Vatican Defrocks Boston Monsignor and 6 Priests

Yahoo News ^ | March 17, 2006

[NYer]

A former vice chancellor of the Boston Archdiocese and six other priests accused of molesting children have been defrocked by the Vatican, church officials announced Friday.

In a statement, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley expressed his "deepest sorrow for the grievous harm" done by Monsignor Frederick Ryan and the other Boston priests.

"The violations of childhood innocence, under the guise of priestly care, are a source of profound shame," O'Malley said.

Ryan was one of the highest-ranking church officials to be accused of child molestation since the Boston sex scandal broke in 2002. He resigned that year after being accused of abusing two boys in the 1970s and '80s at a Boston high school.

The scandal led O'Malley's predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law, to resign, and the archdiocese agreed to pay $85 million to settle lawsuits by about 550 alleged victims.

A state investigation found that about 1,000 people had been molested by dozens of priests over about five decades. Some of the priests were shuffled from parish to parish to try to conceal the allegations.

[NYer]

The Vatican must be working overtime. This is the 2nd announcement this week.

[mtbopfuyn]

Excellent. Glad to see Pope B is doing some much over due housecleaning.

[Brytani]

Isn't Cardinal Law working at the Vatican now? I think I remember seeing him at Pope John II's funeral.

Nice to see the Pope doing something about those who molest children.

[TXBSAFH]

The German Shepardis cleaning up the flock. Long over due I say.

[NYer]

Isn't Cardinal Law working at the Vatican now?

He is in Rome and has been assigned to (I'm not positive) Santa Maria Maggiore.

[Brytani]

He needs to be removed from the Church IMO. Let's hope Pope Benedict see's to it.

[ishabibble]

Bernard Law is a criminal. He fled to the Vatican, and he needs to be extradited back to Boston to face charges. Only then will this collective nightmare begin to heal. Justice is the right of all good Catholics. Bernard Law is going to rot in hell anyway, but I'd like to see him get Geoghan's old bunk in the state prison, and his old cell mate.

So I'm not really being Christian here, but I'm sick unto death of seeing the Roman Catholic Church disgraced by the homosexual/pedophiles who flooded it after Vatican II.

[trisham]

The Vatican must be working overtime. This is the 2nd announcement this week.

***********

It should have been done long ago. Pope Benedict is more than I had prayed for. May God bless him for the important work he is doing for the Church.

[BlackElk]

Sounds like a plan.

[starfish923]

The German Shepard is cleaning up the flock. Long over due I say.

Bump for the PanzerPope.

[Salvation]

Viva Pope Benedict!

[Salvation]

I believe Law was CALLED to the Vatican. He didn't flee there.

[kittymyrib]

The difference between child molesting Catholic priests and child-molesting Baptist ministers is that the Baptists are arrested, tried and thrown in jail. The priests get "defrocked" and sent to some administrative job because the church pays off the child's parents...sort of like a awarding a damage claim in a car wreck. That is not equal justice in America and smacks of Mafia tactics.

[sitetest]

Dear ishabibble,

Cardinal Law "fled" to southern Maryland after resigning in Boston. Here for a year or so, he didn't leave the United States for his appointment in Rome until after the authorities in Boston decided they couldn't charge him with any actual crimes.

Thus, it will be difficult to extradite him to face charges with which he will never be charged.

"Bernard Law is going to rot in hell anyway,..."

Oh, excuse me. I was unaware that I was in the presence of the Judge, Lord Jesus Christ. /sarcasm

Cardinal Law has much for which to answer at his particular judgment. He was an awful prelate, incompetent, bumbling, boobish. However, he isn't beyond forgiveness and repentance, and I pray that he will find mercy and salvation at his death, although perhaps with an extended stay in Purgatory attached thereto.


sitetest

[ishabibble]

You have a strong opinion on this subject. So do I.

It has been many years since I studied the catechism in preparation for the Sacraments, so I forget exactly how many years B. Law will be cooling his heels in Purgatory for being a lying, cheating, thieving sack o' s###.

Of course, since he knowingly and deliberately let homosexual/pedophile perverts continue to hunt their prey without stopping them, I say that when the reckoning comes, fat feckless Bernie will be toasty warm with rest of his buggerer pals. Not soon enough for me. I honestly can't think of another human being that I loathe more than that worthless scum, B. Law.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Have you asked Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly why he couldn't get the grand jury to indict Law? Have you lobbied the Massachusetts legislature to send a bill to Romney that would make it possible to hold people like Law, public school superintendents, etc., criminally liable?

Got anything to say about these protestants?

[NonValueAdded]

wasn't defrocking their initial downfall?

[TheSpottedOwl]

Pope Benedict is great! This is wonderful news, and it's about time. I wonder if Roger is getting a little nervous???

[sitetest]

Dear ishabibble,

Opinion isn't at issue, here.

It isn't my opinion that Cardinal Law didn't flee to Rome. It is a fact that he initially retired to southern Maryland.

It isn't my opinion that the Boston area authorities could come up with nothing for which to indict Cardinal Law. They said so publicly.

It isn't my opinion that he can't be extradited. A person must be charged to be extradited, and the authorities have already decided that Cardinal Law will not be charged.

It isn't my opinion that Cardinal Law may yet be saved. That is the teaching of the Church, even if, as you believe, in your opinion, that he knowingly and deliberately let the abusers abuse their victims. Even if that is so, it is not necessarily so that "fat feckless Bernie will be toasty warm with the rest of his buggerer pals."

In that you seem to take delight in that prospect, you would do well to guard your own soul. To wish for the damnation of another sinner is to fail in charity. And that's not an opinion, either.


sitetest

[A.A. Cunningham]

child-molesting Baptist ministers is that the Baptists are arrested, tried and thrown in jail.

Not all of them.

What is your opinion of those parents who accept settlements and don't report the crimes to the police? Shouldn't they be prosecuted as coconspirators?

[ishabibble]

First, I am not from Massachusetts. I simply keep a jaundiced eye on what goes on up there. The news is all bad.

Second, I am all too aware that creepy child predators abound in every profession that centers around children. Anyone who reads the Free Republic pages, day after day, knows about the escalating sex crimes against young, innocent children. There was a news story posted yesterday re the live video kid porn ring that is simply too disgusting to even repeat. There is also one up today re a sex for cigarettes arrest. So, I don't think I am talking through my hat when I state my opinion that Bernard Law is even more guilty for having known about the sex crimes committed by the homosexual/pedophiles and let it continue.

I attended two "masses" at a very wealthy parish church in Naples, FL recently. Far more than the hip-hop hootenanny music, far more than the overtly lesbian nuns putting their hands all over the teen girls, far more than the glass window of the children's room (God forbid children are taught to behave in God's house), it was the sickening behaviour of the "priest" who told some tired Internet jokes, bragged about all the lobster he ate on his vacation in Maine, and then did a breezy one minute on the Gospel, that makes me know to a certainty that the homosexuals are winning in our churches.

My children are grown. I saw the stupid parents in that church and thought that if someone doesn't take back the American Roman Catholic Church soon, we might as well hire Gay Gene Robinson when he gets out of his latest rehab. It's starting to look like it's the same difference.

My own parish is a very poor, inner city, falling down, school closed ,barely hanging on church. The priest who says the Latin Mass is young and enthusiastic. He is leaving very soon. My former husband, just like me, travels over 45 mins. to attend a Latin Mass in upstate NY. His priest is old and tired. He will be leaving soon, too.

The church in Naples has a multi-million dollar music room built largely for some Englebert wannabe whose chief talent is his hair. I am not making this up. Also, if you go to this church, you will see no statuary, no crucifix, nothing at all to identify it as a Catholic Church. It's a big sprawling "feel good" center.

This obscenity and the disgraced reputation of the Roman Catholic Church is the result of years of the Bernard Laws of the Church, the fat cat cowards, the false prophets, the criminals. This is my opinion. I stand by every word.

[dsc]

"My former husband"

Ummm...huh?

[Dick Vomer]

thanks... I feel the same way.

[ishabibble]

Yes, indeed. Fortunately, the divorce hasn't worked out!

While Mr.X continues his career up in the frozen tundras, I am much more inclined to frolic in the sun and surf. He has a big stack of plane tickets and I have a fabulous new look!
The silver lining in the darkest cloud there ever was is the fact that Mr. X and I are now chasing each other around like young lovers (after 30 yrs. of responsible adulthood/parenthood/upstanding members of the communityhood) and our children are delighted. We still have a ways to go, but I have faith that we will succeed.

Someone else on this thread called me Law's judge and jury.
So, yours is the second stone...

[sitetest]

Dear ishabibble,

Who is casting stones?

"Bernard Law is going to rot in hell anyway,..."


sitetest

[NYer]

I'm sick unto death of seeing the Roman Catholic Church disgraced by the homosexual/pedophiles who flooded it after Vatican II.

It has been documented that 70% of the sexual abuse cases involved priests ordained pre-VCII. This is not a defense or justification, simply a statement of fact. When the abuse scandal broke open in my diocese, one of the victims who stepped forward, was 65 years old. Unfortunately, there was no way to address his accusation since the priest he accused was dead.

Like you and so many others, I was shocked by this scandal and dreaded watching the nightly news. It seemed as if the media had singled out the Catholic Church. Over time, I learned there was a higher incidence of sex abuse in the public school system and even among protestant denominations, yet the media kept their finger pointed at the Catholic Church. Why? The following article explained it and I pass it along for your edification.

Prof critiques coverage of (Catholic) church scandal (How the 'perfect storm' developed)

If you step back and look at the big picture, perhaps you will arrive at the same conclusion I reached. This 'airing' of our failed priests, is the work of the Holy Spirit, pulling the weeds from the wheat. With Ratzinger as pontiff, the house is being swept clean, as evidenced by the many defrockings that have taken place since he was elected to the Chair of Peter. This is not happening in any other church. We have much to be grateful for.

[ShandaLear]

So not true. These types of activities have been covered up in every church and denominations for years.

[Salvation]

**if someone doesn't take back the American Roman Catholic Church soon,**

There is no such thing as the American Roman Catholic Church.

We are members of the Roman Catholic Church.

[NYer]

We are members of the Roman Catholic Church.

Actually, we are members of the Catholic Church. At present there are 22 Churches that comprise the Catholic Church.

[aimhigh]

This is not happening in any other church.

In other churches, the perverts were fired immediately, not shuffled to other churches.

[Conservative til I die]

The difference between child molesting Catholic priests and child-molesting Baptist ministers is that the Baptists are arrested, tried and thrown in jail. The priests get "defrocked" and sent to some administrative job because the church pays off the child's parents...sort of like a awarding a damage claim in a car wreck. That is not equal justice in America and smacks of Mafia tactics.

I wasn't aware the Vatican had the power to place American priests under arrest, then charge them, then try them, and then mete out punishment in the US penal system.

I would have thought this would be the responsibility of the appropriate American state or municipality.

I don't know, I'm just some dumb Mafioso Catholic, so maybe I'm missing something here. Mind explaining it all to me, Brainiac?

[Conservative til I die]

Have you asked Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly why he couldn't get the grand jury to indict Law? Have you lobbied the Massachusetts legislature to send a bill to Romney that would make it possible to hold people like Law, public school superintendents, etc., criminally liable? Got anything to say about these protestants?

Not to minimize the scandal, of course, but I think your post touches on something I feel, which is that a lof of the righteous indignation from the Right comes from an almost subconscious 19th Century style Nativism.

Seems the Catholic Church is the only one set aside for special treatment when it comes to these scandals.

[Conservative til I die]

So I'm not really being Christian here,

Yeah, I'll say. And during Lent no less.

[Conservative til I die]

You're not SSPX or otherwise schismatic are you?

[A.A. Cunningham]

Here's more questions you no doubt won't answer either, did you complain to the local bishop about what you witnessed in Naples, including references to specific violations of the GIRM and Canon Law? Have you ever put pen to paper and written to the CDF or a bishop or do you simply sit on your hands and flap your gums about how terrible things are?

[ishabibble]

I had a long luncheon today with an old friend who knows far more about the law than I do. This topic and your suggestion re MA AG Tom Reilly came up, and his professional opinion is that while Reilly and the Commonwealth can't do anything about Bernard Law, the federal gov't sure can.

Law could be tried under the RICO statutes for racketeering.
He didn't commit the crimes, but he sure facilitated them.
Right now, Buddy Cianci, habitual Mayor of Providence, is sitting in a federal prison for the exact same thing. The rub is that the feds would be reluctant to extradite Law from the Vatican, a sovereign gov't and a religious country.
I don't claim to be a legal expert, but I did ask someone who is, and it sounds plausible to me.

From the responses I've gotten to my comments, I do believe I have been officially flamed. Oh well, life goes on!
The comments remind me of all those parents who are outraged about the conditions in the schools today, and then add quickly in the next breath, "but, of course, not MY child's school. My child's teacher/school is the greatest. Yes, there is sex ed, of course, but it's not that outrageous stuff. Yes, there are the tolerance and diversity BS courses, but, of course, my child knows the difference."

It's just the same with our churches. There were many older people at those hootnanney masses in Naples, why do they just sit there and take it? I didn't. I am not a self-flagellating nutcase or a renegade cult member. I am simply a fed up Catholic. I attend the Latin Mass in a poor parish, and do what I can to keep it going. The fat, sleek priest from my former parish refused to give the 20 Week money to flood victims in South America (after being asked to do so by many families in the church) and the last time I saw him, he was driving a very nice gold Mercedes. The big one! He is an unrepentant happyhead liberal, but he is straight. How indicative of the times. That is the only decent thing I can say about a man who has very little to do with the Catholic faith that I was raised in by my parents.

Bernard Law was so bad at his job, so deceitful and false, that his part in the sex abuse scandal is greater than the acts of the individual homosexual/pedophiles. IMHO.

p.s. Re the crack about my statements during this time of prayer and reflection, I want you to know that I gave up lipservice for Lent.

[A.A. Cunningham]

How's the annulment coming since we all know a good Catholic like you while "chasing each other around like young lovers" is stopping short of fornicating with Mr. X.

[ishabibble]

Hello. I just posted a reply to you and others. It takes time to get free info from a lawyer!

As for Naples, what can one do? Buy some tickets to the oh so hey Father Jerry show, and watch in horror as all those suckers get a Las Vegas Passion Play, complete with a live simulated crucifixion that was more homoerotica than religious. Liberace will always be an icon as long as Father Jerry is ministering to the young kids of SW FL.
The diocese quite obviously knows about this guy, and also about the shyster with the hair, who uses that music room at the Anonymous Catholic Church to make a promo video about him and his music, and and and...charges those old folks 20 bucks a head!!!

As for the last part of your insult, I was a visitor to that area, and I certainly did tell the priest about my shock at seeing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on the altar. Not even a crucifix. I was stunned. Then I was really, really mad.

I saved the best for last. The very butch nuns I mentioned earlier ran the Offertory. All the young teens, dressed in ripped jeans, shorts, tight T-shirts, etc. participated (God forbid that any of them learn to strive for an honour) but was really fascinating to me, was that while the boys genuflected before the altar, the girls, all of them believe me, only bowed from the waist. The girls DID NOT genuflect before the Host. It was very creepy.

I am simply fed up with people who go along to get along. Maybe it's OK for some things, but when it's my faith, and my faith is on the line because of a battered image and destroyed reputation, when good priests are tarred with the same brush as the Geoghans, and when we start sniping at each other on a message board instead of standing up to the Rainbow Sash Terrorists and kicking them the hell out of our churches, we fail. The homosexual perverts have declared war on the Roman Catholic Church, and by saying nothing, and doing nothing, and being uncomfortable but taking it, we are letting them win.

[ishabibble]

Tell you what, Sparky, the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize any divorce. I thought you would have known that...

I just read your comment to Mr. X and he's all on board with the idea! Goodnight.

[RKBA Democrat]

I've been reading your posts, with no small measure of fascination. I don't recall running into you before. Anyway, welcome to the religious threads.

I wanted to hone in on one thing you said: "My own parish is a very poor, inner city, falling down, school closed ,barely hanging on church. The priest who says the Latin Mass is young and enthusiastic. He is leaving very soon."

It reminds me a bit of my own eastern Catholic parish. Tiny. Certainly not wealthy at all when it comes to material splendor. But wealthy when it comes to spirituality. And I consider myself lucky to only have to travel 40 minutes to get there.

We all decide what's important to us. A part of the universal Catholic church, like the larger society that it exists in, has decided that the pretty buildings, the social stature, and the material things are very important.

Another part of the universal church has decided that those things aren't as important. These are often the small parishes or inner city parishes with the leaking roofs that are always just barely squeaking by economically.

To a certain extent, I think it's all about the priorities that parishioners set for themselves. There's a lot of complaining about apostasy and such, and how there are problems in the clergy. But none of this happened in a vacuum.

[SuziQ]

Good they needed to be GONE!

[SuziQ]

Bernard Law is a criminal. He fled to the Vatican, and he needs to be extradited back to Boston to face charges.

Cardinal Law broke no laws. He left Boston so that Sean O'Malley could create a new atmosphere in the Diocese. The Attorney General of Massachusetts even announced in the press conference that the Cardinal had broken no laws, but made it clear that he wished he could put him in jail for something.

The Cardinal moved to Maryland, then when the Pope offered him the Parish in Rome, he took the opportunity. He didn't FLEE. He was free to go anywhere, and he simply moved on.

The Cardinal didn't molest any children, and most of the abuse took place long before he ever arrived in Boston. He was wrong in letting the priests stay in Parishes for as long as they did, and he admitted that. He was following the suggestions from the psychiatrists and counselors who said that the priests were 'cured'. I don't see anyone clamoring for any of the metal health professionals to be put in jail for their incorrect diagnoses.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

An article in the Christian Science Monitor says that in the Protestant churches most of the alleged abusers are not clergy or staff, but church VOLUNTEERS."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0405/p01s01-ussc.html

[SuziQ]

First, I am not from Massachusetts. I simply keep a jaundiced eye on what goes on up there. The news is all bad.

No, it is NOT all bad. Of course, if you read the Boston Globe, you'd never know that, because it is all anti-Catholic Church all the time. The Globe NEVER liked Cardinal Law, and from the moment he arrived in Boston wrote negative stories about him. The paper once intimated that because he was from Mississippi, he was racist, and because of that, he allowed the closure of a Catholic Hospital in a minority area of town. The Globe DIDN'T mention that there was still going to be a medical clinic that would still handle minor cases, with the more major ones going to the newer site. What the Boston Globe ALSO didn't mention was the Cardinal's work for Civil Rights when he was Chancellor of the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. In fact, he was one of only a few white people to attend the funeral of Medgar Evers. Another other was Bishop Brunini.

I'm convinced that the Globe, in concert with others in the Boston area, started this campaign in order to reduce the influence of the Church in the area of homosexual marriage. It couldn't have been the fact that some of the priests might have abused children. The Globe had been lauding Father Paul Shanley for his work with homeless teenagers, and for his support of the NAMBLA chapter in Boston. They needed to reduce the Church's influence, because they knew that Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall was about to issue the homosexual marriage edict, and they were priming the public to reject any argument against it by the Church. They knew this because the editors of the Boston Globe and the New York Times were part of the group planning this move by Marshall.

[Antoninus]

He fled to the Vatican, and he needs to be extradited back to Boston to face charges.

Charges need to be filed before he can face them. I guarantee you, the Boston law enforcement community won't ever file charges against him. Why? Because that would lead to discovery and a whole lot more dirty laundry will come out--some if it likely involving rampant homosexual abuse of young men and individuals outside the Church.

Those who wish to damage the Church are content just to fling accusations around without having to actually prove anything in court.

[Antoninus]

I attended two "masses" at a very wealthy parish church in Naples, FL recently.

Florida is a hotbed of the Lavendar Mafia in the Catholic Church. They are winning there...for now.

[Antoninus]

In other churches, the perverts were fired immediately, not shuffled to other churches.

Not even close to universally true. Heck, in the Episcopal Church, they make them bishops!