Pope Francis Seems Serious about Rooting Out the Sex Abusers!

He's sending an investigative team to check out Carlos Urrutigoity.

Now if only he'd work on the other end by keeping out the homosexuals in the first place!

Homosexuals have no place in the priesthood. Men who are attracted to men should not put themselves in a source of continuous temptation. Their disordered sexual drive makes them a danger to young boys and men. If they rise to positions of power in the Church, they have the further temptation to use that power to gain sexual favors by bribery and intimidation. Hey, that's not speculation, we have a number of examples of both heterosexual and homosexual bishops. But most of the abuse was homosexual in nature (more than 70% according to the John Jay Report).

Pope Francis promises accountability. Let's pray he won't be stonewalled and will clean out the nest of vipers in the Church hierarchy.

What Are We Doing to Our Children?

I had a sad conversation this morning with one of my daughters. We were talking about breast cancer (I'm a survivor which puts my daughters at higher risk). In the course of the conversation I asked her about one of her peers who was a neighbor and friend. I'll call her Cathy. Cathy had a very aggressive breast cancer in her mid twenties and ended up with a double mastectomy. I was concerned to know how she was doing. Well, Cathy divorced her husband a few years ago, not for another man, but for a woman. She and my daughter are not in touch much, but I think they have reconnected casually on Facebook.

Frankly, I'm not surprised by Cathy's story. She was a confused teen who loved being as outrageous as possible. She picked up every fad from dressing "goth" to toying with the idea she was bi-sexual. (It was all the rage at the local public high school.). Her mom had the doctor put her on the pill when she was 15 or 16 and, with that kind of approval, I have no doubt that she fulfilled mom's expectations.

At Cathy's wedding she told me she tried to talk a friend out of an abortion because of "Mrs. Kreitzer." I was touched. I liked Cathy and always tried to gently talk sense to her.. And now I'm just sad. Cathy grew from a confused little girl to a confused young woman. She paid the price of her mother's foolishness in putting her on a strong hormonal drug that contributes to earlier and more aggressive breast cancers and she paid the price for their foolish tolerance. Cathy is the poster child for the sexually permissive society.

Her story reminds me of one told by psychologist William Coulson at a home schooling convention years ago. It was about a young woman from a large Catholic family who entered the IHMs (Immaculate Heart of Mary religious order) as a naive young girl fresh out of high school. It was during the social experiment after Vatican II when Carl Rogers and his protege Coulson set about helping the nuns "find themselves" through their "human potential" workshops. This young woman ended up being seduced by an older nun and became a lesbian.

As he told that sad story, the legacy of his work, he wept. It was a public confession and repentance. And he has devoted his life to exposing the disaster. Interestingly, in an interview posted on EWTN, he discussed, not just the IHMs, but the interventions with the Jesuits and the Mercy nuns. Consider their level of dissent and perhaps it is not surprising in view of their embrace of the Rogerian philosophy. Coulson said one of the things that happened following their workshops was "Jesuit formation virtually fell apart" between 1965 and 1975. And the movement was taking place all over the country in convents and monasteries as spinoff groups from Rogers organization, some headed by priests, began implementing and expanding Rogers' theories. Are you connecting the dots yet? Coulson does. In another article titled Full Hearts and Empty Heads (1994), he links the human potential movement to the sex abuse scandals.

Of course, Rogers and Coulson are just a part of the picture of the 20th century that is such a cultural bloodbath, both literally and figuratively. We all know casualties like my daughter's young friend. The question is, what to do to turn things around? Pray certainly, but I think the recent approval of the apparitions in Wisconsin give us a firm foundation for positive change: CATECHESIS.

More on that later. But please pray for Cathy. There are many young people out there today who may be great sinners, but they were also much sinned against. No wonder the Lord said it was better to be cast in the sea attached to a millstone than to commit scandal.

Accused Priests vs. Accused Bishops: the Double Standard

I received an email today from Opus Bono Sacerdotii, a group that assists priests accused of sexual abuse, with a sad story from an accused priest. Here's a portion of what the priest wrote:

I had a surprise visit to my Parish office by two Officials from the Chancery, the Vicar for Priests and a Canon Lawyer (who happens to be a classmate of mine). They asked to see me privately and I was extremely nervous because of their attitude and demeanor. When the three of us were alone, they proceeded to tell me that a “credible allegation of sexual abuse” was made against me and that I had an hour to pack a bag and to come with them. Few details were given to me when I asked.

They mentioned a name which I never heard of before and that this “victim” was deceased. His widow and attorney came to the Diocese to bring this supposed abuse to their attention. This was to have occurred some thirty years ago.... I discovered later that the Diocese had already sent out a “Fax Blast” concerning my removal. After the press and media extensively exposed my ‘credible allegation of sexual abuse’ for two days, I found myself living in a hellish nightmare. After some two or three weeks later, the same two Officials called me to another meeting and informed me that another “victim” came forth after the public disclosure to make a second allegation against me. (And I had thought that life could not have possibly gotten any worse.)
As God as my witness, I swear as I swore on a Bible before the Diocesan Officials, these allegations are totally and completely untrue. My mind and my soul are bruised, beaten and trampled down. My parishioners are most supportive but I am not permitted to visit them and I cannot afford to call them by telephone.... I suffer panic attacks, acute anxiety and severe depression. Worst of all, there is nobody that can really understand or share this onerous burden that I bear.
I am in financial ruin ‘to put the icing on the cake’. I have exhausted my life savings trying to pay monthly expenses....

Even when the day for my exoneration and restoration does come, I have already seen the future. There is none. Two weeks ago a fellow priest of our Diocese was accused of sexual misconduct which allegedly occurred forty years prior, was exonerated and was officially assigned to serve ‘in restricted ministry’ at a convent motherhouse. When the media got hold of his new assignment, the public outcry that a ‘priest, accused of credible sexual abuse’ would be assigned to an area which had schools and day-care centers nearby, our bishop, bowing to “public pressure and shepherdly concern” reversed and revoked his Official assignment the very next day, not even twenty-four hours had elapsed.
Now I have abandoned all hope. I do not know where to turn for help, for someone who understands. I am ashamed. I am alone....

Consider the treatment of this priest, presumed guilty from a thirty year old allegation. And what exactly constitutes a "credible allegation?" If he's guilty where is the proof? Apparently the accusation constituted proof for this bishop. What recourse does the priest have?

Now consider the case of an accused bishop. This comes from a 2003 three webpage from SNAP:

San Diego – Bishop Robert Brom was accused of coercing a student into a sexual relationship at a seminary in Minnesota, where he once was rector and later headed the Diocese of Duluth. Church officials acknowledged multiple settlements to seminarians as a result of abuse allegations involving other members of the hierarchy and priests but deny the validity of the claims. Brom paid a confidential settlement (reported to be $85,000.00) to his accuser, who agreed to retract his claim against Brom. Brom has stated the pay out was "minimal insurance" to help his accuser of getting on with his life. The deal was reached in 1993 but didn't become public until this spring. Bishop Brom continues to deny wrongdoing and remains on the job.

SNAP isn't the only recorder of Brom's sexual abuse. In her book The Rite of Sodomy, researcher Randy Engel, quotes from a nuisance lawsuit the diocese of San Diego filed against investigative reporter Robert Kumpel of San Diego News Notes.

In his sworn statement of March 12, 2002, [Mark] Brooks [a seminarian dismissed for blowing the whistle on homosexuality at St. Francis Seminary in San Diego and Bishop Brom in particular] mentioned publicly for the first time that he had spoken by phone with a former seminarian from Immaculate Heart Seminary in Winona named Jeffrey Maras, who confirmed that while Bishop of Duluth, Brom had coerced him into a four-year sexual relationship. Maras told Brooks that he could identify Brom from the markings on his privates. Maras, desperately in need of money, agreed to enter into a confidential financial settlement with Brom in exchange for a fraudulent 'retraction letter' that he was forced to write as a condtion for receing financial compensation from the bishop. (Rite of Sodomy p. 857-58)

Engel reports another affirmation of Brom's sex abuse quoting Msgr. Michael Higgins, a former canon lawyer from the Diocese of San Diego who operates the group, Justice for Priests and Deacons. In an April 22, 1999 letter to Pope John Paul II, Msgr. Higgins wrote. "It is a matter of public record...that the Bishop of San Diego, Robert Brom, has himself been charged with grave sexual behavior and has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of diocesan funds in attorneys' fees and damages to escape the consequences of that miisconduct...and was given a promotion to the Diocese of San Diego when the full extent of his digsuting and immoral behavior was already known."

So let's get this straight. A priest is accused and is immediately suspended, everyone in the known world is notified of the allegation, and the priest is hung out to dry. He is presumed guilty and must prove his innocence, paying for his defense himself. On the other hand, a bishop is accused, keeps the accusation secret, pays out tens of thousands in hush money to his accuser from diocesan funds, not to mention countless bucks to lawyers and public relations folks, and continues on the job.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

When the bishops developed their sex abuse policy in Dallas in 2002 they excused themselves from its coverage. No "one strike and you're out" policy for the bishops. How many innocent priests have been caught up in spurious accusations? Certainly there are plenty of guilty men, and most bishops covered up for them and moved them around from one diocese to another. But how many priests with one twenty or thirty-year-old allegation are victims of a witch hunt? How many have been presumed guilty with little evidence from a so-called "credible allegation" who, even when exonerated, are deep-sixed by their bishops because of public outcry?

The situation is beyond shameful and is one more scandal against the bishops of the United States, most of whom are experts illusionists with their smoke and mirrors. Perhaps the most shocking thing is the way they cover for one another and scapegoat the priests under them and even the laity through their sex abuse and safe-touch policies. It is all about protecting the bishops and the assets. As for their souls, they apparently don't come into the equation.

John Jay Study II: Scholars in Conflict with Themselves

Five years ago the priestly sex abuse problem was a homosexual abuse problem. Now they tell us homosexuality has nothing to do with it.

Do They Think We're Stupid?

Is the Homosexual Priest Problem Really Behind Us?

You would think homosexual priests would be cautious these days about abusing kids in view of the risks inherent since the massive exposure. But homosexuals tend to be risk takers who enjoy the thrill of danger. Perhaps that explains the recent case of Fr. Antonio Cortes. Homosexual men simply cannot be ordained to the priesthood. It is too great a danger - not only to the children and the men involved, but to Holy Mother Church. Consider the damage done by Archbishop Weakland who, even in retirement, is continuing to scandalize and damage the faith.

And who among his brother bishops will call him to account?

It is clear that the laity must rise up against these evils because apparently our shepherds will not.

May God have mercy on us.

The Irish Report and the Murder of Innocence

As more and more revelations come out of Ireland about the systematic abuse of children, we see once more the devastating impact of homosexuals in the priesthood. The greatest abuse occurred in the boys' schools. Many victims were raped and beaten. The girls did not experience sexual abuse from the nuns, but were vulnerable to outside placements and from workers in the schools. Most of the children appeared to suffer from physical abuse, neglect, harshness, and deprivation. The report (and I only read the Executive Summary and selections from the 1,000+ pages) is a little shop of horrors - enough to petrify the heart.

Victims, however, have criticized a serious flaw in the report -- the failure to inquire into the courts that sentenced so many of these children to the homes -- in some cases because their mothers were unwed or their fathers were out of work and had difficulty making ends meet. If you want to get at least a small understanding into the complicity of the Irish court system, get the film Evelyn based on the real-life case of Desmond Doyle who lost his children after their mother abandoned the family and Doyle lost his job. It is a compelling story.

Pray for poor Holy Mother Church, betrayed, not only by the abusers, but even more by those in authority who put the institution above the well-being of the little ones. (See The Devil's Triple Play: Clericalism, Secrecy, and Dissent.)

Executive Summary of the Report

Irish abused "cheated of justice" video comments of victims' spokesman, John Kelly

Former mayor shocks Ireland with revelations

'Endemic' rape and abuse of Irish children in Catholic care, inquiry finds

Abuse report - a catalogue of horror

Church ignored sexual abuse

Cardinal Mahony in FBI Probe

The FBI is looking into Cardinal Mahony's potential fraud in enabling the sexual abuse of children. Mahony has ducked and weaved for years in the dance of deception. No doubt if it looks like the feds can make the case he'll be spirited out of the country like Cardinal Law. I for one would like to see a few of these wolves in jail. Having been there myself for defending babies at the abortion mills I can testify to it being a humbling experience. Being stripped of your clothing and sprayed with a lice solution is definitely humiliating and humiliation is an opportunity as Fr. John Hardon often said. "Only humble people get into heaven." So bring on the humiliation! Isn't that exactly what some of these arrogant princes of the Church need? Remember what jail did for Chuck Colson. Wouldn't we all celebrate a Mahony conversion. Pray for Cardinal Mahony and for all those injured (and those who continue to be injured) by his abusive reign.


Cardinal Mahony under federal grand jury investigation over priest abuse