Posted on 02/02/2013 7:40:34 PM PST by Alex Murphy
The horror, the sordidness of the awful abuse of children by figures of spiritual authority is not much assuaged by current Archbishop Jose Gomez relieving Cardinal Mahony of "all public duties" after mounting evidence showed he shielded pedophile priests from law enforcement.
So Mahony won't be overseeing the Sacrament of Confirmation at Our Lady of the Angels anytime soon. But he is not only still a priest who can perform Mass - he is still one of the 120 cardinals who form the leadership of a church with more than 1.1 billion adherents worldwide, in a line going back to St. Peter.
Given what we now know about Mahony's active efforts to protect known and suspected sexual abusers in clerical collars, this removal of him from public life is not only not enough - it's no punishment at all.
And this crime deserves punishment. That was made clear by the heartbreaking letters that were made public last week.
Go to any one of over 100 of them posted last week at la-archdiocese.org. The very first one in this alphabetical order was written by a anonymous parishioner molested as a child at a Colorado Roman Catholic Church summer camp by the Rev. Leonard Abercrombie, who later worked in Los Angeles.
Dated July 18, 2003, it begins quite simply:
"Pope John Paul II, The Holy See, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.
"Dear Pope: In July 1993 I wrote a letter to you ..."
That long letter detailing the writer's sexual abuse as a child of 7 by Abercrombie was never answered over the decade, though it was copied to other bishops and to princes of the church, including Los Angeles' own Cardinal Roger Mahony, who oversaw Abercrombie's later pastoral career.
"I informed each of you that the Denver diocese of the Roman Catholic Church had covered up Abercrombie's predation of children making it possible for him to molest me and others that I knew of when I wrote to you. ..."
"I informed each of you that this horror was systemic in your church, and to you, dear pope, I wrote, `Your bishops have known about it and they have been covering it up as a matter of course. Apparently, they haven't informed you of their criminal complicity.' So I did.
"In the ten years that have passed I have never heard a word of apology from any of you" with the exception of a bishop who happened to be a family friend, who said: "I am sure the Holy Father will respond to your letter." He never did.
Joelle Casteix, western regional director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the action to remove Mahony from some duties is simply "too little too late."
Most cardinals leave the college in just two ways: by death or by election to the papacy.
Though highly unusual, it is possible to resign. The last to do so was French Cardinal S.J. Louis Billot in 1927. The rub is that the pope has to accept such a resignation, so it's not known if any cardinal has tried to step down during these decades of the church's sexual-abuse scandals or at any other time during the last 85 years.
But, as a small gesture toward acknowledging these enormous crimes against over 500 Angeleno parishioners, Mahony ought to offer his resignation.
And Pope Benedict XVI ought to accept it.
....Most cardinals leave the college in just two ways: by death or by election to the papacy. Though highly unusual, it is possible to resign. The last to do so was French Cardinal S.J. Louis Billot in 1927. The rub is that the pope has to accept such a resignation, so it's not known if any cardinal has tried to step down during these decades of the church's sexual-abuse scandals or at any other time during the last 85 years.
But, as a small gesture toward acknowledging these enormous crimes against over 500 Angeleno parishioners, Mahony ought to offer his resignation. And Pope Benedict XVI ought to accept it.
The files at the Los Angeles Archdiocese site aren't there voluntarely, but are made public only under the court order of Judge Emilie Elias. It took two years, and a court order, to get Gomez to do something about Mahony. But two years ago, Gomez was singing a different tune:
At the transition Mass, Archbishop Gomez graciously thanked the cardinal for his leadership of the archdiocese over the course of 26 years. Cardinal Mahony's legacy, he said, is “a Church that radiates the love of God and the truth of the Gospel.”“He has shown us what Christ wants his Church to be – a communion of cultures and a communion of saints, one family of God drawn from every country, race, and language.” The archbishop said that Cardinal Mahony “has helped us open our hearts, to love God and to love our brothers and sisters.”
-- from the thread Cardinal Mahony retires, passes leadership in LA to Archbishop Gomez
The priest started out staring at women's breasts and being real touchy with them.
The guy looked like a cross between Elvis and an offensive end. He was also a gifted speaker and when people in the parish like my mother who was head of the prayer community complained everywhere Baker was protected. From Mahony down to the other parishioners. Some parishioners had Baker in their will and he also inherited millions and a couple of houses or so.
The priest started out staring at women's breasts and being real touchy with them.
The guy looked like a cross between Elvis and an offensive end. He was also a gifted speaker and when people in the parish like my mother who was head of the prayer community complained everywhere Baker was protected. From Mahony down to the other parishioners. Some parishioners had Baker in their will and he also inherited millions and a couple of houses or so.
But, as a small gesture toward acknowledging these enormous crimes against over 500 Angeleno parishioners, Mahony ought to offer his resignation.
And Pope Benedict XVI ought to accept it.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
And any sane person should never give another dime to the RCC.
Typical anti-Catholic bigotry from the MSM.
The new Archbishop has done as much as he is empowered to do. And he did it fairly soon after assuming office, presumably after first taking the time to examine the facts first-hand, as best he could, as was right and proper.
If, as I suspect but don’t know, Cardinal Mahony was criminally guilty of complicity or encouragement in the earlier crimes, then it is up to the justice system to do something about it. But the justice system is conflicted. The liberals who control it in places like L.A. whine and complain about pederast priests from one side of their mouths, even while they excuse similar behavior by public school teachers out of the other side of their mouths, and even as they actually teach it in grade school to innocent children.
Yes, things got badly out of hand in that archdiocese. The Church has been repairing the damage that was done within it, mostly back in the 70s, by dissident bishops and priests, some out of ignorance and a few knowingly complicit in the evil. Yet the justice system that should deal with it is at the same time saying that homosexual marriage, homosexual adoption, and even man-boy love are good things, and it is discriminatory or illegal to suggest otherwise. Church adoption agencies have been forced out of business because they refuse to let homosexual couples adopt children. Not back in the 70s, but right now.
Plenty of evil to go around. So why criticize a new bishop for doing his job as best he can?
“And any sane person should never give another dime to the RCC”
Just what the God-hating leftist have wanted for years. And this is because of the Church’s stance against women priests, abortion, and sodomite “marriage”. Years ago leftists infiltrated the Church with homosexuals and now is trying to tarnish the whole Church. The way the Church should handle this is to NEVER let a sodomite become a priest. They can no longer just ask a man applying for the simimary does he have strong homosexual desires. Sodomites lie about their sexual urges. Homosexual men can not control their urges. 99% of these cases are queer priests preying on adolescent boys. Get rid of the queers, solve the problem. The Catholic Church is the only organized church in the world and has the money and that’s why you never hear a word about Jews and protestant sex abuse. And public schools have a much higher rate of sex abuse among teachers, but the media ignores them. They don’t care. The media will also never tell you that the ones doing the sex abuse in the Catholic Church are queers, and that’s because they love homosexuals. The media just wants to tar and feather all priests and try to destroy the Catholic Church. Well it’s been around for 2,000 years and if the world stands for 2,000 more years it will still be around.
Because it exposes the lie that the Church doesn’t care and isn’t doing anything.
It’s never too late to do what is right. :)
People make mistakes. The Church doesn’t.
Another point: Mahoney has his protectors, too, and they are all in the political establishment. Like McCracken, he is a liberal, and apart from the issue of abortion and on traditional marriage, his stands on most political issues sound like they were issued by the DNC. Years ago, he clashed with Mother Angelica, the feisty nun who started EWTN, contrary to the wishes of the Hierarchy, who wanted to establish their own media network. There is little doubt that such a network would have taken its direction from the likes of Mahoney. So Mahoney has friends in low places, one might say. He represents all the things that have gone wrong in the Church since the end of Vatican II.
The “church”does make mistakes, whether one is talking about the leaders of the Church or the rest of us. The Holy Ghost does not make mistakes, and it props up us poor sinners in the Church and keeps us from putting the ship on the rocks and breaking up in the raging seas. As Paul says, we should not boast of the good that we do, but give all credit to the Lord, and confess our unworthiness.
You are right. I should have said in matters of faith or morals.
let's see now....the RCC is over two thousand years old....it is worldwide....it is the largest charitible organization in the history of the world, is it the oldest organization in the history of the world....and a handful of humans, in the LosAngeles archdiocese turn out to be evil people....you condemn the entire organization.......that's kind of like saying that because Bill Clinton abused an intern under his authority....the U.S. Government is evil.....PATHETIC
Well it’s been around for 2,000 years and if the world stands for 2,000 more years it will still be around.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
You should follow Christ instead. He’ll be here forever, world or no world. And your money won’t be feeding pimps and pedophiles.
and a handful of humans, in the LosAngeles archdiocese
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Have you been living under a rock the last 20 years? A handful in Los Angeles? Thousands of children worldwide should be so lucky.
Have you ever attended a Catholic Mass?
I don’t think so from your post, for you do not seem to realize that the Catholic Church and the Catholic Mass are totally focused on Jesus Christ. Are you getting this misinformation from someone who hates the Catholic Church? Or from a pamplet?
If you had attended a Catholic Mass you would have realized that almost all the prayers come from the Bible.
Liturgy of the Word includes the greeting, the Collect sometimes from the Bible with added words, the OT readings, a NT reading, usually from St. Paul, and the Gospel from one of the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Then the priest will give a homily or explanation, usually of the Gospel and apply it to those days, then to our present life in this modern world.
Then the Mass moves to the Litrugy of the Eucharist where the memorial of Christ’s Body and Blood is celebrated and the people receive the REAL Body and Blood of Christ, and then we have the closing prayers and final blessing.
I think you will be amazed at how much is straight from the Bible. That’s what converted Scott Hahn.
It's also about record keeping. Many other denominations don't keep the detailed records that the Catholic Church does. If schools and other institutions had their personnel and administrative files searched for decades past there would no doubt be some findings there too.
That is a bit extreme, but you certainly have a point. Much of the history of the RCC in the past 30 years is shameful.
So many innocent children have been damaged, forever. And beyond that, there is now a battle going on, a critical battle. It is a battle between Western civilization and radical islam.
The RCC should be a great asset to the West in this battle. But instead they are essentially a liability.
And I say that with great sadness.
Just curious, do you feel this way about Baptists and their sex abuse coverup?
We are all members of the Body of Christ, are we not? Abuse in ANY denomination is a wound on the Body of Christ, is it not? Wouldn't our kids be better off if we circled the wagons and did our best to make EVERY Christian environment a safe setting for them instead of throwing stones and pitting one denomination vs another?
Also, please bear in mind that in 2003, the State of California changed the statute of limitations regarding child abuse claims against the Catholic Church, only, opening the door for very old claims to be filed (after memories have faded, witnesses passed away, and exculpatory evidence lost— placing a tremendous burden on the defendants to prove innocence) and leading the way to the $650,000,000.00 settlement in 2007. In contrast, child abuse claims against public institutions must be brought within 6 months of the incident, regardless of the age of the victim. As to all others, the statute is six years after the victim’s 18th birthday. Why the difference?
Child abuse is rampant in the the foster care and public school systems, and happens in other denominations and private institutions as well. Apparently “Equal protection under the law” doesn’t mean what it used to mean.
Thanks for posting this. It’s sickening. The entire hierarchy needs to be flushed down the toilet and replaced by decent men.
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.