Posted on 03/31/2010 6:26:01 PM PDT by Cardhu
LOS ANGELES – The head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in the treatment of pedophile priests visited with the then-pope nearly 50 years ago and followed up with a letter recommending the removal of pedophile priests from ministry, according to a copy of the letter released Wednesday.
In the Aug. 27, 1963 letter, the head of the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete tells the pope he recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministry and strongly urges defrocking repeat offenders. The letter, written by the Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald, appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope and summarizes Fitzgerald's thoughts on problem priests after his Vatican visit.
A message left with the Paraclete order at one of their two existing facilities in Missouri was not returned. A number for the second facility was disconnected.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
In fact, the police and prosecutors knew about it LONG before 1996, and did not press charges.
Why are you blaming the Church for the failure of government officials?
Please educate yourself about the basic facts of the case. They've been posted here repeatedly.
There was a story on the local (Dallas) news this a.m. about a Methodist minister under investigation for pedophilia. Saw a story the other day about a therapist that averages 256 protestant ministers per year in treatment for the same. So why aren't the folks blaming the entire RCC for what a few priests have done doing the same with these other churches? Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Or what about schools? Should we attack the education system for hiring molesters?
Or should we attack families for familial molestations? They certainly are the largest group of offenders.
I agree. This is the Holy Thursday, a good time to contemplate the weakness, selfishness, pride and betrayal of sinful men. It is also a good time to pray before Jesus in the Eucharist and ask Him for mercy on all of us and the grace to remember that being reviled by the world is foretold. But to also be truly repentent for our own sins. And to never fear the truth no matter how damaging it may be, for only by letting in light to reveal the wrong can we allow light in to illuminate the soul.
Facts just get in the way.
I wonder if the anti-Catholics on here know how idiotic and stupid it is to align themselves with the Freeper hating anti conservatives just to get a dig in at our Church. The New York times doesn't like Protestants, Jews or Conservatives. These same people using The New York Times and other shoddy sources will rail against them later in regards to a conservative cause.
I don't want to hear a word from these people bashing the Times, MSNBC or any other liberal outlet ever again. You want to use them as your source material than don't be a hypocrite later.
if you read that article it says that teachers are losing their licenses to teach
Bishop William Lori of Connecticut writes in defense of the pope, with some questions for the New York Times and others:
In 2002, I helped write the Charter and the Norms for the protection of children. I was one of four U.S. diocesan bishops who went to Rome to secure approval of the Norms. I personally witnessed the pivotal and positive role that Cardinal Ratzinger played in helping the American bishops respond to the sexual abuse crisis. Thanks to Cardinal Ratzinger the United States Norms won approval from the Holy See. Together with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the Norms have helped the U.S. Bishops to bring about a true culture change in the Church. State of the art safe environment programs have been developed. Countless victims have been assisted. Priests who posed a danger to young people are out of ministry. Dioceses cooperate closely with law enforcement officials (contrary to the faulty op-ed piece by Frank Bruni in the New York Times). The Congregation also helped bishops of other countries deal with the sexual abuse crisis. When he became Pope, Benedict XVI made resolution of the abuse problem a priority. Instead of attacking this Pope, we should be thanking him for helping the Church confront this crisis in a way that benefits victims, the Church, and society.
There is an additional problem with the New York Times report worth mention. It states that Father Murphy “also got a pass from the police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims.” This clause is the entire comment that the Times gives to the failure of the one government entity that had the greatest power to conduct an investigation and remove an alleged sexual perpetrator from being around children.The Church has no search warrants or prisons. The police do.
When government fails to manage the risk of sexual abuse, the New York Times and other media too often give government a pass. If we really care about protecting children, then the fourth estate needs to focus its spotlight on those institutions with the greatest problems. In January of this year, the U. S. Department of Justice reported that one out of ten young people incarcerated in government-run detention facilities were sexually victimized by their guards during the single year of 2008. This represents 2,370 victims. Where was the Times report? And the number of sexual abuse victims in public schools dwarfs the problem in juvenile detention facilities.
The Times just sued our Diocese to acquire confidential documents from a court file so that it could re-publish stories of abuse that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. Yet it ignores that in Connecticut alone, 112 Connecticut public school teachers and coaches have lost their license to teach because of sexual contact with students since 1992; and 19 foster parents paid by the State of Connecticut have been disciplined for sexually abusing the children in their care since 2006. Where’s the outrage and the calls for resignations?
Having the Pope and the Catholic Church bear the entire blame of childhood sexual abuse may benefit the trial lawyers and serve the agenda of their media partners, but it does nothing to protect children today. Transferring billions from Catholic dioceses, religious orders, and their charitable and educational ministries in a time of economic crisis only creates new victims. It is time that Church-bashing give way to responsible reporting and even-handed public policy.
What, you didn't read about the ones that are actively being covered up?!?! Duh...
I only learned about this years after I graduated. It was common knowledge among some of the kids who were not so naive as I was. You'ld a thunk that if some of the more cynical kids knew he was a creep that someone in the faculty or admin would have outed him sooner.
Not the case.
its not just the nyt that presenting articles
I suppose that’s why the letter was addressed to “New York Times and OTHERS”. Ya think?
they are making it out that the nyt is conducting a witchhunt
This is a news story -why post it in Religion rather than News?Good question, any answer?
Some. Most do not. Passing the trash is part of the real issue in the schools, where is the outrage?
Not the “Catholic Church” but Archbishop Weakland—a homosexual and liberal dissenter, did that. My point is that the current campaign against Benedict (Ratzinger) is totally fabricated.
Moreover you are not correct even in your summary of what the diocese did or did not do. But you don’t really care about facts, now, do you?
Damn Weakland all you want. But “The Catholic Church” did x and y is ignorant.
Back in the 1960’s there were two things you didn’t do to embarrass your family. You weren’t Gay and you didn’t dodge the Draft. Going into the Seminary allowed you to avoid the Draft without revealing you were Gay.
Pedophiles in the public schools go directly to jail. I know, I had one in the extended family.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.