If you've picked up a newspaper or clicked on your telly in the past few years, you've noticed the ceaseless cavalcade of news about priests who've allegedly abused altar boys or other kiddies. We can't pretend to present a comprehensive list of all the allegations against each of hundreds or thousands of priests, but we can certainly see the recurring pattern:
When allegations of sexual abuse were made against priests, the church's response was to hush it up ... and transfer the priest to a different parish. Of course, these transfers provided pedophile priests with a replenished roster of young innocents to choose from, in a new setting where there weren't even whispers of suspicion yet. And when whispers of clerical child rapes began in a priest's new parish, he would simply be transferred again.
For at least decades — for centuries, for all we know — the Catholic Church was a happy haven for child-raping perverts.
If the facts are presented harshly, one could say that the Catholic Church ran a pedophiles' ring.
But even if the facts are presented with sweet smiles, it's inarguable that bishops acted as 'matchmakers,' supplying fresh victims for pedophile priests by transferring them to new parishes.
And the documents, in black and white direct from the Vatican, make it clear that the cover-up was ordered by the Pope, who ordered bishops not to cooperate with local authorities.
Some priests have been sued over all this. Some priests have been arrested, fewer imprisoned, and some of these tortured souls have killed themselves.
But what punishment have these bishops and higher-ranked members of the pedophiles' club faced? They've faced no punishment whatsoever.
That's wrong, and morally reprehensible.
© 2003, by the author.
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unknownnews@ myway.com
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Dec. 23, 2005:
He's guilty as sin, but ...
Texas court dismisses child-rape conspiracy lawsuit against Pope
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Aug. 17, 2005:
Pope's lawyers claim diplomatic immunity
to weasel out of lawsuit over
Catholic Church's child-rape empire
with comments by H&HH
Aug. 17, 2003 —
Vatican told bishops worldwide to cover up priests' sex abuses
Texan lawyer Daniel Shea uncovered the document as part of his work for victims of abuse from Catholic priests in the US. He has handed it over to US authorities, urging them to launch a federal investigation into the clergy's alleged cover-up of sexual abuse.
He said: 'These instructions went out to every bishop around the globe and would certainly have applied in Britain. It proves there was an international conspiracy by the Church to hush up sexual abuse issues. It is a devious attempt to conceal criminal conduct and is a blueprint for deception and concealment.'
British lawyer Richard Scorer, who acts for children abused by Catholic priests in the UK, echoes this view and has described the document as 'explosive'.
He said: 'We always suspected that the Catholic Church systematically covered up abuse and tried to silence victims. This document appears to prove it. Threatening excommunication to anybody who speaks out shows the lengths the most senior figures in the Vatican were prepared to go to prevent the information getting out to the public domain.' ...
There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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