Fr. Gordon MacRae

[StJeanneDArc]

Speaking of molestation, there’s a long article in today’s Wall Street Journal by Dorothy Rabinowitz. It shows how one priest who was working with troubled teens (those with mental and substance abuse problems) had his life destroyed by a series of false claims made by a few of these troubled teens. Fr. MacRae is now serving a life sentence, which Rabinowitz doesn’t mention in the article. There will be a second part tomorrow, so perhaps she’ll cover those details then.

Dorothy Rabinowitz was instrumental in showing the prosecutorial abuse in the Gerald Amirault case that led to his false conviction and getting that man realesed from jail.

The main thrust of the article:

That the scandals which began reaching flood tide in the late '90s had to do with charges all too amply documented, and that involved true predators, no one would dispute. Nor can there be much doubt that those scandals, their non-stop press coverage, and the irresistible pressure on the Church to show proof of cleansing resulted in a system that rewarded false claims along with the true. An expensive arrangement, that–in more ways than one.

 

[Lisa_N]

That’s the sad fallout from this issue. People assume if the accused priest isn’t defrocked, drawn and quartered immediately the church is stonewalling or hiding a problem. Where else are people assumed guilty until proven innocent? There have been numerous false charges and false claims. I know a young man who was repeatedly solicited by attorneys hoping he would ‘suddenly’ remember a molestation when he was an altar boy.

Honestly once a priest is publically accuesed, he’s toast. People will always wonder about him, even if he’s exonerated.

Lisa N