Exactly.
I have very low regard, generally, for the way Mahoney has exercised his ministry. From what I know, he appears to be perpetually allied with objective evil. He has done more to harm the gospel through his wayward teaching regarding moral issues, to say nothing of his alleged involvement in any sex scandals or cover-ups.
HOWEVER: it is quite dangerous when the federal government thinks it can base a prosecution on the concept that the government can decide when a church’s worship activities and religious education classes “deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.”
If that is the case, it won’t be long before the feds think they can use this same “deprivation of honest sservices” theory to arrest churchmen who preach false doctrines.
Yikes.
This federal action is associated with pre-existing criminal complaints, so I don’t think it has the potential to go any further.
They almost got Mahony years ago, but he did some sort of legal dodge that basically prevented any one from examining his personal actions in these cases. (He is known to have been virtually complicit in some of them, helping the offenders to hide and escape.) I can’t remember how he got around it, but basically, he offered up the money of his diocese in a settlement that was designed to protect him personally.
I hope they nail him this time around.
Exactly!
The phrase "honest services" is entirely nebulous and its definition seems to to rest on what the government says it is. Any government prosecution of this type gives me the chills.
It's not too much of a stretch to imagine some slick lawyer working on behalf of the gay lobby bringing a suit which claims that teaching that homosexuality is intrinsically disordered is a denial of "honest services".
Yes, Mahony scares me but the godless, secular US government scares me more.