Vatican defrocks one, removes eight others from ministry years after allegations

[stumbler]

Nine priests disciplined in Metro sex abuse cases

Vatican defrocks one, removes eight others from ministry years after allegations.

By Marisa Schultz
The Detroit News

DETROIT – The Vatican has ruled on nine priest sexual abuse cases from the Archdiocese of Detroit, dismissing one man from the priesthood entirely and prohibiting eight others from ministry and from wearing the cleric’s collar.

The cases came to light as far back as the early 1990s to as recently as three years ago. Each of the priests has been on leave since allegations of sexual abuse surfaced, according to Auxiliary Bishop Walter Hurley.

The series of decisions from Rome brings closure to these cases, which already have been addressed by the archdiocese. Only the Vatican can impose a priest’s permanent removal.

“The final decision … basically confirms the original decisions made by the cardinal,” said Hurley, who is Cardinal Adam Maida’s delegate on issues of clergy misconduct.

Milford resident Ned Noon is pleased that the Vatican has taken action, but says it still doesn’t erase the pain.

“From the standpoint of a victim, the damage is already done,” said Noon, 55, who is active in the Detroit chapter of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “The church shielded these perverted men for years and years. And even though they may be defrocked, that doesn’t mean there is full closure on any of this.”

The eight priests permanently removed from their pastoral duties will be allowed to celebrate Mass in private by themselves, although they are prohibited from publicly presenting themselves as priests.

The defrocked priest, Robert Quane, 60, had been serving on a restricted basis with the archdiocese since 2000 after what the archdiocese said was a credible allegation of sexual misconduct with minors early in his ministry. Quane was allowed to serve as a part-time chaplain in Henry Ford Hospital and substitute in parishes when needed.

Just one of the nine priests had been criminally prosecuted for his crime because of the statute of limitations, Hurley said. …

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Full article

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

stumbler:

Nine priests disciplined in Metro sex abuse cases

Vatican defrocks one, removes eight others from ministry years after allegations.

By Marisa Schultz
The Detroit News

DETROIT – The Vatican has ruled on nine priest sexual abuse cases from the Archdiocese of Detroit, dismissing one man from the priesthood entirely and prohibiting eight others from ministry and from wearing the cleric’s collar.

The cases came to light as far back as the early 1990s to as recently as three years ago. Each of the priests has been on leave since allegations of sexual abuse surfaced, according to Auxiliary Bishop Walter Hurley.

The series of decisions from Rome brings closure to these cases, which already have been addressed by the archdiocese. Only the Vatican can impose a priest’s permanent removal.

“The final decision … basically confirms the original decisions made by the cardinal,” said Hurley, who is Cardinal Adam Maida’s delegate on issues of clergy misconduct.

Milford resident Ned Noon is pleased that the Vatican has taken action, but says it still doesn’t erase the pain.

“From the standpoint of a victim, the damage is already done,” said Noon, 55, who is active in the Detroit chapter of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “The church shielded these perverted men for years and years. And even though they may be defrocked, that doesn’t mean there is full closure on any of this.”
Full article

Of course not, I’ll bet a nice fat settlement check will wipe the tears from your eyes though.

 

[Lisa_N]

Scott_Lafrance:

Of course not, I’ll bet a nice fat settlement check will wipe the tears from your eyes though.

Oh yes and even better if I can bankrupt a diocese, for the sale of all parishes and schools. Those faithful Catholics need to SUFFER!!!

Lisa N

 

[TPJCatholic]

Lisa,

Exactly, let’s try to make it impossible for the real Cathilocs to worship the Lord and receieve the sacraments…and we can make millions while we try to rip down our Lord’s Church.

 

[gardenswithkids]

TPJCatholic:

Exactly, let’s try to make it impossible for the real Cathilocs to worship the Lord and receieve the sacraments…and we can make millions while we try to rip down our Lord’s Church.

Real people suffered real harm at the hands of real priests who were suppose to represent Christ. They people hurt were also once real Catholics. No amount of money will make up for what happens to the faith of people harmed by priests.

I don’t like seeing a diocese bankrupt over this either, (and honestly I think the “separation of Church and State” should prevent the courts from being able to bankrupt churches.) But please don’t make light of the harm done to those people. I’m glad to see the Vatican taking action to remove priests like that from ministry. It is the actions of those priests that harmed the diocese.

 

[felra]

gardenswithkids:

Real people suffered real harm at the hands of real priests who were suppose to represent Christ. They people hurt were also once real Catholics. No amount of money will make up for what happens to the faith of people harmed by priests.

I don’t like seeing a diocese bankrupt over this either, (and honestly I think the “separation of Church and State” should prevent the courts from being able to bankrupt churches.) But please don’t make light of the harm done to those people. I’m glad to see the Vatican taking action to remove priests like that from ministry. It is the actions of those priests that harmed the diocese.

I am always curious how a substantial sum of money will bring in emotional and psychological “closure” years after the alleged abuse–I am missing the equation between healing and monetary compensation. The only one’s being penalized is the faithful flock. Though the lawyers are making a handsome payday. I am not making light of the harm done to the victims, but who is paying the price for these predator priests.

 

[TPJCatholic]

gardenswithkids,

I was not making light of the situation. I was being sadly sarcastic.
Of course you are right that real people were hurt by real Priests. Yet, real money does not take away real hurt, and destroying the faith lives of many thousands of people only compounds the hurt that the Priests caused. The victims are merely creating victims and there money-hungry attorneys are smiling all the way to bank as the faith of untold number of parishioners is shaken under the weight of their immoral lawsuits.

 

[gardenswithkids]

felra:

…The only one’s being penalized is the faithful flock. Though the lawyers are making a handsome payday. I am not making light of the harm done to the victims, but who is paying the price for these predator priests.

Who is paying the price? The Same One who pays the price for all sin–Jesus. And maybe He’s sharing His sufferings with His faithful flock as the lawyers try to fleece us.

I also think it’s riduculous for victums to try to put a price on what they suffered. No amount of money can make up for what they lost. But the Church does offer them Jesus, and He can make it all better. Unfortunately many of the people who suffered at the hands of a priest no longer have faith that Jesus can heal their pain. If my donations to the Church somehow help them find faith in Jesus again, then it’s money well spent. And if it helps bishops to re-think before they place predator priests in our parishes, then the rest of us in the flock also benefit.

 

[TPJCatholic]

gardenswithkids,

How does it help to ruin entire Dioceses over this issue? Who is healed? The faith of millions mya lie in the balance thanks to the victims who are choosing to make more victims. What they are doing is far worse then what was done to them.

 

[gardenswithkids]

This original thread’s article said nothing about anybody ruining an entire diocese through lawsuits. It was about the Vatican removing abusive priests. Maybe the lawsuits will follow; maybe they’ve been filed already and they just weren’t mentioned in the article. If I over-reacted in defense of people abused by priests please forgive me, but I felt compelled to remind everyone that they are real people who were hurt by men who took vows to serve God.

 

[TPJCatholic]

gardens,

You are quite right, the thread did wander off topic.

 

[Lisa_N]

TPJCatholic:

gardenswithkids,

How does it help to ruin entire Dioceses over this issue? Who is healed? The faith of millions mya lie in the balance thanks to the victims who are choosing to make more victims. What they are doing is far worse then what was done to them.

This situation reminds me so much of the theory of reparations for slavery. All African Americans would be eligible regardless of whether any of their ancestors were slaves. Any non-African American would have to pungle up regardless of whether their family ever owned slaves or benefitted from slavery.

So in essence we have people who are completely innocent paying for the few who are guilty and paying some who have not suffered substantially if at all. The cases are becoming class action suits with those who “remember” Father X patted them on the rear once put into the same category as a young man who was repeatedly sodomized.

The level of abuse, all of which was certainly inexcusable, varies dramatically and IMO the awards should be based on actual, demonstrable damage. Between the false claims, overstated claims, indefensible claims (Father X has been dead for a decade and can’t rebut the accuser) and attorney fees, many millions of dollars are NOT going to the real victims just as a reparation plan would end up taking from the innocent to give to the undeserving.

Lisa N

 

[TPJCatholic]

Lisa,

I agree with everything you wrote, and will add that it drives me nuts that there is no sense of balance with these awards. I can see paying damages to people who have verifiable/provable need…but why does an abused person need millions?

 

[Shoshana]

We have a priest here whom the bishop has defrocked him, just like the Vatican just did…he can’t do anything clerical. My girlfriend and I argue the point (we both know him and love him). She thinks he should be forgiven and the psychiatrists have declared him ‘free’ of the disease…so let him be a priest! I have heard and read so many times that this disease is unhealable…

I disagree becasue I told her that there are consequences to such serious sin. I read that one pedophile joined a trappistine monastery to atone for his sin. The only atoning being done here is being stripped of his priestly duties. I feel bad, but I feel worse for the victim. Even if he is suing our diocese also. Money will never give him back health…

Maybe someone can comment…

Blessings,
Shoshana

 

[TPJCatholic]

Shoshana,

You are so right. It would be terribly wrong to place that Priest back into ministry. We should never take chances with our young. It is truly heartbreaking to learn that a Priest you love has done something so profoundly bad, yet the Priest is still a child of God and we must all pray that he and the victim(s) can find peace and be reconciled with God.

 

[Franze]

Zero tolerance with these priests, zero!

 

[otm]

TPJCatholic:

gardenswithkids,

I was not making light of the situation. I was being sadly sarcastic.
Of course you are right that real people were hurt by real Priests. Yet, real money does not take away real hurt, and destroying the faith lives of many thousands of people only compounds the hurt that the Priests caused. The victims are merely creating victims and there money-hungry attorneys are smiling all the way to bank as the faith of untold number of parishioners is shaken under the weight of their immoral lawsuits.

Perhaps you would care to explain why their lawsuits are immoral?

 

[otm]

TPJCatholic:

gardenswithkids,

How does it help to ruin entire Dioceses over this issue? Who is healed? The faith of millions mya lie in the balance thanks to the victims who are choosing to make more victims. What they are doing is far worse then what was done to them.

You perhaps have not been reading very closely on this issue. The faith of very few seem to be shaken by the lawsuits. the faith of some has been shaken by the fact that the people they thought were most holy were found to have feet of clay, just like everyone else.

I fail to see how a lawsuit makes others “victims”. I do see how it makes more vislible the Body of Christ; one of the members of that Body has been harmed; the others respond to that harm. putting this in terms of “us and them” is a simple way to say “I am not my brother’s keeper; I have no repsonsiblity to my brother who has been harmed; he is not a member of the Body of Christ; he’s just a victim”.

 

[otm]

TPJCatholic:

gardenswithkids,

How does it help to ruin entire Dioceses over this issue? Who is healed? The faith of millions mya lie in the balance thanks to the victims who are choosing to make more victims. What they are doing is far worse then what was done to them.

Have you seen any “entire diocese” ruined? I haven’t; even though my diocese was the first to declare bankruptcy.

I haven’t seen any victims making more victims, but I have seen in very real terms how the sin of one indvidual harms many who were far removed from the actual sin committed.

 

[otm]

TPJCatholic:

Lisa,

I agree with everything you wrote, and will add that it drives me nuts that there is no sense of balance with these awards. I can see paying damages to people who have verifiable/provable need…but why does an abused person need millions?

None of the law suits are based on need. They are based on a monetary valuation for harm caused.

If you have a significant problem with our judicial system of determining damages, then perhaps you might wish to suggest a meaningful alternative. Many people have suggested that it is a system that is somewhere between poor and very poor, but they have yet to propose an alternative. And most of those people who suggest that it is very poor either have never been damaged, or change their mid very rapidly when they have.

I know of no one who suggests that a monetary reward will relieve the pain and suffering that is the very real consequence of sexual abuse, but that is how we determine a just compensation to the victim. Justice says that if one has caused another pain and suffering, one has to compensate the other for that injustice.

It would seem that you are suggesting that the victims should just “lump it”, that they should just - what, figure they had it coming to the? Figure that they are going to get their reward in heaven becasue Father violated their chastity, their youth, their innocense? Just get over it? You seem fairly set in your feelings that these victims somehow do not deserve to be compensated. What do you suggest is a just way of acknowledging what essentially amounts to rape?