'Prepare to be shocked," Milwaukee archbishop warns of priest sex files

[Fairwinds]

from the article:

According to interviews and court records, the documents are expected to include: details about how church officials shuttled abusive priests from one parish or school to the next without divulging their histories

only unprintable words fully express my disgust at this.

 

[agnes_therese]

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Truly. This is only available as “ammo” (to quote a previous poster) because of the secrecy and cover-ups.

Sometimes the only cure for an illness is painful.

 

[Marie5890]

And the WAR escalates.

When it comes to the sex abuse scandle, many of the wounds inflicted on the Church are indeed self-inflicted and come from within. No need to whitewash reality and the crimes inflicted upon the innocent.

 

[LisaA]

Some of these were decades old. Not that it makes it right but when I was in nursing school in the 80’s they thought they could “cure” pedophilia. That has now been proven to be difficult if impossible. That was not known then.

Thank you for bringing this up. It is so often missed. When I came into the Church I did a lot of research on the abuse scandal. Many of these priests were sent for “counselling” pronounced “cured” and sent on their way. We can fault the upper eschelons for moving the offending priests around but to some extent they were a product of poor psychiatric results and the Church’s desire to allow repentence and forgiveness.

I realize some of the cases were absolutely egregious and not justified, but in any number of cases, the hierarchy was told that the priest had been treated and had promised he would not offend again. I do know of priests returned aftor alcohol or drug treatment or other mental health issues. What wasn’t understood at the time was that this was not a treatable situation in the majority of cases. The criminal justice system should have been called in sooner rather than trying to “handle” it.

BTW this also happens in schools, clubs, and other organizations but lawyers are not nearly so interested as these are often small local organizations and they don’t have any money.

Lisa

 

[MaryT777]

Thank you for bringing this up. It is so often missed. When I came into the Church I did a lot of research on the abuse scandal. Many of these priests were sent for “counselling” pronounced “cured” and sent on their way. We can fault the upper eschelons for moving the offending priests around but to some extent they were a product of poor psychiatric results and the Church’s desire to allow repentence and forgiveness.

I realize some of the cases were absolutely egregious and not justified, but in any number of cases, the hierarchy was told that the priest had been treated and had promised he would not offend again. I do know of priests returned aftor alcohol or drug treatment or other mental health issues. What wasn’t understood at the time was that this was not a treatable situation in the majority of cases. The criminal justice system should have been called in sooner rather than trying to “handle” it.

BTW this also happens in schools, clubs, and other organizations but lawyers are not nearly so interested as these are often small local organizations and they don’t have any money.

Lisa

Well said. You would have hoped after repeated “lapses” it would have been “figured out” sooner treatment was not an option and this is a crime!

 

[coachkfan1]

Prepared to be shocked? Nothing shocks me anymore, both in regards to this scandal and the world in general. I agree with what the district attorney said every time I hear these things; I am devestated. That being said, I will ever support the Church and those who seek to bring into the light what has been in the dark.

St. Michael, guardian of the Church of Jesus Christ, defend her and us!

 

[triumphguy]

Why would the sexual revolution have an effect on Catholics wanting to be priests? There wasn’t a sexual revolution within the church.
Have you seen a study done on this?

.

Apparently the sexual revolution did effect men aspiring to be priests and the VII document OPTATAM TOTIUS on the training of priests addresses it:

vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651028_optatam-totius_en.html

Students ought rightly to acknowledge the duties and dignity of Christian matrimony, which is a sign of the love between Christ and the Church. Let them recognize, however, the surpassing excellence of virginity consecrated to Christ, so that with a maturely deliberate and generous choice they may consecrate themselves to the Lord by a complete gift of body and soul.

They are to be warned of the dangers that threaten their chastity especially in present-day society. Aided by suitable safeguards, both divine and human, let them learn to integrate their renunciation of marriage in such a way that they may suffer in their lives and work not only no harm from celibacy but rather acquire a deeper mastery of soul and body and a fuller maturity, and more perfectly receive the blessedness spoken of in the Gospel.

 

[Teelynn]

Oh you meant the war with Satan. that point wasn’t clear - thanks for clarifying.

I think you are right.

Sorry…my bad…yep, I meant the war between principalities and powers. And yes indeed it is escalating at lightening speed.

 

[livingwordunity]

Some of these were decades old. Not that it makes it right but when I was in nursing school in the 80’s they thought they could “cure” pedophilia. That has now been proven to be difficult if impossible. That was not known then.

Liberals were the ones who used to say that every criminal could be rehabilitated.

Liberals still argue in much the same way today (except when the accused is Catholic clergy).

.

 

[KrazyKat]

Sorry…my bad…yep, I meant the war between principalities and powers. And yes indeed it is escalating at lightening speed.

Very much so. Pray always.

 

[MaryT777]

Liberals were the ones who used to say that every criminal could be rehabilitated.

Liberals still argue in much the same way today (except when the accused is Catholic clergy).

.

Exactly…when it’s Catholic Clergy the whole situation is different.

 

[dixieagle]

Well said. You would have hoped after repeated “lapses” it would have been “figured out” sooner treatment was not an option and this is a crime!

There was a voice crying in the desert decades before this all came to light.

Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald (a close friend of my saintly great-aunt) tried to get bishops to realize what a deadly cancer was growing inside the Church. He spoke with my aunt about this as long ago as the late 1930s - early 1940s; my father recounted this to me many years ago.

ncronline.org/news/accountability/bishops-were-warned-abusive-priests

 

[manualman]

…Maybe if anything light will be shed on Cardinal Dolan, and his role in the matter if any and to what degree, but then what ? Will there be some giant petition to the Vatican / Pope for his removal ? I don’t see that happening.
…

Easy there hombre! Betcha dollars to donuts that what will be revealed is NOT Cardinal Dolan looking the other way, but the fruit of former Archbishop Weakland’s “wink/nod” attitude toward sexual immorality among the priesthood. Weakland and too many bishops like him considered catholic sexual morality repressed and prudish and scoffed at the very idea of chastity. You reap what you sow.

If you’re going to throw rocks, at least have better aim, OK?

 

[Cojuanco]

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

I hate to say it, folks, but for as much as I despise lawyers, they have done the Church a huge favor here.

Exposing these crimes is painful and embarrassing. But had they not been exposed, the practice of shuffling abusers around from point “a” to point “b” to point “c” would have continued. They would continue to recruit those who would commit those heinous acts on young pre-pubescent boys into the priesthood and coddle them once there, despite those who might potentially be tempted to do so being explicitly banned from seminaries and by ordination by the Holy See from time immemorial.

Frankly, we need to know which of our pastors have (in the past) or, God forbid, are (in the present) coddling or covering up for this notorious, heinous crime.

Personally, I would like to see every substantiated abuse file properly redacted to protect the victim of the abuse and then released to the public. In every diocese. Now. Just get it done and over with.

Rather than having a slow, rotting cancer continue to spread, but slowly, where cover can continue to be sought, let the light shine in brightly so that those who are responsible have no place to run…because the light is shining there, as well.

But what will happen to our moral authority? We’re inviting more attacks by the anticlericals. Notvsaying this is good or bad, but what if the result of all this is that even fewer people attend Mass, even fewer live her teachings, and when people call them out on it by saying the Church teaches that it is wrong, they bring this up?

 

[triumphguy]

But what will happen to our moral authority? We’re inviting more attacks by the anticlericals. Notvsaying this is good or bad, but what if the result of all this is that even fewer people attend Mass, even fewer live her teachings, and when people call them out on it by saying the Church teaches that it is wrong, they bring this up?

The Church isn’t choosing to open the books in this situation, it’s the court that’s ordering it.

Nonetheless, I think the church SHOULD have opened the books years ago.

Transparency!

 

[Cojuanco]

The Church isn’t choosing to open the books in this situation, it’s the court that’s ordering it.

Nonetheless, I think the church SHOULD have opened the books years ago.

Transparency!

Even if it leads people astray and gives people yet one more excuse to ignore church teaching?

 

[triumphguy]

Even if it leads people astray and gives people yet one more excuse to ignore church teaching?

If we had been more transparent earlier the damage would be far less.

…and basic catholic morality is that we should not do bad in order to do good, or avoid harm.

Hiding and concealing institutional sin is doing bad.

 

[agnes_therese]

But what will happen to our moral authority? We’re inviting more attacks by the anticlericals. Notvsaying this is good or bad, but what if the result of all this is that even fewer people attend Mass, even fewer live her teachings, and when people call them out on it by saying the Church teaches that it is wrong, they bring this up?

That sounds like the kind of thinking that led to the cover-ups in the first place. Did that plan really have such good results that we would want to continue it? What did that do to boost our moral authority? or Mass attendance?
People are going to bring this up anyway. Better they bring up what we’ve let out into the light, than bringing up “here they go hiding it away again.”

 

[SouthCatholic]

They should have released all of these documents at one time. That way we could have dealt with it and moved on. They way they are releasing it piece by piece means we are dying deaths by a thousand cuts.

 

[markomalley]

But what will happen to our moral authority? We’re inviting more attacks by the anticlericals. Notvsaying this is good or bad, but what if the result of all this is that even fewer people attend Mass, even fewer live her teachings, and when people call them out on it by saying the Church teaches that it is wrong, they bring this up?

What moral authority? Take a look at the percentage of Catholic women who claim to use artificial contraception. How many Catholics vote for pro-abortion (“Catholic”) politicians? How many “Catholics” support unions carte blanche, no matter what kind of positions the unions take that are totally opposed to the teachings of the Church (for a particularly egregious example, take the NEA).

Moral authority evaporated decades ago.

As another poster pointed out, this would actually tend to be a GOOD thing in probably more than a few cases, as it would confirm which of the clergy have done the right thing over the years (as it shone the light on the few remaining ones who have brought discredit upon themselves and Holy Mother Church).