Msgr. Lynn’s conviction was just; unfortunately, the far more responsible official, Cardinal Bevilaqua, escaped justice – in this world.
Many bishops have been guilty of child endangerment; but bringing them to trial within the statute of limitations is difficult, and many DAs don’t want the political fallout that comes from “persecuting” the Church.
If legislatures were serious about ending child abuse, they would strengthen the child endangerment states. As I understand it, a citizen has no obligation under common law to report a suspected crime; but the legislature can make it a civil or criminal offence to fail to do so when a child is involved.
Unless bishops know that they face jail for endangering children, some of them will continue to place children in jeopardy, when it is convenient or politically (within the Church) expedient. They think they are above the law and can do whatever they please, no matter who suffers. They are still playing games and hiding abusers. They need to be taught a severe lesson.
I hope that the trail of Msgr. Lynn sets a precedent for several others; not all the guilty can be brought to justice, but if only a handful are, the rest will be given a needed lesson.
Deprivation of liberty and disgrace is sufficient punishment; but Msgr. Lynn know that he may experience the consequences of the penal system’s failure to protect inmates from rape and violence. He must be contemplating the fate of Father John Geoghan.
One down and many more to come! Finally, after all this time someone is brought to justice. Jay Nelson in his book “Sons of Perdition” documented all the pedophile priests, victims and hierarchy who covered it all up in New Mexico. As a former Servant of the Paraclete novice, I am eagerly waiting for the “dominoes” to start cascading. For decades our State has been used a a dumping ground for toxic nuclear waste and the most toxic human filth. Let us begin to clean up the mess and repair the damage and contain the epidemic. Those who enable predators are even more guilty of sacrilege, because they help spread the disease. Mad props toPhiladelphia! Now on to Kansas City, Los Angeles,Belleville, and especially Santa Fe.
Leon, the fundamental problem is that bishops have acted as laws unto themselves for centuries on a whole spectrum of issues. The way the Vatican applies the doctrine of apostolic succession encourages such arbitrary behavior. Instead of using that doctrine to encourage humility and submission to Christ (as in John 13), the Vatican acts as if it is Christ. Those is subordinate leadership positions (such as diocesan bishops and chancery officials), imitate the attitude of the top leadership, a common behavior in organizational dynamics.
Until a bishop or archbishop faces actual jail time, the Vatican won’t really be moved. The hierarchy is so isolated from moral reality that it would sacrifice its own moral credibility (let alone its loyalty to God or responsibilities to its flock) to preserve its prestigious position and corporate sense of entitlement.
In chess, the bishop is called “fou” or a fool and his cap/mitre is that of a jester. Medieval Catholics, both clergy and laity, in several European countries, celebrated the annual “Feast of Fools or Asses”. The main actor was a young boy,enthroned and robed as a Pope or Bishop and called “the Lord of Misrule”. Here in New Mexico, we had plays and comedies that were similar as well as “matachine” dances and morality plays as well as our own “passion play” during Holy Week, and “posadas” at Christmas. I think it is time to start having the “feast of fools/asses/bishops ” play again!
the good news is that the PennState scandal will result in changing the law in that state…although we docs have to report all cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, this apparently doesn’t cover administrators.
Alas, this CDC report has had little or no publicity, but if ten percent of our kids (25 percent of gay kids) had had intercourse under age 13, we are in a national crisis….
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6104a1.htm?s_cid=ss6104a1_x#Tab63
amen, Joseph, Oso, and Leon
In the last several years Lynn attended dinner parties hosted by a priest lauded for his traditional and orthodox ceremonies. The staff overheard Lynn state he was not going to take the fall for Bevilaqua to his fellow priests at these champagne and lobster dinner parties. Bevilaqua must have known this also.
Beware oh you who sit in high places, you give scandal to those who are near you and know the truth.
That is why there has been an ongoing effort to eliminate the whistleblowers both legally and otherwise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUtbBB5G4N4
Dr Reyes ,
Parents have homeschooled now for three decades because they were disgusted with the state taking over their responsibility to teach sex ed to their own children. These Programs include the information minus the moral message. What the heck did anyone expect would be the result?
Not unlike the message “Just say not to drugs”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-206031/Young-urged-say-sex.html
We have a plague of prescription supplied narcotic sales and usage .Just take a look at the Physicians under scrutiny in Broward County Fl.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/us/01drugs.html?pagewanted=all
Education minus moral values is useless.What’s next for the CDC to recommend now? Forced sterilzations ? Little by little these academic statistical reports have been used to justify the erosion of individual liberties and push for big pharma to be allowed to use the public as guinea pigs for long term drug trials and off label usage.
What is your suggested solution for the problem?
Dr Reyes,
“Alas, this CDC report has had little or no publicity, but if ten percent of our kids (25 percent of gay kids) had had intercourse under age 13, we are in a national crisis….”
Years ago I was friendly with a Clinical Child Psychologist who testified in a PA case wherein Middle School children wee given GYN internals by a physician at their school. The parents were not notified that the Physical Exam would include an internal and one girl jumped out of a window to avoid it.
As a medical professional I experienced patient care for children who confided sexual abuse to me in the home long before the laws were put into place for mandatory reporting. I reported it anyway but the physician was annoyed with me for doing so. I also came across the same situation as a School Nurse and the Pastor was annoyed with me but this time it was after the mandatory reporting laws for teachers and medical personal were in place.
One law that needs to change is the Statute of Limitations on sexually based crimes. It takes years of introspective therapy and maturation for an individual to overcome the fear and confusion to come forward especially for boys who have been sodomized.
Leon this says it all .Note in the story who went on to become Bishops complicit in the shredding knowledge.
“A version of that list became a smoking gun at trial. The list went missing for more than a decade. Lynn told a grand jury about it in 2004 but said he couldn’t find it. A copy that had been stashed in a locked, long-abandoned safe surfaced at the archdiocese days after Bevilacqua’s death in January. So, too, did a 1994 memo that shows Bevilacqua ordering Lynn’s supervisors to shred all copies of the list.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/philly-priest-case-highlights-conscience-versus-obedience-debate-in-catholic-church-society/2012/06/23/gJQApBoVyV_print.html
Mary, I read the link to the Washington Post piece. It show just how pervasive the corruption in the church is. Taking an oath of obedience to any archbishop — instead of taking an oath of obedience to Christ — smacks of the Germany army taking a loyalty oath to Hitler. In both cases, the leadership elite matters more than principle. Actually, blind obedience in and of itself becomes the principle!
The idea that church leaders in Rome view the idea of “conscience” as somehow misguided reflects their lack of concern for legitimate individual rights. That lack of concern dictated the church’s response to the clerical sex-abuse crisis as much as the desire to protect property and image did.
Mary,
The title “Sons of Perdition” for Jay Nelson’s book was my suggestion because of the informal list that the Paracletes kept of the top 10 pedophile priests and the number of victims they molested. I am sure all of those lists have been shredded by now! Pedophile priests who were “guests” of the Paracletes, would sometimes ask me, what number they were on the “list”, and who was ahead of them! I remember that most of the top 10 pedophiles were recycled in New Mexico and only 1 ever got set to jail for a short time and soon got paroled. The number 1 on the list was just recently released from custody and told the local papers that he had “received Jesus” and just wanted people to leave him alone.
Joseph all Diocesans take oaths of obedience to their local Bishop as I undersatnd it . However, no one is ever required to obey anything that is sinful ,not even a priest. That has always been Catholic teaching. The trouble comes when the person asked to obey places his own career and self interests above obedience to God’s Law and violates his own conscience or, worse yet, has no rightly formed Christian conscience at all .
Given the quality of Parochial education in the past forty+ years and the catechisms used , cause and effect is evident to many. Just look how Catholic homeschooling has grown!
Oso ,thanks for the information very interesting.
Shredding seems to be common.
The Philadelphia Case has a blog.
http://www.priestabusetrial.com/2012/05/clueless-monsignor-on-trail-of.html
From the blog
“Ongoing Archdiocese Fire Sale Exposes 19-Year-Old Cover-Up of Cardinal Bevilacqua’s Lavish Spending
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is holding a fire sale after running up $11.6 million in legal bills in the fiscal year prior to the priest abuse trial. Facing a $17 million operating deficit, the archdiocese is now selling off the cardinal’s mansion on City Line Avenue, and closing down the 117-year-old archdiocese newspaper, The Catholic Standard & Times.
The latest victim of the church’s austerity campaign is Villa St. Joseph-by-the-Sea. The grand summer vacation home where Cardinals Krol and Bevilacqua once entertained wealthy donors will soon be up for sale. It’s a three-story brick and stucco oceanfront mansion that covers an entire city block along the boardwalk in Ventnor, N.J., and is assessed at $6.2 million.
The impending sale of the cardinal’s seaside villa is not only a sign of the archdiocese’s changing fortunes, but it also exposes a bunch of lies told by the cardinal’s PR guys 19 years ago to get His Eminence out of a public relations jam over the villa. It’s an amusing saga.”
Read more »
http://www.priestabusetrial.com/
Oso Pious,
Where did the offenders at the Paracletes come from? Any particular seminaries or areas of the country?
I checked out this Reporter’s website after hearing on the News that Lynn was denied bail becuase the Judge feared he would be a flight risk to the Vatican to avoid extradiction and jail time.
Top article comments criticize the Judge and also relate the enthusiasm for her rulings coming from European blogs where the victims seek to charge the Hierarchy in court for complicity.
http://www.priestabusetrial.com/
IMHO this Judge has done her homework and despite the politics surrounding Vatican immunity.
( recall Vatileaks cable from Sodano to Condi Rice requesting no US court be allowed to carry these cases all the way to the Vatican)
This Judge appears to be seeking to set a groundbreaking precedent.
Oso.
Is “The Harrowing” on Kindle too? I finsihed Jay’s book but was a surprised to read that he scoffed at M Martin’s Enthronement ceremony.
Steve Brady of RCF covered that in depth even speaking about ‘Agnes” and her trip to the Vatican, with Cardinal Gagnon’s assistance, to testify.
I was also surprised that aside from some Bishops Jay did not travel up the food chain regarding the Hierarchy involvment.
Okay so because of the “retreat’ center and the supply priests , some of the worst were dumped in NM.
But, how does that explain what has happened on the East Coast in the Byzantine Diocese of Passaic which extends up and down the entire East coast ,or some of the other RC Diocese here which has their own list of suicide victims , circles of like minded clerical friends etc?
In answer to some of Mr Nelson’s posed questions printed in his book .
Yes ,they are connected which can be seen in a careful study of the pathways of Consecrations and Ordinations in Mrs.Engel’s Rite of Sodomy.
In answer to Altonroute’s question: “Where do the Paraclete offenders (guests) come from?” They come from all over the world. Another more interesting question might be: “Where do the Paracletes come from?” Think about it for a moment! How does a super-secret order of “papal police priests and brothers” recruit new members? The answer is: “They don’t have to because they get their recruits from the ranks of the recycled offenders (guests) who can’t go back to the diocese they came from and new a new identity. So just like me, “Father Oso Pious” a.k.a. Colonel Sanders, Betty Crocker, etc. they get a brand new identity as Paracletes. That is how the Paracletes recruit new members. Just like the former “foxes” guarding the hens or the former “wolves” taking care of the shepherds and sheep! It works quite nicely for them!
Perhaps selling off such structures as episcopal villas to wine and dine the upper classes is part of God’s scourging a faithless church. What I find truly abominable, however, is that the Vatican refuses to help monetarily those dioceses that have been ravaged by lawsuits and have had to cut legitimate functions (such as a Catholic newspaper) or necessary ministries. Then again, perhaps the Vatican is worried about being sued for the mistakes and sins of its miscreant subordinates. If so, that attitude shows what the powers-that-be in the hierarchy really value.
Perhaps “the woman who rides the beast” isn’t just the Catholic Church but all denominations within institutionalized Christianity that have sacrificed their pastoral patrimony on the altars of power, prestige, secular influence and wealth.
Not for nothing will God hold those who claim authority in His name to a far higher standard.
I am reading Jason Berry’s book on Vatican finance now.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/book-vatican-finances-honored-investigative-journalists
Historically the Hierarchy will begrudgingly punish priests ( like send them off to the Paracletes) , and very few Bishops.Never it seems, the Cardinals.
The biggest crime is considered to be heretical views in print and by that I mean something not in line with the current administrating body. Embezzlement womanizing and homosexual affairs seem to be low on the list.Child molestation appears to have ranked punitive punishment somewhere akin to sexual misdeeds with women which run more risk of “scandal”because of tell tale pregnancies .As with the cases of woman used by multiple priests and an abortions procured.So the Vatican’s ant iabortion message has been compromised .
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/800312–church-scandal-s-next-wave-abused-girls
http://christianchildabuse.blogspot.com/2010/08/girls-as-victims-emerging-story-of.html
http://www.gospelaccordingtohate.com/2010/05/catholic-priests-raping-nuns-and.html
In EVERYTHING I have read the ultimate crime is to reveal anything to the public that would “cause scandal for the church”,
Historically, there appears to been a complete lack of concern for the individual Catholic, unless an errant cleric. The errant cleric is most likely to be a rightous priest who complains to his Bishop and is relegated to the heretic grouping in which case, the laity is likely to question where their “good” parish priest disappeared to causing “scandal”.
I understand the roots of this inversion of the Gospel concerning clericalism ,but what I do not understand is why there are still so many catholics who remain cemented in it too?
How can they tolerate Bill Donahue of the Catholic League after he so obviously calously mis stated that in Ireland the abused were just delinquent children?
Don’t they read Scripture? Or, don’t they read at all?
Where are the right thinking Catholics ? Is this entire mess just fodder for the hapless former catholic and atheist crowd? Good inelligent Christians have been exiting in droves while the Hierarchy continues to count on the nouveau Movements, which have caused the most sensational reported scandals ,to bring people into the institution as replacements.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/legion-of-christ-abuse-high-school_n_1658904.html
I’ve read Sons of Perdition. The book is what you should read if you’re interested in the Paracletes in New Mexico. I’ve also read Randy Engel’s book as well as Leon Podles’ and two by Jason Berry. I’m reading Mary Ball Martinez’ The Undermining of the Catholic Church. The big question is who in the Vatican was behind assigning problem bishops to begin with. I’ve heard that Cardinal O’Connell abused boys in the early 1900s so this goes back at least a century in the US.
Mary, the reason so many Catholics are cemented in clericalism is because they’ve been brainwashed by the Church to do so. Remember, if the priest is alter Christus, then he will automatically receive immediate and unquestioning deference because he is the one who confects the Sacraments that are the channels of divine grace.
Moreover, the Church’s leadership structure reflects the medieval structure of lords, dukes and counts, essentially. People in such positions traditionally have expected automatic deference, which, in turn, fuels their sense of entitlement.
Mary, I truly believe Catholicism is doomed to divine judgement. Read about the vision of Pope Leo XIII. Read anything by Malachi Martin. Too many bishops are literally in league with Satan. This will be exposed; in fact, it’s been exposed for decades.
To AltonRoute, the “Nanny Cam” program used to monitor all internet use will probably block this but here goes! When I was Father Pious in Vermont with the Paracletes, it was well known that Cardinal Spellman used to troll the theater district in NYC for young boys. He said he also missed being elected Pope by only 1 vote.
Joseph I agree that God’s judgement will fall on the Church. Indeed, it has already fallen. Remember “judgment begins with God’s own household.” I suspect that what Catholic Traditionalists refer to as the “Great Facade” (Hierarchs, priests, chanceries, universities, school systems and publishing houses that are Catholic in name only) will crumble leaving a remnant of people, lay and clergy, who are serious about the Gospel and the faith believed “semper, ubique et ab omnibus”.
I sympathize with your view of a pampered clergy with an exagerated sense of entitlement. Bit I don’t believe the “abuse neagtes the use” with respect to the belief in Holy Orders. Jesus made very clear to the Apostles the self giving and denial their ministry would entail, and how they were to be humble servants of the flock, leading by example. Ah well…there are many among their succesors who have done these things, but alas, many who have not. As you and I have both mentioned, as early as the 4th century, St. John Chrysostom believed most bishops went to Hell.
Joseph , Read the Apocalypse!
Berry mentioned that PP6th said ( and am paraphrasing here) he was opening the door to the Apocalypse when he signed off on Vat 2. Interesting mention because Berry is not in the Traditionalist camp either.
Alton, Dodd testified she answered to three or four Communist Party bosses who were Cardinals in the Vatican back in the late thirties.
Given the latest leaks what the heck is in there now? It is the one globalist organization with prelates and influence in every nation. So it stands to reason every global supremist seeking political entity would want to gain a foothold within,,doesn’t it?
Exactly Mary. They want to manintain the facade but do away with the substance: Mass is just a meal and community celebration, Jesus was one (but not only) way to the Father, no one goes to hell, etc., etc.
Fr Michael , I hope you see this post and read this link.
http://churchmousec.wordpress.com/tag/vatican-ii/
I wondered why Bshop Sheen dd not reveal the names of the Cardinal Party bosses Dodd answered to. Then I realized he did! He told certain Prelates in the Vatican and quite possibly that is why they released “The Plot Against the Church “and this translation from the Italian….
“A further disastrous plan, which is being prepared, is that the Church shall
contradict itself, so as a result to sacrifice its regard with the faithful; for later it
will be broadcast that an institution which contradicts itself cannot be divine.
With this proof they wish to desolate the Churches and achieve that the faithful
lose their confidence in the clergy and abandon them.”
http://vho.org/aaargh/fran/livres8/DePoncinsProblem.pdf