Witness implicates a bishop in sex abuse scandal

A Philadelphia man told a jury today that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest who allegedly sexually abused him for years starting the late 1970s had said a colleague who is now a bishop in West Virginia also had sex with teenage boys.

The 48-year-old witness, identified only as "John" in the 2005 report of the Philadelphia County grand jury, described a meeting one summer in high school where he spent summers at the Rev. Stanley Gana's 110-acre farm in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

He said he was building a flagstone wall when a car pulled up driven by then-Rev. Michael J. Bransfield and containing several teenage boys.

Even if the witness is telling the truth, the priest had an incentive to lie "everybody does it, it's no big deal, even that respectable priest does it." While I think anyone who molests a child deserves the harshest legal penalty available, I would give this hearsay statement no credence at all.

I don't believe this crap. Why did the parents not go to the police back then if this is true? Why wait for now to sue?

I don't care who you are if I truly believe you did something to my kid I'm going to the police.

One of the victims of one of the Boston pedophile priests (the ones protected by Cardinal Law) stated that, when, as a nine- or ten-year-old, he told his mother that he had been molested by the parish priest, she struck him several times and accused him of lying.

Several of the Boston priests, including Geoghan and Shanley, never admitted wrongdoing and never apologized.

Bransfield seems to have been accused of nothing except being a friend of the other priest. However this would’ve been a long time ago, at a time when most priests could not even think that a brother priest would be doing such things.

He was moved from PA not much later, worked in DC and was appointed director of the National Shrine sometime in the 1990’s, I believe, and was only made bishop in 2005.

So I think it’s unlikely that Bransfield - who seems quite orthodox - was involved or knew anything about it. But heck, why miss an opportunity to smear somebody if you can? It might mean a bigger payout.

The way it worked back then was that parents told someone in authority within the church and trusted them to deal with the pervert. They would respond by moving the pervert elsewhere where no one knew they were a danger.

Given what we know now and the way we have become more assertive in life and less trusting of authority and the goodness of our fellow man (even in churches), we would not bother with the church bosses. We would go to the police to seek justice. Also, boys don’t tell their parents because perverts are expert manipulators who incriminate them in the process (giving them booze or something else that is forbidden by their parents). Also, back in the day boys were expected to be strong “men” and not permit homo perverts to diddle them and perverts tell boys they are guilty of the sex abuse because if they did not want it, they would have stopped it. It’s a process of abuse that snowballs on the kid. Evil as hell.

Some people are going to lie against priests for whatever evil they are seeking. But the truth is, a lot of boys were abused by priests (as they are now being abused in public schools) and some Bishops turned away from the crime. Perverts attract perverts to their playgound and corrupt people who don’t want their sin to be painted on the organization or themselves as supervisors or authority figures. Then, they are made guilty, too. Perverts smear their dirt on everyone. Pedophiles coordinate their operation.

I remember when he was made our Bishop. I don’t ever recall that he came or was in Philly at all. At least it was not talked about so it must not have been that important. I remember something about the National Shrine.

I think what you said is true. Take as many down with you and they are trying for a Bishop.

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