5 former priests charged with sexual misconduct amid Michigan investigation: 'This is only the tip of the iceberg'

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Dlee said:
Can you expand on your comment? I don’t understand the point.
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She broadcasts from Michigan, her husband is a Deacon in the diocese, and she is close to many of the priests…she has been vocal in the past on the issue, but sometimes, on her morning show, when she is uncomfortable she steers away from important topics.
 
He allegedly repeatedly fondled her, touching her breasts while reportedly saying that he was “trying to fill [her] soul with the Holy Spirit,” according to the criminal complaint, which also details other explicit instances.
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I feel like throwing up.
 
These issues have not been cleared up. Abuse problems in the church are not something that happened in the past and now we make sure they dont happen anymore. They happen now. The problem is not solved.
 
To the extent that it happens now, I don’t think it’s going to take 20, 30, or 40 years to bring criminal charges against the priest. It appears that only one of these allegations in the article is recent and the others are from the 90s, 80s and 70s.
 
I agree that for the most part it will be dealt with faster in some cases. But that seems to be from law enforcement and secular pressure and investigations. My experience has been that the Church will not or cannot act in actively rooting this out it seems to only be starting to cooperate with others trying to achieve justice. And that is concerning. As is the idea that there is some sort of whichunt going on…in some places this is continuing and those places might surprise you. I have lost confidence that the church is in a position to correct this and protect us. I think current leadership has been rendered impotent to help.
 
I’m not agreeing with the witch hunt posts, but while I am glad for any closure the victims are getting here, I don’t see how trying to extradite an 84-year-old man from India is going to go anywhere. The accused will likely die before they can get him back to USA. The 80 and 84 year old both will also probably claim they have dementia and don’t remember anything from 1985 or 1973 or whenever it is. If you’re going to prosecute people it needs to be done within a reasonable number of years from the crime, unless you have some DNA. Otherwise, it sounds good at the press conference (which is mostly the point of these kinds of prosecutor announcements) but doesn’t work well in actual prosecutorial practice.
 
Sometimes we need to execute justice for the sake of justice and righteousness. Not because it is practical. You of all people should completely understand that!

Pope Francis is 82 and he leads the Church. If the prosecution feels they have the case that warents bringing the accused back then they darn well should. I have no idea why one would think because they are old somehow they are immune or even not a danger. In a parish 2 miles from mine, a retired priest at 71 was involved in child porn and was seeking to murder and torture an infant… he too, played the old and feeble card. It didn’t work, nor should it have. That was this last year…
 
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Hoosier-Daddy said:
Sometimes we need to execute justice for the sake of justice and righteousness. Not because it is practical. You of all people should completely understand that!
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I understand that it’s making victims feel better and assuaging, or perhaps further fueling, people’s anger against the Catholic Church.
However, I personally will be glad when this whole generation of abusers from the 70s through the 00s has finally died off and we can focus on the situation going forward. I think that will be a better use of resources, to be honest.
 
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All abusers should be reported and prosecuted immediately. However the DA lost my benefit of the doubt when she said this:
This is about taking on large-scale institutions that turn a blind eye to victims and making certain we hold all of them accountable – that includes unapologetically pursuing any and all individuals who abuse their power by victimizing our residents,” she said.
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When she starts suing schoolteachers etc… I will believe she is working out of a sense of justice.

Fact is:
These cases are old.
Starting in 2002, the policies the CC put in place are more effective than any other organization.
The rate of abuse by Catholic priests is statistically the same as the general population.
Your child is 100 times more likely to be abused by a schoolteacher than a priest.

Selective outrage does not serve justice.
Prosecute all abusers, do it now please.
 
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It isn’t just about making people feel better. It’s a basic obligation of justice.
That being said, I’d caution you about the idea that it’s this old generation. This old generation you speak of formed the young one. Again in the last couple years in my diocese a young new priest rapped a US serviceman.
Until it’s clear that justice is dished out and the Church has addressed the issue the abuse will continue through all the generations. And one way to make that happen is to extradite an accused predator no matter his age…
 
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