate, documented cases of child sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic clergy.

    You also provide cover for Susanna because she is, of course, calling for the punishment of criminals that are "given DUE PROCESS." What Susanna and you refuse to point out is the FACT that the victims are NOT EXTENDED DUE PROCESS due entirely to the fact that the Statute of Limitations, which is typically 1 to 2 years, has run out. The Catholic church has diligently thwarted efforts to have the legislation changed to extend the Statute of Limitations. Why is that J? Can you possibly think of an answer J?

    Globally, the Catholic church has a long history of NOT cooperating with law enforcement authorities. More often than not, they have actually OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE, for which they should be prosecuted. Child molestation is a CRIME. So ask yourself this question: WHY ARE THESE CRIMES NOT REPORTED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES by Catholic Bishops, etc.??? If they were really law abiding citizens, they would immediately call the police in order to protect further abuse by habitual, repeat pedophiles. Instead, the pattern was to pay off the victims for silence and move the offender to another diocese, whereby they preyed on more innocent children! This is exactly what has happened in countless, well documented situations.

    ReplyDelete
  144. (continued)

    There is a current Congressman (can't recall his name) that was abused by a Catholic priest when he was an altar boy. He is currently fighting (against the Catholic church, I might add) to EXTEND the Statute. His reason is that during the time he was being abused, he didn't even know who to report this to let alone what a Statute of Limitation even was. By the time he had matured and realized what had happened to him, law enforcement wasn't interested because the Statute had run out.

    AGAIN ... "DUE PROCESS" was purposely prevented because of the obstruction of justice, the corruption of witnesses, the tampering of evidence ... all at the hands of the Catholic church. Susanna's arguments are nothing other than a clever ruse to provide cover for her "church."

    ReplyDelete

  145. Report revealing that the US Catholic Church has spent millions fighting clergy sex abuse accountability.

    Lobbying funds have gone towards opposing bills that would extend statutes of limitations for child sex abuse cases or grant temporary windows to take action.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/12/catholic-church-fights-clergy-child-sex-abuse-measures

    Revealing account of how the Catholic Church has lobbied against efforts to extend the statutes of limitations in Pennsylvania.

    http://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2018/08/16/Abuse-report-could-spur-changes-to-law-on-statute-of-limitations-pennsylvania-grand-jury-harrisburg/stories/201808150173

    Attention "J" and Susanna,

    Can you please provide information of ANY other religious institution that spends so much time, money and effort in fighting against the extension of the statutes of limitations on child sex abuse cases? I'm sure there must be ONE out there other than the Catholic Church, but, so far, I haven't found any. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  146. Anonymous 11:46 AM,

    I don't disagree with anything you wrote. I still maintain the view, however, that people who care about abused children will advocate for them all -- and not only the ones who are abused by Catholic priests. To fixate only on the latter betrays more hatred of the Catholic church and less love for children.

    In addition, RayB is relentlessly attempting to scapegoat Susanna personally on this blog. He talks about wanting more sincere outrage from her but does not display sincerity, himself, in my opinion. I see no emotional sincerity. Saying, SHAME! in all caps and comparing her to Alinsky is over the top. It is psychological bullying. I would not be surprised if he is out to make her blow up. It is a devil's game to attempt to bring out the worst in people. I believe it is also called trolling.

    RayB started out here by trolling Constance. He seems to have given up on that and is now determined to relentlessly target Susanna. He displays no sincere Christian belief and will not say what denomination he belongs to. This is because he is determined to be cheap and attack somebody else's beliefs while keeping his own hidden so that they can never be attacked. It is the tactic of a cheap troll.

    I am sorry that you have been emotionally sucked into RayB's trolling. I have not been and will not be.

    ReplyDelete

  147. Statements along with questions (see below) that "J" will not address, or more likely, cannot. Instead, "J" goes the personal attack route, claiming that I am not a Christian, that I am a troll, that I am "attempting to make" Susanna "blow up." ROFL ! "J" also erroneously states that I refuse to state my "denomination" so that I "can never be attacked." Another ROFL! I have stated explicitly in the past my beliefs, including the fact that I believe the Bible's teachings on Election, i.e. Predestination. I never stated my "denomination" because I do not belong to one. When asked, I answer that I am a Bible obeying Christian, because the Bible is God's authoritative word for all our beliefs and practices.

    RayB to "J":

    "You cite ISOLATED incidences of fraud regarding civil suits in order to establish a beach head against the massive amounts of legitimate, documented cases of child sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic clergy."

    "You also provide cover for Susanna because she is, of course, calling for the punishment of criminals that are "given DUE PROCESS." What Susanna and you refuse to point out is the FACT that the victims are NOT EXTENDED DUE PROCESS due entirely to the fact that the Statute of Limitations, which is typically 1 to 2 years, has run out. The Catholic church has diligently thwarted efforts to have the legislation changed to extend the Statute of Limitations. Why is that J? Can you possibly think of an answer J?"

    "Can you please provide information of ANY other religious institution that spends so much time, money and effort in fighting against the extension of the statutes of limitations on child sex abuse cases? I'm sure there must be ONE out there other than the Catholic Church, but, so far, I haven't found any. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated."

    ReplyDelete
  148. To "J"

    Just to see where you are coming from "J," where do you stand on these issues?

    Do you support opening ALL SECRET SEX ABUSE FILES in every single diocese?

    Do you support EXTENDING THE STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS for child sex abuse crimes?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring that all known reports of sex abuse be reported to local law enforcement authorities?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring the full cooperation of all dioceses with law enforcement, including providing any and all evidence, as pertaining to alleged child abuse crimes?

    Do you support the Pope declaring that all "pay for silence" schemes be declared illegal regarding child sex abuse cases?

    Do you support the immediate defrocking of any cleric that is found to be a practicing homosexual, supporting homosexuality, or found to be guilty of child sex abuse?

    ReplyDelete

  149. Who is the troll? The one that refuses to provide answers to legitimate questions, or the one that ignores the message and attacks the messenger?

    ReplyDelete
  150. RayB,

    I am not the Pope, nor am I a Catholic. I am willing to engage in debate about the issues, but I learn from Susanna's side of the debate as well as your side. You only attack and scapegoat Susanna -- just for taking any other side of the debate than your own. That is what I am taking issue with. I will make up my mind after hearing the strongest possible case on both sides.

    You have made some claims that I am wondering about, but I will wait to see what Susanna's answers are. I am not a scholar or journalist specializing in the Catholic church, nor will I instantly become one to defend myself against your ridiculous attempt to pin me against the wall on all charges as if I am the Pope himself being tried in a court of law right here and now, and you are the prosecuting attorney.

    We are just people commenting in a blog and need to have some perspective.

    I will stop personalizing it about you if you will stop personalizing it about Susanna.

    ReplyDelete
  151. P.S. I thought I had made it clear that I saw a pattern of no legal process, even in cases where priests were later proven innocent. Susanna and I have both documented more than one such case of false accusation in the thread above.

    The church could have exonerated innocent priests by going through a legal process but seems to want to handle it all outside of the legal system from what the history shows.

    So logically, this implies that I think the church should allow legal processes to handle such cases. I do not feel responsible for hashing out every fine point; I am not writing legal policy for the Catholic church. Are you?

    BUT the legal system is also corrupt in some cases, as Susanna has documented. This may not complicate it morally, but it does complicate it practically.

    Second BUT...this reminds me strongly of the #MeToo movement, because it has burst on the scene in coordinated fashion across the media suddenly.

    And I think the #MeToo movement is a limited hangout to avoid confronting abuses of children in Hollywood by making it into a man vs. woman issue and giving us a monster to fell in Harvey Weinstein. We are to be content with a few felled monsters and move along and forget about the children and forget about what Corey Feldman and Elijah Wood said.

    And as I have stated in the thread above already, I suspect that exclusive fixation on Catholic church abuses is another kind of limited hangout.

    If you read the book, Lucifer's Lodge, you will see that one of the pedophile priests exposed in this book also partied in Hollywood, with very young boys trafficked in for parties in hot tubs that included some of the gay Hollywood men. If I recall, this was actually written up in the Boston Globe in at least one article. It has been years since I read it, so I will look it up and see if my memory is correct on this point.

    Does this mean Harvey Weinstein should have had no accountability? No, that's not the problem. The problem is in the channeled and limited narrative.

    ReplyDelete
  152. The whole issue of abuse of children is actually a very, very tricky one. As a mother, I have come to conclude that only cameras will protect both adults and children. Some people who work with children are now insisting on cameras. One man who is a teen girl volleyball coach will not allow parents to drop their girls off and leave, unless they allow a camera to film the coaching while they are gone. Otherwise if they don't want a camera, they need to be there the whole time.

    They try to teach children to report abuse, but I have found that children have a hard time with the concept. After all, look at it from their perspective. They are always having to listen to adults. They are told to report bullying, but when they do, nothing happens unless a parent calls and makes a big stink about it. Normally parents don't know about it so don't make a stink about it.

    Children think it is about them, not about adults. They think they are the ones being taught not to touch other children inappropriately. I used to be in my son's cafeteria at lunch time every day when he was in kindergarten, and the kids would talk to me a lot. One day after they watched a film teaching them to report abusive adults, a little boy said to me, "I will always be a good friend to [my son]. I will never touch him inappropriately." Yes, a little five year old boy said that to me in those exact words that I will never forget. And a seven year old boy started touching my son inappropriately after that. The kids may not take it the way adults think they are. They may think it is all about them being bad, not all about an adult being bad. After all, how often are they told by adults that they are bad? How often are they encouraged to say an adult is being bad? Why would they suddenly learn to flip and take a different perspective than always?

    I bet their parents didn't even know, the people who made the film didn't know, and the teachers and principle didn't know. I knew because I was there, and the children talked to me, but they didn't talk to the teachers and assistants the way they did to me. Who knows what they told their own mothers after their mothers came home from work. By that time they may have forgotten about it.

    ReplyDelete

  153. To "J"...

    Who is the one making personal attacks here?

    Some brief "personal" things that Susanna has falsely claimed about me:

    "After you claimed to be an "ex Catholic" and cited Alexander Hislop and other anti-Catholic ignoramuses of his ilk , I had your number. So let's get one thing straight. I don't care what you think of the Catholic Church . I neither need nor want the approval of an apostate.

    NOTE: I corrected her that I never claimed to be an "ex Catholic" to which she apologized. However, she didn't apologize for her claim that I am an "apostate." Rather personal, don't you think?

    "Your bigoted anti-Catholic diatribes don't give due process to anyone who does not agree with you. The only thing you are displaying is your zeal to exploit scandals in the Catholic Church in order to justify your own bigotry and/or wrongdoing. Actually, we don't even know what Christian denomination you belong to. Looks like YOU are the one who is deflecting. What are YOU hiding? No. Don't tell me. I don't need to know your dark little secrets or those of your religious comfreres."

    NOTE: She falsely claims that I am a bigot, claims I am "hiding" things (when I have made my Christian beliefs abundantly clear), implies that I have "dark little secrets," i.e. as in "little" children? Being we are discussing the crimes of pedophilia, I would suppose that must have been her intent.

    She immediately, and incessantly, attacked the "messenger" Archbishop Vigano:

    "At the end of the day, I am not the only one who suspects that Archbishop Vigano is a disgruntled employee. His motive, according to Massimo Faggioli, a theologian and church historian at Villanova University can be traced back to the archbishop's being denied a red cardinal cap."

    She also made a vicious, personal attack against fellow Roman Catholic Michael Voris of Church Militant (see her post above @ 9:17 PM). She posted this (in part):

    "I wonder if RayB is aware that Michael Voris has come out about his homosexual past."

    NOTE: By all accounts, Michael Voris has repented of his past, sinful "homosexual past." Yet, that doesn't stop our Susanna from dredging this up in order to KILL the message of this conservative Catholic. I am not attacking her personally when I say this; Susanna's specialty, easily verified by carefully reading her posts, is one of "deflect from the message by attacking the messenger." THAT, "J," IS A FACT.

    ReplyDelete
  154. "J" states to RayB:

    "So logically, this implies that I think the church should allow legal processes to handle such cases. I do not feel responsible for hashing out every fine point; I am not writing legal policy for the Catholic church. Are you?"

    J,

    Do you comprehend what you are saying? CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN occurred. Covering up those crimes amounts to OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE, a serious criminal, felony offense in itself. NO INSTITUTION can set "legal policy" that is ILLEGAL.

    ReplyDelete
  155. J states:

    "BUT the legal system is also corrupt in some cases, as Susanna has documented. This may not complicate it morally, but it does complicate it practically."

    So logically, that means because there are occurrences of corruption in "some cases," that negates the LEGAL responsibility to report criminal acts that were committed against INNOCENT CHILDREN???

    There is corruption in every single profession on earth, because we live in a fallen, corrupt world. That is never an excuse to ADD to that corruption by not REPORTING criminal acts to the authorities!

    ReplyDelete
  156. When I have seen red flags for possible grooming of my own son, and I have questioned him, I have found that it is very tricky to get honest answers. I have found he has a tendency to try to tell me what he thinks I think the correct answer is. He scans my face for clues, and if he gets any negative clue, he immediately changes his answer, even in mid sentence. What told me the most information was sudden behavioral changes and suddenly volunteered pieces of information. Questioning was just too tricky, and I abandoned the attempt.

    No cameras + red flags = just get him the heck out of there.

    Filing a police report would have put a whole process in motion that I would have no control over. Anyway, nothing happened yet to prove, and the goal was to prevent it not to prove it after the fact.

    What I really would have liked to request from the police would have been a hidden camera, but you don't just walk into a police station and fill out a form to get one of those, after all.

    ReplyDelete
  157. RayB,

    You are not correct that Susanna did not apologize to you.

    See this post above:

    ____________________________________________________________________________________


    Susanna said...

    RayB 4:41 PM

    Re: I HAVE NEVER BEEN, NOR HAVE I EVER CLAIMED TO BE, an "ex Catholic." You obviously have me completely mixed up with someone else...

    Upon further investigation, I realize that I may have indeed gotten you mixed up with someone else. For that I do sincerely apologize.

    5:50 PM

    ReplyDelete
  158. RayB,

    Do not put words in my mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  159. Putting words in somebody's mouth in order to attack her is an abusive pattern of behavior. Domestic abusers do this to their wives. It is part of the pattern of an abusive personality. Abusive personalities are also more likely to abuse not only their wives but also their own children. Just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete

  160. To "J" and Susanna,

    My post from 2:13 PM ...

    Susanna to RayB:

    "After you claimed to be an "ex Catholic" and cited Alexander Hislop and other anti-Catholic ignoramuses of his ilk , I had your number. So let's get one thing straight. I don't care what you think of the Catholic Church . I neither need nor want the approval of an apostate.

    NOTE: I corrected her that I never claimed to be an "ex Catholic" TO WHICH SHE APOLOGIZED. However, she didn't apologize for her claim that I am an "apostate." Rather personal, don't you think?

    I STATED she DID APOLOGIZE for falsely claiming that I was an ex Catholic. SHE DID NOT APOLOGIZE for calling me an APOSTATE. LOL !

    Nice try at making another bogus false claim in order to attack the messenger.

    ReplyDelete

  161. J said...

    RayB,

    "You are not correct that Susanna did not apologize to you."

    "J" ... seriously, do you even read what I post before making your counter comments?

    ReplyDelete

  162. It seems I am up against a formidable Tag Team. Here I am in this corner of the ring all alone with two heavyweights ... "J" and kindly "Susanna." What chance can I possibly have? LOL !!!

    ReplyDelete
  163. Verbal abuse

    Verbal abuse (verbal attack or verbal assault) is when a person forcefully criticizes, insults, or denounces someone else.[1] Characterized by underlying anger and hostility, it is a destructive form of communication intended to harm the self-concept of the other person and produce negative emotions.[2] Verbal abuse is a maladaptive mechanism that anyone can display occasionally, such as during times of high stress or physical discomfort. For some people, it is a pattern of behaviors used intentionally to control or manipulate others or to get revenge.[3]

    Verbal aggressiveness

    Verbal aggressiveness in communication has been studied to examine the underlying message of aggressive behavior and to gain control over occurrences. Infante and Wigley (1986) defined verbal aggressiveness as "a personality trait that predisposes persons to attack the self-concepts of other people instead of, or in addition to, their positions on topics of communication".[1

    ReplyDelete
  164. RayB,

    I am sorry if I did not keep a mental log of each and every slight you feel you received from Susanna. I witnessed one apology from her, and no apologies from you. That is what made the biggest impression upon me. She was big and apologized to you one time. It usually never happens. I would respect you more if you would big and apologize to her at least one time, too. Also to Constance. But I will not hold my breath.

    ReplyDelete
  165. When I said, "it usually never happens," I meant usually nobody ever apologizes online (or offline for that matter).

    ReplyDelete
  166. Father Paul Shanley the Hippie Priest is the priest I had in mind. He helped found NAMBLA. The Boston Chancery did nothing to stop him in spite of numerous complaints about him. But the story of Paul Shanley goes beyond the confines of the Catholic church. As you can see just by the mere fact alone that Shanley helped to found NAMBLA. But there are many other facts about him that go outside of the bounds of the Catholic church in their nefariousness.

    Please note that Paul Shanley did not have Catholic beliefs. Catholicism was only a career and a cover. He was connected to the Process Church, the same one that Charles Manson was connected to.

    There is so much more about him than I can write. Interested people can look up Paul Shanley in Lucifer's Lodge (free pdf and other formats at this internet archive).

    This does not mean that the Catholic church should in any way impede legal accountability of perps. It does mean the true narrative goes beyond the Catholic church at least in some cases, and this is only one case.

    ReplyDelete
  167. On page 64 of Lucifer's Lodge, we are told that the Hippie Priest Father Paul Shanley blackmailed Cardinal Medeiros, and that is why he was able to continue with his vile activities. This information was taken from church files that had been recently released at the time of the book's writing.

    The LA Times ran a story about it, but said the blackmail was only attempted.

    "The newest information shows that Shanley chafed when the late Cardinal Humberto Medeiros tried to remove him from his high-profile Boston street ministry. In a letter, Shanley threatened to go to the media with allegations of homosexuality in the archdiocesan seminary."

    The media seems eager to go after the Catholic church, but not the Process church, even though Paul Shanley "exchanged details about potential recruits with Processians for his 'youth ministry'." (p 64 of Lucifer's Lodge)

    ReplyDelete
  168. I did not correctly remember that the location of Shanley's gay and pedophile sex antics was Hollywood. It was Palm Springs. Info about this starts on page 69 of Lucifer's Lodge.

    "Gay men and boy-lovers from around the world came to the Cabana Club and Whispering Palms to partake of the illegal sex Shanley provided. Reports began to surface in San Bernardino that Shanley was molesting boys, and the Boston Chancery was informed of the situation. Shanley was sent for a psychiatric evaluation in 1993, and the doctors determined the deranged curate was unfit to hold any ministerial position.”36

    “Yet Boston Diocesan officials went out of their way to help Shanley. In 1995, to deflect attention off of his partner, White sold the Whispering Palms. Law and McCormick transferred Shanley to New York City, where he became acting director of Leo House, a Church-run guest house for students and clergy. Leo House turned out to be another front for gay sex and man-boy love. Two years later, Shanley was denied a permanent post there when one of his victims came forward with legal threats. Even after the Church had settled multiple cases filed against Shanley, Law said he had no objection to the priest’s bid to become head of this New York City Catholic guest house—which the Cardinal knew occasionally housed children and teenagers.”37

    ReplyDelete
  169. Anonymous4:02 PM

    "Well looking at this with a skepticism is good but begs that we look at the whole matter. Just protecting priests (or in other denominations pastors for that matter) innocent or otherwise - is unbalanced at best, and deeply grievously wrong, at worst."


    Come on.

    Where am I being exclusive to only accuse Catholic priests in the above quote you addressed? I have already given example of a situation involving a pastor of another denomination and the abuse connected to his local ministry, right here where I live, and am personally acquainted with one of his victims (and this summer has gone to trial and he is awaiting sentencing as we speak). Do I have a bias then, because I am talking about victims (a victim is a victim no matter which church to quote myself from an earlier post) in what I've written and the deflections away from their plight? That amounts to a denial of their suffering in my estimation...that is callus and wrong. Currently the matter (being highlighted by Constance herself) involves at this point exclusively Catholic priesthood in this thread, so why did you pass over my comment to say I am basically targeting only Catholics when I clearly included pastors (of other denominations)?

    You try to come across as fair-minded, but it isn't hard to see you (like Susanna) have a decided slant to this topic.
    Whatever.

    I think you are revealing your own hypocrisy in that case.


    ReplyDelete
  170. Anonymous4:18 PM

    4:02 PM again, to Jsaid.

    Just so you know I am not in disagreeance with RayB, but do take exception to his approach at times.
    God is his judge, as He is mine and yours, as to how we conduct ourselves at this or any other blog.
    We all have the right to state our opinions and post facts we have gathered, about this or any other topic, and others can take or leave what we say.
    He speaks for himself as I am speaking for myself, as you are too.

    But since you are skeptical and attempting to be fair, make sure you are taking it all into consideration when you comment, which is what you did not do with what I wrote.

    ReplyDelete
  171. Anonymous 4:18,

    I am sorry if I did not take into consideration everything you said when I replied. There is no doubt I am a flawed human being who becomes emotional at times. What was the most important point you made that you felt I did not take into consideration?

    ReplyDelete
  172. Anonymous 4:02 PM,

    I think you are getting comments confused. The one you quoted was not mine. It was a reply to me from another Anonymous.

    ReplyDelete
  173. I will come back to this to reply point by point.

    "Well looking at this with a skepticism is good but begs that we look at the whole matter. Just protecting priests (or in other denominations pastors for that matter) innocent or otherwise - is unbalanced at best, and deeply grievously wrong, at worst."

    I have posted information exposing guilty priests as well as highlighting innocent priests. I have further stated a couple of times in this thread that I suspect the fixation solely on the Catholic church is a limited hangout. In support of this assertion, I have provided two examples in this thread, to demonstrate cases in which the Catholic church was only used as a cover for cultic activities.

    "If truth is on your side, if your heart and ministry is to serve and care for others then you can risk your reputation for their sake and let truth prevail. And besides the powerful should be willing to go to bat for children at a cost to themselves, if they are innocent. There is a saying among Christians that says: in the world never expect justice, but you, yourself, never cease to give it. That exemplifies Jesus. The Lord Jesus of course, was horribly and unjustly treated when He is totally righteous so He can speak to that with His great authority, and expect that those who say they love Him and serve Him should do the same. The servant is not greater than his Lord. Isn't that what people with a right heart to minister do? Better to be the wronged than wrong yourself. God is the Judge. Shouldn't people of faith place themselves in God's hands?"

    Very beautifully stated, and I can tell you sincerely meant it. Yes, yes, and yes!

    Remember that God hates false accusations, too, though. He commands not to bear false witness in the ten commandments.

    Continued...

    ReplyDelete
  174. "Plus, look at the payout and how that repeatedly robbed God's work also. Only more injustice in that case. Terrible!!!!!!!"

    Yes, but five million dollars in at least one case went to pay off an individual and his lawyers, and later the individual admitted he lied. This demonstrates pay offs do not prove guilt.

    Pointing this out is not intended to detract from the wrongness of throwing money at accusations just to attempt to save reputation -- with no or inadequate efforts made to determine guilt, to hold the guilty accountable and to protect the innocent.

    "So money doesn't fix that, honesty and integrity will exhonerate the wronged, and if the wrong one, mercifully, repentance and renewal will do that. If you trust God as your defense you will do the righteous thing, not a compromised hidden and hiding thing. Moving priests around from parish to parish when issues showed up never solved the problems did it? That spread the poison. The powerful priests have a lot more say-so than children do. Hushing them up did not solve the problem did it? The impact on the vulnerable is very grievous and I think it a shame that that part of this gets a bum's rush...no justice from people who are supposed to be all about that.
    Shame is written all over this!!!!!"


    I agree, and I know you are sincere and not just out to get the Catholic church. I can tell you are morally grieved. And I can tell you are a Christian. I try to respond differently to sincere people than I do to insincere people. I am sorry if I rushed through my response to you before.

    "None of the defenses are holding water."

    I think that is a broad brush characterization. I have learned a lot from Susanna. It was from her that I learned some parents did not want the news about their children to get out because they didn't want their kids' peers to assume they were gay. This was in response to RayB wanting to open up all the archives about all the cases. So you see that if you only rush with torches and pitchforks without thinking it through, somebody could get hurt. That somebody may not only be a priest. It could also be a victim. Not all victims want publicity. Many would prefer privacy. That is only one example. I don't think all of those fine points are intended to be a defense that exonerates the whole Catholic church. I think we intend to think it through rather than rush into a mob with torches and pitchforks. Is it wrong to think things through?

    ReplyDelete
  175. J said to RayB @ 3:03 PM ...

    "I am sorry if I did not keep a mental log of each and every slight you feel you received from Susanna. I witnessed one apology from her, and no apologies from you. That is what made the biggest impression upon me. She was big and apologized to you one time. It usually never happens. I would respect you more if you would big and apologize to her at least one time, too. Also to Constance. But I will not hold my breath."

    No need at all for a "mental log," as I stated, she accused me of being a "bigot," an "apostate," and made a reference to pedophilia by accusing me of having "dark little secrets," none of which she apologized for.

    By the way, you accuse me of making personal "attacks" on both Susanna and Constance. Please provide your proof by copying and pasting me remarks that support your claim ... that should be VERY easy to do, because I just know you aren't making this all up. LOL!

    ReplyDelete

  176. Getting back to more serious things "J," I noticed that you didn't answer these questions. Perhaps somehow you just forgot? Here's the post again for your convenience:

    RayB said to J @ 1:22 PM ...

    Just to see where you are coming from "J," where do you stand on these issues?

    Do you support opening ALL SECRET SEX ABUSE FILES in every single diocese?

    Do you support EXTENDING THE STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS for child sex abuse crimes?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring that all known reports of sex abuse be reported to local law enforcement authorities?

    Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring the full cooperation of all dioceses with law enforcement, including providing any and all evidence, as pertaining to alleged child abuse crimes?

    Do you support the Pope declaring that all "pay for silence" schemes be declared illegal regarding child sex abuse cases?

    Do you support the immediate defrocking of any cleric that is found to be a practicing homosexual, supporting homosexuality, or found to be guilty of child sex abuse?

    ReplyDelete
  177. Anonymous8:56 PM

    Thanks J.
    I appreciate that you acknowledged my words and the sentiment behind them. That was at least what I hoped for from Susanna because I believe her a Christian also. Her extra defensiveness with basically no word for those of the other side of this issue, has been off putting. I appreciate this part of the conversation. I know nothing of your church of choice ,and you nothing of mine, no matter..do we really care for the vulnerable among us that we want the wrongs to stop? They must be dealt with head-on. The closet approach has been an awful way to treat this issue.

    And the truth will come out. If, and it is a big if, in the light of the sheer volume of accusations, there are priests not guilty of the crimes being talked about here then that will come forward. Good speaks for itself and upholds those who live in that light. And worth waiting for. Shame and guilt live in dark corners and those acting unanswerable to anyone but their own superiors-an overly defensive clergy leave themselves wide open for deep questioning of their behaviors, behaviors that have a lifelong detrimental effect. I can understand people victimized getting very angry, and sadly staying angry, when they feel they have been left hanging in this terrible cycle of shame, left with something so painfully unresolved. And is one of the terrible side effects of deciding to leave things unresolved, because publicity itself is another very hard pill to swallow.

    Clergy, of all people, should be the ones leading everybody out of the dark and into the light, where the healing is.

    ReplyDelete
  178. RayB,

    "Do you support opening ALL SECRET SEX ABUSE FILES in every single diocese?"

    Opening them to the criminal justice system, yes. Opening them to journalists, no. Victims' privacy needs to be respected. And the reputations of priests, many of whom may be found innocent upon investigation and trial, should also be respected. There is an appropriate and an inappropriate way to "open" files.

    Perhaps it would be helpful if you would define "open".

    "Do you support EXTENDING THE STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS for child sex abuse crimes?"

    Yes.

    "Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring that all known reports of sex abuse be reported to local law enforcement authorities?"

    Yes.

    "Do you support the Pope declaring church law requiring the full cooperation of all dioceses with law enforcement, including providing any and all evidence, as pertaining to alleged child abuse crimes?"

    Yes.

    "Do you support the Pope declaring that all 'pay for silence' schemes be declared illegal regarding child sex abuse cases?"

    Yes.

    "Do you support the immediate defrocking of any cleric that is found to be a practicing homosexual, supporting homosexuality, or found to be guilty of child sex abuse?"

    Yes.

    ReplyDelete
  179. J,

    Thank you for taking the time to tell us where you stand. We are in 100% agreement.

    How about you Susanna? Would you be so kind as to provide us with where you stand on these issues (2nd. request)?

    RayB

    ReplyDelete
  180. Anonymous11:16 AM

    J,
    I do agree that there are times for issues to be resolved and settled privately, for the sake of keeping damage to a minimum. Many do love to sensational tragedy in this fallen world, and that should be the 1st thing attempted. Somebody has to take that first step, and very hard for a child or young and naive person to do, when their trust is used against them. So what happens when there is denial, or unwillingness to truly repent and confess, but excuse instead, and no stepping down, or side stepping, any number of wrong responses to this, that generally allows for more confusion and trouble, pain and heartache, to come back and bite and tear again? Money (no amount) as I said will not fix things, when those attitudes and actions and/or non-actions are present. I believe we are all very much witness to this scenario now. Somewhat like watching someone trying to keep a beach ball underwater. That thing is going to pop back up somewhere. This whole issue for the Catholic leadership is jettisoned now. I believe their approach has been truly unbiblical and why there is no healing happening, and money flying out of the coffers by the millions, because that "answer" answers only the baser nature in both parties. I believe we can agree that true healing is in the spiritual realm, and worked out in the actuals of living thereafter..
    So the defenses so many are putting up are going to prove futile and are actually angering, because the trouble-let's call it what it is-sin is not stopped. God's Love wants to stop the sin and destruction, and moves forward only in the Truth, is a simple paraphrase of 1 Cor 13:6. Ultimately that is the picture of the Cross of Jesus Christ where all sin was addressed, praise God! The Lord's true disciples are striving to see that worked out in real time, in real issues, not just this particular issue, mind you. But we do see that the chaff is growing with the wheat, for not all who profess Christ, possess Christ. Sadly, many are only nodding their heads in mental ascent, perhaps doing the "church thing", but no heart change has been born inside them by repentance and faith in the Lord for forgiveness and a changed will and mind to go with--and I'm talking pulpit and pew alike. This too, reaches across church lines.
    I was glad that went back and saw what you posted, that was being posted as I was writing to you, so I did not see them at that point, and see you have shown both sides pertaining to some catholic priests who were justly and some unjustly accused.
    I wanted you to realize when you thought me caught up in what you called trolling (and I do not think it is) that I was not merely coming against Catholics. I was addressing issues with all victims, all churches. That was the point I was trying to make in the first place, but things can get sideways because this is an emotionally charged topic..

    ReplyDelete
  181. Anonymous11:36 AM

    https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/09/13/pope-francis-doubles-down-bishops-accusers-are-like-satan-the-great-accuser/
    Here's the old adage:when you hate the message, kill the messenger.

    ReplyDelete

  182. Radical pro LGBT Archbishop attacks conservative bishops for criticizing Pope Francis. The Archbishop also states that Archbishop Vigano has “an agenda,” what that agenda is, he does not say. Presumably, the "agenda" he is referring to is Viganao's anti-homosexual convictions.

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pro-gay-archbishop-rips-conservative-bishops-for-attacks-on-pope

    Pope admonishes Catholics not to “enter into the logic of accusing” because by doing so, they are “doing Satan’s work.” Yep, you read that right. If you are Catholic, you need to be quiet and turn a blind eye to the scandals of child abuse. If you are going to hold your hierarchy accountable, YOU are the one doing Satan’s work, not those that are committing crimes against INNOCENT CHILDREN! I said it before, if there was a Nobel Prize for Chutzpah, this Pope would win it running away.

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-catholics-who-enter-into-logic-of-accusing-are-doing-satans-wo

    ReplyDelete

  183. The Pope is calling for a conference at the Vatican to convene in February, 2019.
    The purpose of the conference is to discuss policies on how to protect children from further abuse.

    Question: being that this is such an important problem and that children continue to be abused, why are they waiting to address this problem 6 months from now?
    If there is a fire raging through your home, I don't think you would instruct the fire department to "give it a little more time before you start applying that water."

    This seems to me to be the typical delay tactic with the hope that the controversy will die down. IMO, it won't work, because more investigations are under way, which means more bad news will be coming forth. The Pope has the power to enact RADICAL change, instead he is calling for a conference to discuss what is already known.

    I have no confidence in this. I expect nothing other than the 4 D's ....

    Deny

    Deflect

    Delay

    Disinformation

    ReplyDelete
  184. Susanna12:06 PM

    RayB and Anonymous,

    RayB said: How about you Susanna? Would you be so kind as to provide us with where you stand on these issues (2nd. request)?

    I have already answered RayB's questions on his 1st request (see 4:09 PM and 4:10 PM - also Anonymous 2:53 PM ) with regard to both the children who were victims of abuse and those priests who have been - and may yet be - the victims of false accusations without due process.

    Perhaps RayB would be so kind as to read what I have already written? But we Catholics are already well aware that RayB's performance is a typical anti-Catholic tactic - which involves anti-Catholics glossing over and/or ignoring what they don't want to hear and continuing to ask the same strident questions hoping to manipulate the person they are grilling into giving them answers more to their liking.

    At 8:54 Anonymous said:

    Me, and my denomination, with our own troubles, too (I've seen the faces of abused young people, one is in my own family so I can speak to this subject) are not worthy of a response, since according to your beliefs, you are part of the only true Holy Roman Catholic Church, the only Church in your estimation obviously, and the rest of us are mere aspostates.

    Please!!! So now Anonymous is the arbiter of what is "worthy" of a response because he/she has nothing better to say about my actual experience - up close and personal - in dealing with a child who had been the victim of sexual abuse???

    cont.

    ReplyDelete
  185. Susanna12:07 PM

    cont.

    Anon's hatred of the Catholic Church is only surpassed by his/her ignorance of it. Catholics believe that while the fullness of truth is to be found in the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church does not regard non-Catholic Christians as "apostates" or as being "outside the church." In fact, the Catholic Church may disagree with certain non-Catholic Christian teachings, but she does NOT regard non-Catholic Christians as "heretics" or "apostates." If anonymous believes that, then anonymous has been a victim of anti-Catholic or radical Traditionalist propaganda and for that I pity anonymous. Properly speaking, a "heretic" would be a person who is born and baptised into the Catholic Church who later abandons the Catholic faith in order to embrace other beliefs which do not conform to Catholic teaching. The word "heresy" comes from a word that means "choice," which cannot apply to a person who has been BORN AND BROUGHT UP in a particular Christian communion.

    But getting back to the subject of whether or not I have answered RayB's and Anonymous' questions, anyone who can read - or whose mother didn't drop him on his/her head when he/she was little - can see that I have answered their questions.

    The thing is, they just don't happen to like my answers. And that is just tooooo bad!!!!!!!!!!! Because I don't care whether they "approve" of my answers or not.
    I am not looking to win anyone's "approval."

    On that same line of reasoning, maybe someone can answer MY question. Why should I feel myself in any way obliged to answer ANY questions asked by anti-Cathoic bigots who "rejoice in (the) wickedness" of others while sweeping their own under the rug?

    The problem (for both RayB and Anonymous anyway )is that their manufactured anti-Catholic "outrage" has not in any way been able to intimidate me or guilt trip me into advocating for one class of victims (sexually abused children/ minors) while ignoring the other ( priests who have been falsely accused/convicted with no concrete evidence and without receiving due process ).

    Besides, who are they kidding? Any fair-minded person can see that their hatred for the Catholic Church is what is REALLY fueling their so-called "outrage" over the sex abuse scandal - far more than any compassion they might feel for ANY of the victims.
    Talk about hypocrites!!!

    Again, to whom it may concern - take care when you spit in the air lest it land on YOUR nose.

    ReplyDelete
  186. RayB said,


    NOTE: I corrected her that I never claimed to be an "ex Catholic" TO WHICH SHE APOLOGIZED. However, she didn't apologize for her claim that I am an "apostate." Rather personal, don't you think?

    I STATED she DID APOLOGIZE for falsely claiming that I was an ex Catholic. SHE DID NOT APOLOGIZE for calling me an APOSTATE. LOL !


    Since there is little difference, I thought one apology would suffice. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  187. J said to RayB (in part) @ 12:40 AM regarding opening the secret files detailing child abuse within each diocese in the USA ...

    "Opening them to the criminal justice system, yes. Opening them to journalists, no. Victims' privacy needs to be respected. And the reputations of priests, many of whom may be found innocent upon investigation and trial, should also be respected. There is an appropriate and an inappropriate way to "open" files."

    "Perhaps it would be helpful if you would define "open"."

    J,

    Michael Voris of the Church Militant, who is far more knowledgeable on this subject than I am, called for these secret files be voluntarily opened in every diocese in the USA for examination by law enforcement authorities. Voris believes, and I agree, that the only way this crisis ends is for there to be complete transparency, along with a complete house cleaning of all homosexuals and pedophiles (which, in the RCC's case, happen to be typically homosexual clergy). Because the information in these files would have the potential to lead to criminal charges, as is true for all criminal investigations, the contents of the files would be withheld from the public & media. However, as in the case of the PA Grand Jury which submitted their extensive report, some of this information may be made public by individual State Attorneys General.

    Interesting to note, Voris provided background regarding these files. In each diocese, whenever there was a report of child sex abuse, the diocese made a detailed report regarding all the particulars, along with the action taken by the diocese. The actions included monetary settlements, actions taken against the offender, etc. Intact duplicate copies of these sealed files were then hand delivered, by Diplomatic Courier in Diplomatic Pouches to the Vatican. Diplomatic Pouches are immune from inspection by border authorities, law enforcement, etc. For ten years, each and every file of this nature from around the world was hand delivered for review, to then Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope. Ratzinger was privy to virtually ALL of the cover ups, pay for silence schemes, monetary settlements, non disclosure to law enforcement authorities, along with the re-assignments of the criminal offenders.

    The problem the Vatican now has is "what did they know, who knew and when did they know it?" This is why Vigano's report is so devastating, because he provides answers to those questions.

    Sorry for the lengthy answer, but there is actually more. I tried to be as brief as possible.

    RayB

    ReplyDelete

  188. Susanna states @ 12:07 PM (in part) regarding "Anonymous & RayB" ...

    "Besides, who are they kidding? Any fair-minded person can see that their hatred for the Catholic Church is what is REALLY fueling their so-called "outrage" over the sex abuse scandal - far more than any compassion they might feel for ANY of the victims."

    "Talk about hypocrites!!!"

    Susanna,

    You are making quite the judgment. You have no idea how much I detest and HATE these crimes that were perpetrated upon INNOCENT CHILDREN at the hands of people that they TRUSTED! What makes it infinitely worse, is that they dragged the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ into their filthy, perverted world, and continue to do so.

    I have seen a number of interviews of the VICTIMS of these monsters. I can't think of anything in my lifetime that has moved me more. Lives have been shaken to the core, more often than not ruined, many, many have committed suicide! Don't you dare accuse me of not being sincere in my outrage over what has happened, and continues to happen, to INNOCENT CHILDREN!

    I recall immediately after Constance posted Vigano's truthful statement. It was YOU, Susanna, that immediately attempted to discredit Vigano the MESSENGER. Hardly before the ink was dry, you went into your VERY typical deny, deflect, disinformation, and ATTACK. Everyone is guilty in your eyes, but those that committed the crimes!

    You continue to complain that there was no "DUE PROCESS," knowing full well that the Statutes of Limitations, which the RCC diligently opposes any extensions, has run out in most of these cases. YOU know that a child that was molested would have no clue that they only had 1 or 2 years to report these crimes. Even when they were reported to Priests, Bishops, etc. ... NOTHING WAS DONE! More often than not, these kids didn't even understand what had happened to them, until they were mature teens, and then it was "too late." Besides, WHO would take their word over a Priest's? Apparently, no one!

    READ the PA Attorney General's Grand Jury Report!!! The German Bishop's Report is almost a carbon copy of PA. The pattern by the RCC is the same, obstruct, deny, lie, cover up, pay for silence, intimidate the families, refusal to report to law enforcement crimes against children!

    ReplyDelete
  189. Anonymous2:03 PM

    My my, Susanna, you come out swinging, but you are beating the air.



    Well, maybe it depends which Catholic Church you attend, whether or not non-catholics are apostates because that isn't what we were led to believe.

    My own relatives, long dead and gone now, whom I loved very dearly, were raised Catholic (my Uncle's grandparents immigrated to the US from France), long held the belief that we, the non-catholic part of the family, were going to burn in hell because not of their faith. It was a really big deal to them. They would associate with us, barely, and infrequently. I remember feeling sorry for them when I was a kid.

    My Aunt (she was raised Methodist) had to convert to marry their son when she became pregnant out of wedlock. What a chaotic mess that was, so they of course, had to baptize and raise the children Catholic, and if they were 10 minutes late to meet in front of the church before Mass began, his father called the priest to give them stern reprimand! And they were required to give so much pledge money to the Church so when my Uncle's business was hitting some hard times, they began to resent it all. My Aunt and Uncle did eventually leave the Catholic Church after his father and mother died, that was about 2 decades later and never looked back. Three of their four children left the Catholic faith, also. The relationship became very sweet with us after they left that very rigid thinking behind, and regretted that they let their church dictate to them.

    Thankfully, they both died believing in Jesus. My Uncle's faith was nearly shipwrecked at one time.
    I feel pity, not hatred.

    ReplyDelete
  190. Susanna3:02 PM

    J,

    Just for the record:

    At 4:09 PM, I said in reply to one of RayB's questions:

    Regarding opening ALL SECRET SEX ABUSE FILES, that is a difficult question and I honestly don't know how I feel about that.

    This is not because I believe in coverups, (I don't) but because first of all, we have to be careful not to equate an accusation with a conviction. Anyone can accuse anyone of anything. And once a sex abuse accusation is leaked to the public, the person accused could (due to a false accusation) turn out to be as innocent as a newborn babe, but his reputation will nevertheless be tainted irreparably and permanently and he will always be viewed with suspicion by those who know about the sex abuse accusation.

    Moreover, coming as I do from a family of law enforcement professionals, one of whom was head of a detective bureau before being promoted, I have learned that in many instances of past abuse cases before it was "OK to be gay," it has been the PARENTS of the abused child who wanted to keep everything on the QT because some of them are operating under the assumption ( whether true or not ) that their little Johnny would wind up being labeled as "gay" in the eyes of his peers if anyone had found out that he was sexually abused by a homosexual predator.


    At 4:10 PM, I added:

    As for the Pope declaring church law requiring that all known reports of sex abuse be reported to local law enforcement, I am all for it as long as it does not require any member of the Catholic clergy to commit sacrilege by violating the seal of the confessional.


    cont.

    ReplyDelete
  191. Susanna3:03 PM

    cont.

    However, a priest can certainly refuse absolution to a person unless he turns himself in. I would assume that if a person is even bothering to go to confession to begin with, he is already being tormented by his own conscience and therefore has serious concerns about the state of his immortal soul. Therefore, the refusal of absolution by his confessor might be just the nudge he needs to turn himself in to law enforcement officials. Here is an interesting story which gives an example explaining why the Seal of Confession does not help criminals.

    Dec. 17, 2017

    Does the Seal of Confession Help Criminals?
    The answer is no, and here’s why.


    Jennifer Fitz

    In the news recently: A laicized priest who murdered one of his penitents back in 1960 has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The case finally came to trial after a second now-laicized priest, who had heard the murderer’s confession, came forward in 2002 with the information he received in a confession back in 1963.

    Cases like this cause people to question whether priests should, in fact, always keep confessions secret. Would justice be better served by allowing, or even requiring, that priests divulge the contents of certain confessions?

    The answer is no, and if we look closely at the details of this case, we can see why.....read more....

    http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jenfitz/does-the-seal-of-confession-help-criminals
    ________________________________________________________________

    In other words, the police did not need Fr. Dale Tacheny to sacrilegeously violate the seal of the confessional because the police were already onto the priest who raped a young girl and committed murder but cut a disgraceful crooked political deal to stop the investigation out of a concern that if a priest was charged in Garza’s death, Kennedy’s presidential campaign and the re-election chances of the local Catholic sheriff would be at stake.

    As for whether or not I support the immediate defrocking of any cleric that is found to be a practicing homosexual, supporting homosexuality, or found to be guilty of child sex abuse I certainly do! Because first of all, homosexuals do not belong in the Roman Catholic priesthood. Since they are incapable of properly relating to women, they are incapable of embodying the nuptial relationship on a spiritual level between Christ the Bridegroom and the Church His Bride. They should not be admitted into the seminary to begin with, but they should definitely get the boot if they are living active homosexual lifestyles as priests. If found guilty of child sex abuse, it goes without saying that they should be defrocked before being sent off to prison where they can conduct whatever services they choose while wearing orange vestments and doing "ordinary time" - like life!

    ReplyDelete
  192. Susanna4:05 PM

    Anonymous 2:03 PM

    Re: Well, maybe it depends which Catholic Church you attend, whether or not non-catholics are apostates because that isn't what we were led to believe.

    My own relatives, long dead and gone now, whom I loved very dearly, were raised Catholic (my Uncle's grandparents immigrated to the US from France), long held the belief that we, the non-catholic part of the family, were going to burn in hell because not of their faith. It was a really big deal to them. They would associate with us, barely, and infrequently. I remember feeling sorry for them when I was a kid.


    Respectfully, my maternal ancestors were also from France and they were brought up in that kind of Jansenist-tinged Catholicism where everything seemed to be regarded as a "mortal sin." They, as well as a certain priest Father Leonard Feeney, taught that if you were a Protestant, you were going to hell in a handbasket JUST for being Protestant. Bigots come in many different flavors. Feeney was an anti-Protestant bigot!

    Father Feeney was EXCOMMUNICATED for teaching what he taught.

    FR. LEONARD FEENEY
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Feeney
    ___________________________________________________________

    Unfortunately, what your Uncle was taught about "burning in hell" just for not being Catholic was not true.

    It doesn't matter what particular parish one belongs to. The Roman Catholic Church as a whole DOES NOT OFFICIALLY TEACH THAT PROTESTANTS ARE HERETICS OR APOSTATES.

    What the Church does officially teach is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

    Does "no salvation outside the Church" include non-Catholic Christians?
    https://www.catholic.com/qa/does-no-salvation-outside-the-church-include-non-catholic-christians

    Certain radical Traditionalist Catholics ( like your French ancestors ) may still be trying to peddle this twaddle, but it is not authentic Catholic teaching.

    My paternal grandfather's ancestors were Scottish and English and may have been Vermont Methodists according to documents I have regarding the marriage of my 2nd great-grandfather. My Father's mother was Irish and a professional school teacher. She was the first Irish Catholic ever hired to teach in a public school in the town where I grew up. She believed in a liberal arts education and was no bigot. She taught Catholics and Protestants alike and all her students loved her without exception. Fortunately, my Irish grandmother was the perfect antidote to the "if-you-don't-eat-your-peas-it's-a-mortal-sin" Catholicism of some of my French ancestors. I did not attend Catholic school. I attended public school with Catholic and Protestant children and attended Catechism classes at my parish with mostly lay teachers. And I can tell you that I was NEVER taught that anyone was going to hell in a handbasket JUST for being Protestant.

    Here is something you also might find interesting.

    Ecumenical and Interfaith Marriages
    http://www.foryourmarriage.org/interfaith-marriages/
    _________________________________________

    I am sorry that you and your family had to suffer because of the Jansenist-tinged teachings of ignoramus anti-Protestant bigots.

    Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  193. Anonymous5:31 PM

    Thanks for the explanation, Susanna.

    I was not shy in my several posts to point out particulars I am personally acquainted with in a church (not Catholic) right here where I live (but not where I attend), concerning abuse by a worship leader, who has since been convicted this summer and awaiting sentencing as of this moment. Our daughter is friends with, and ministering to, one of his victims, and actually she is still recovering herself from rape (and a subsequent abortion we only found out about later) and her perpetrator-was not church related-is still on the loose after more than 3 years. She is still working through the guilt and shame of all of this. The whole issue is awful for us...so....I do care much about abuse victims. This touches a nerve, Susanna, and not fake outrage, and I have not singled out Catholics, either. This is an emotionally charged issue alright.....

    Yes, bigots are everywhere in the religious realm.
    They create victims, too.
    Like I said above when referring to 1 Cor 13:6:"The Lord's true disciples are striving to see that worked out in real time, in real issues, not just this particular issue, mind you."

    ReplyDelete
  194. Susanna,

    No worries, I knew you had already replied to RayB's questions, and I had not forgotten reading your answers :)

    ReplyDelete
  195. Susanna6:29 PM

    Anonymous, 5:31PM,

    I am glad if you found my explanations helpful. Moreover, my explanations/opinions are just that - and not in any way intended as an attempt to "convert" anyone or to make anyone feel like a second-class citizen if his/her beliefs do not align with mine.

    As I said earlier, I don't think any punishment is too great for a person legitimately found guilty of the horrific crime of sexually abusing a child. To repeat, I regard such a crime as "soul murder."

    I would also like to clarify something while I am here. It is not at all my intention to imply that there is some kind of "moral equivalence" between a sexually abused child and the child's abuser. There is no "moral equivalence." That said, however, we need to be vigilant in order to make sure innocent people are not being falsely accused - whether we are talking about Catholic or non-Catholic Christians. That was the main point I was trying to make.

    My "fake outrage" comment was made in anger. I am sorry. Your story puts a whole different complexion on things. Your daughter needs to be reassured again and again that what happened to her was not her fault. It was entirely the perp's fault. As for the abortion, panic can sometimes make people do lots of irrational things that they would not otherwise think of doing if they were thinking straight. That is what we did with my little six year old nephew. We let him talk as much as he wanted and kept assuring him over and over that he did nothing wrong....that it was not in any way his fault. Can you imagine having to tell a little six year old child that it was not his fault he was sexually assaulted? That is when I understood what evil REALLY is. It isn't easy to talk about either, is it?

    Actually, I think it is a miracle of God that there hasn't been more "frontier justice" as a result of this sex abuse crisis.

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  196. Susanna6:31 PM

    J, 6:03 PM,

    Thanks! :-)

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  197. Anonymous7:01 PM

    All victims need lots of assurance and reassurance. True that....
    Their families need comfort as well.

    And I am sorry for any misunderstanding also.
    The victim we know was 17 when that happened to her, our daughter in her 30's.
    And then there are little 6 year olds like your nephew, dealing with a very huge can of worms, too...
    Now multiply that by the 1000's, but even one, we see how this breaks the heart of the Lord.
    Oh God, pour out your mercy and help, to each and every one.

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  198. Susanna7:14 PM

    Anonymous 7:01 PM

    AMEN!

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  199. Anonymous7:48 PM

    https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/09/13/pope-francis-commissioned-report-to-attack-sex-abuse-victims-while-archbishop-of-buenos-aires/

    ReplyDelete