God, please come to the rescue of your children! The RCC is a cancel on mainstream religion (some call an overgrown "cult") around the world. Believe it or not, there are serious "Allegations against Canadian Cardinal", from 2008-2010. A prominent Canadian cardinal, (Ouellet), is named in a class action sexual assault lawsuit against the Quebec Diocese. To add insult to injury, Canadian cardinal, Ouellet, was called back to Rome and was promoted. This man works closely with the current Pope. Who is safe in the RCC? CM

See my past articles in CD for background to appreciate current post:

I said in the article below: "Some in CD took issues with me for calling the RCC a "Holy House" -- A "Cesspool of Deviancy". A sad confirmation of a destructive truth... Unfortunately, the carnage of sexual crimes exists then and continues today through active serving, unidentified, Pedophile Priests. A day of justice will come. The wheels of justice may grind slowly but her work is effective. Remain hopeful".

Though the years passed nothing seem to have changed. Oh, our children are still not safe in the hands of the RCC and those who suppose to give oversight. Lord, hear our prayers! CM

See the article below:

They explained it this way:

Is this Pope speaking from both sides of his mouth? Francis expressed support for same-sex civil unions earlier. Is the RCC trying to have its cake and eat it too" when it says:

Who is confused, Francis or the RCC? 🤔 What does it means to receive blessings or "an ecclesial blessing"? CM

Nuns have suffered and are still suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops, and even being held as sexual slaves, Pope Francis confirmed on Tuesday. The abuse was so severe in one case that an entire congregation of nuns was dissolved by former Pope Benedict.

The scope of the abuse of nuns by clergy members first came to light with the publication at the beginning of February of the monthly magazine "Women-Church World." The edition included Francis' own take on the scandal -- long known about by the Vatican but virtually never discussed -- in which he blamed the unchecked power wielded by priests and higher clergy across the Catholic Church for such crimes.

An Associated Press journalist who first reported on the scandal last year asked Pope Francis on his flight home from the Arabian Peninsula on Tuesday whether enough was being done by the Church hierarchy to address the problem.

The pontiff conceded that it was a problem and said more action was needed and insisted the will to confront the abuse was there. He stressed that the problem was not new and that the Church has been working to address it for some time.

"It's a path that we've been on. Pope Benedict had the courage to dissolve a female congregation which was at a certain level, because this slavery of women had entered it -- slavery, even to the point of sexual slavery -- on the part of clerics or the founder," the pope conceded.

Source: Pope Francis Confirms Priests' Abuse of Nuns Included "Sexual Slavery"

                ********************************************************************

CM's Take:

Pope Francis confirmation of priests' abuse of nuns included "sexual slavery" are signs of the RCC truly being a cult (e.g. Jim Jones, David Koresh [a.k.a Vernon Wayne Howell], etc.) as one user in CD made reference. I have deeply saddened anew! This is an International Crisis that demands the immediate attention of all sober-minded people of goodwill. The RCC needs an International Special Prosecutor to unearth its sins and crimes. This is an undeclared war on women (Nuns), children (ages 8-13), Young Seminarians (preparation for Priesthood-- Seems more of conditioning), payout and cover-up, and now, sex slavery. Too many people are being raped, molested, abused, and now imprisoned. This is too much even for the hardened of criminals. Oh, God, where is justice? All in the name of God, sexual slavery going on in supposedly holy places, by "holy hands" without any real oversight, accountability, of priests, prayer, parishioners in the parishes of the Roman Catholic Church. Crime and Punishment seem to be a "hiss and a byword" in the ears some in the RCC. Whatever happened to sin and crime? Where are the Popes? The very structure of the RCC demands his oversight and knowledge of activities in the institutions under of his care.

These recent revelations I thought could only be found in dark movies advertised on walls of subways and the seedy section of large cities. The sad truth is the behaviors are NOT of reports from the "Dark Ages", but of today. It must be acknowledged that former Pope Benedict XVI dissolved an entire congregation of nuns abuse of their by clergy members. Some in CD took issues with me for calling the RCC a "Holy House" -- A "Cesspool of Deviancy". A sad confirmation of a destructive truth. Could this be one of the reasons Pope Benedict XVI resigned? This is a discussion for another thread. Unfortunately, the carnage of sexual crimes exists then and continues today through active serving, unidentified, Pedophile Priests. A day of justice will come. The wheels of justice may grind slowly but her work is effective. Remain hopeful.

Many of the few in CD have displayed a deafening silence on the sexual crimes of the RCC due to affiliation and/or outright display of being complicit. This most recent revelation clearly indicates that the RCC is like the US Government Reports. Whatever they admitted too, the real situation is far worse than what is or acknowledged. If I am allowed to quote myself I would like to end this post by reasserting that the RCC needs to be shut down until there are thorough investigations, the removal, and jailing of Predator Priests, Bishops, and Cardinals. This institution is a hotbed of sexual crimes, deviance, and coverups. Why does America put up with this? Families are not safe, in any of the RCC Institutions, until the murdering of families (on the installment plan) is brought to a halt and the criminal within are removed. This is no time to be ashamed of exposure, cover-up, putting one's head in the sand, or attacking the messenger. All these things help the church cover its crimes and sins. To do so, would provide another day, another child, another Nun, another seminarian rape used and abused in the presence of Holy Texts, robes, confessionals, alcoholic wines, water, the proclamation of absolution, etc., allowing the RCC another opportunity to commit their nasty deeds. God, help the victims! CM

What can be done to hasten justice, healing, and deliverance of those who are still imprisoned physical, mentally and spiritually by RCC? CM

• Christopher White --- Jan 5, 2019

Then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick attends a Mass in Rome April 13, 2018. On July 28 Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal McCormick from the College of Cardinals after allegations surfaced that he had sexually abused minors as well as adult seminarians.

NEW YORK - Six months after the scandal surrounding former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick first came to light - wherein accusations of sexual abuse from a former altar boy prompted subsequent revelations of abuse and misconduct - Crux has learned that the Vatican is now investigating a total of three cases of abuse against the former archbishop of Washington, one of which has yet to be publicly reported.

In June 2018, the Archdiocese of New York announced that a review board had substantiated claims of abuse against McCarrick by a former altar boy at Saint Patrick’s who reported two incidents of abuse dating back to 1971 and 1972.
In response, the Vatican suspended McCarrick from public ministry pending an investigation by the Holy See.
The following month, the New York Times first reported the case of James Grein, the child of close family friends of McCarrick, who alleged the then-priest commenced years of abuse against him beginning in the 1970s when he was 11 years old.

Since then, multiple accusations of abuse and misconduct against adult seminarians have been reported, and on July 28, Pope Francis took the highly unusual step of accepting McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals.
Meanwhile, both the unidentified altar boy’s case and that of Grein’s have been under review by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican body responsible for handling clergy sex abuse claims.

While many observers have eagerly been awaiting the review of the two cases to see if they result in the eventual laicization of McCarrick, Crux has confirmed that a third case is currently being investigated, also from the Archdiocese of New York.
The individual in question, who at this time has chosen to remain anonymous, first reported his case less than three months ago. He is said to be in his forties and the alleged abuse by McCarrick took place when he was a minor.
While specific details of the alleged abuse are unknown, the individual was known to McCarrick through close family friends, as was Grein.

To date, no criminal or civil charges against the archbishop have been filed.
In response to a request for comment, Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the archdiocese of New York, told Crux that “The Holy See has requested each of the dioceses where McCarrick served to do a review of his time in each diocese. Judge Jones has been asked to lead that review for the Archdiocese of New York. Any other matters concerning Archbishop McCarrick are being handled by the Holy See.”

Barbara Jones is a former federal court judge tapped by Cardinal Timothy Dolan to oversee the review of all sex abuse cases in New York and related policies and procedures.

A CDF official confirmed to Crux that a third case against McCarrick is under review and the general timeline of events but would not comment further.

As Crux previously reported in September, the four dioceses in which McCarrick served - New York; Metuchen, New Jersey; Newark; and Washington, D.C. - are all launching independent diocesan investigations into McCarrick’s history of abuse after Francis declined a request from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for a Vatican led investigation into the matter.

In addition to the independent diocesan investigations, the Holy See announced on October 6, 2018 that Francis has ordered a “thorough study of the entire documentation present in the archives of the dicasteries and offices of the Holy See” in order to ascertain “all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them objectively.”
To date, the Holy See has not issued a report of its findings from its investigation.

On December 28, 2018, the Associated Press reported that Grein had testified before the judicial vicar for the Archdiocese of New York at the request of the CDF for their ongoing investigation into McCarrick. According to Grein’s civil attorney Patrick Noaker, McCarrick’s abuse included sexual misconduct in the confessional.

Barry Coburn, an attorney representing McCarrick in his civil cases, declined a request from Crux for comment.
Vatican observers have noted that Grein’s case against McCarrick is, canonically, much stronger, as the original allegations by the altar boy against him took place when the individual was 16 years old and, under the Church’s Code of Canon Law, would not have been considered a minor at the time.
The former cardinal, who is now 88 years old, is living at a Kansas religious residence.
Two sources have confirmed to Crux that the CDF will meet in mid-January to review all cases against McCarrick with a potential disposition by the end of the month.

SOURCE: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/01/05/vatican-investigating-third-accusation-of-abuse-against-ex-cardinal-mccarrick/

IN MY OPINION by CM

Why won't Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick come clean and make a complete and total confession and spare dragging this thing out? Save the investigators and the families less time and pain. For one who has heard many confessions need to make a confession, not to another priest, but law enforcement. Bill Cosby, same crime and same general age, as the Cardinal is doing time in jail for his crimes. Should McCarrick and other guilty priests be given a pass for past sexual sins and crimes?

If I had the ear of the Pope, I would suggest, he form a truth and reconciliation-committee similar to South Africa after apartheid un the Late Nelson Mandela. The truth will get out sooner and completely; the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) regains some degree of trust, and the families can begin to heal. Based on law-enforcement some people may be required to do jail time and the RCC pay damages. I not laying all the details, but something has to be done.

Why the update? Do I have some personal animus against the RCC? The short answer, NO! The public is in danger! Too many victims are living in shame, jail, confusion and sexual addiction because of what Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and others have done to the most vulnerable and innocents in society around the world. On the other hand, priests are living with this shame and sin; while many priests are carrying this unaddressed crime to their graves. Is there "absolution" for them? The sad truth is the volume of sexual crimes, vast payout, cover-ups, and the unidentified current pedophilia priests serving as we speak are so deep and wide. The above points demand immediate action. Is it any wonder statues of "Mary weeps" (in the midst of Hoaxes and skepticism) in Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina in Messina, Sicily, a Madonna statue appeared to weep blood in the town of Civitavecchia in Italy, Our Lady of Akita, Our Lady Guadalupe Catholic Church in Hobbs, New Mexico, etc.? The many people and victims are crying, today, real tears and not a "composition of rose scented olive oil".

I find it ironic that the RCC finds the time, money, interest, and immediacy to investigate "Weeping paintings or icons" for authentication of certainty, but slow and ineffective in identifying and turning over Sexual Predator-Priests within its ranks. Do people still matter in general, particularly, in the RCC? Is there an end in sight? CM

This is no time to be dismissive. This is a time to work together for reform and a new springtime of faith in the Church and in the world.

Msgr. Charles Pope
Pope Francis meets with cardinals during the weekly general audience on Nov. 14, 2018, at St. Peter's square in the Vatican.
The annual Fall Meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which took place in Baltimore earlier this week, was a disappointment on many levels. Yet there were also moments of light and strength coming from a good number of bishops. They spoke with clarity, acknowledging the seriousness of the crisis both in terms of the need to bring some semblance of justice to the victims and of the faltering credibility of the Church. Some even made the forbidden connection of the crisis to active homosexuals in the priesthood. Still others lamented the collective silence on sexual morality, wondering how many bishops and clergy do not believe what the Church teaches. (The interventions of these courageous bishops were reported in detail in the National Catholic Register here and here.)

Lamentably, the vote to encourage the Holy See to release all documents related to former Cardinal McCarrick’s alleged misconduct did not pass. The debate seemed to center on canonical issues and even wordsmithing. Nonetheless, the fact that more than 80 bishops were willing to issue even a mild-mannered insistence to Rome shows that many are finding a voice that is willing to confront when and where necessary.

The greatest disappointment was Pope Francis’ decision to suppress any vote or action on the abuse scandals by the U.S. bishops. Some bishops remarked that this decision indicates that Rome is serious about reform—a gratuitous claim. To many if not most of the faithful from whom I regularly hear, this seems yet another sad example of intransigence from Rome and the Pope. There is an almost complete tone-deafness in Rome; there seems to be bewilderment as to why these American “conservatives” are so worked up. Even worse, it appears that there is intentional resistance, obfuscation, and outright refusal to grant the legitimate requests of God’s faithful for a full and prompt investigation. These requests by the faithful are intended to ensure that tolerance of sin, violations of chastity, and clerical malfeasance will end. ## Victims deserve a prompt and thorough investigation and the faithful are right to insist that their clergy live up to the vows they take and observe the Sixth Commandment.

To most Catholics, the Pope’s actions and seeming resistance place the ownership of the scandal squarely in his court; he has increasingly become the face of the scandal. This is due to the credible accusations that he knew of former Cardinal McCarrick’s predatory behavior but even more so to the fact that he has steadfastly refused even to respond to the charges. He could deny them, but he does not. Even if he were to say, “I made a serious error in judgment and I ask the mercy and forgiveness of God’s people,” many people would do so, even if with sadness. Instead, the Pope has declared that he will “not say one word on this.” Even worse, he subsequently referred to those who have asked for answers and investigations as “a pack of wild dogs,” “scandal-mongers,” and “those in league with the Great Accuser.” This is no way to treat God’s faithful; it makes him seem more of a besieged and angry potentate than a shepherd who “has the smell of the sheep.” There is a lot of talk about mercy and accompaniment, but the Pope’s actions, including the recent suppression of the USCCB’s planned vote and actions on the sexual abuse crisis, demonstrate that such terms will be very selectively applied.

Indeed, the response of the Pope to the situation in the U.S. seems eerily familiar to his treatment of the people of Chile: Pope Francis deeply offended abuse survivors by defending Chilean Bishop Juan Barros from what he called the “calumny” and “gossip” of victims of clerical sexual abuse, stubbornly backing his appointment as bishop despite widespread advice to remove it. He even called the Chileans who protested Barros’ appointment “dumb.” So detrimental was this stubbornness, dismissiveness,and unkindness to basic credibility that even some of Pope Francis’ closest associates, including Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, distanced themselves from him. Only when his hand was forced by strong protests and by actions of the Chilean government did Pope Francis alter his stance and finally remove Barros, later issuing an apology.

Americans, both clergy and lay, may well have to learn that it could take strong protest to move this pope to reconsider his seemingly dismissive stance regarding our concerns. While there were some early promises of an investigation and a canonical trial of Archbishop McCarrick, nothing seems to have materialized, and the Pope’s suppression of the planned votes and actions of the USCCB seems to indicate that it he does not consider it a high priority.

It also does not help that many of Pope Francis’ closest advisors are themselves caught up in this worldwide scandal and have at best exhibited poor judgment. For example, Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga (from Honduras) is seen as highly connected to homosexual and financial improprieties there; more than forty seminarians in his diocese published a letter asking him to root out the homosexual network in his seminary. Cardinal Rodríguez is Pope Francis’ chief advisor, the head of his “Council of Nine,” which works closely with him in bringing about reform in Rome.

Yet another associate of Francis’ in the “Council of Nine,” Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, has stepped down to face legal charges of covering up for abusive priests.

My point here is not to recount every detail but rather to point out that Pope Francis, who was himself tasked by the last conclave with rooting out abuse and corruption, has tended to surround himself with men who are at the very heart of the scandals rocking the Church throughout the world. His credibility as a reformer who will root out scandal and insist upon accountability is nearly nonexistent; the scandal in the United States has landed firmly on his desk as a result of his own behavior. He has said to American Catholics and to our bishops, in effect, “Let me and the Holy See handle this.”

I am not confident that we will see anything close to a full inquiry or a clear adjudication of this matter in Rome. Too many there are implicated and compromised to be able to carry out a clear and forceful investigation. The testimonies of Archbishop Viganò have substantially withstood scrutiny: former Cardinal McCarrick’s misdeeds were known and ignored despite previous sanctions. However, there just seems to be little importance attached to any of this in Rome.

I cannot say strongly enough how uncomfortable it makes me to be detailing all this. Every faithful Catholic—and certainly every priest—has an instinct to support the Pope and our bishops, but this worldwide scandal has forced many of us to speak out. Just like the people of Chile, we are going to have to speak even more forcefully and persistently, focusing much of our attention now on Rome and the Pope. It will feel awkward, and we must be careful in what we say and how we say it, in what we insist upon and how we go about it.

I pray that the bishops who spoke out so courageously at the USCCB meeting will continue to do so and will also direct clear and forceful appeals to Rome and to the Holy Father. **Demands for a full and credible investigation and a canonical trial of former Cardinal McCarrick are not out of place or unreasonable. Bishops are not acolytes of the Pope and their dioceses are not mere franchises of the Diocese of Rome. I pray that they will raise their rightful voices as shepherds seeking to protect their flock. **May they have the courage to insist, not just request, actions that they deem necessary for the protection of God’s faithful and for a restoration of credibility. Restoration will take time, but God’s faithful deserve to see their bishops fighting for them and will respond well when they do. My intent here is not to bait the bishops; each must prudently consider how best to respond to this crisis. It is clear, however, that they are going to have to show a strong resolve to move Roman officials and the Pope toward the kind of actions the faithful deserve.

As for God’s faithful, pray for your bishop. If he has spoken well and strongly, encourage and support him. If he has been silent, challenge him with love. Find your own voice, too. It may feel awkward to speak forcefully and with concern toward the Holy Father, but it seems that this will be necessary. By his own actions, he has become the face of this crisis, indicating that he wants to be the one to handle it. Our focus, prayers, and insistence must now be directed toward him. Practically speaking, I would advise you to write to the Papal Nuncio in Washington D.C., Archbishop Christophe Pierre. Keep your letter brief, but be clear in stating your concerns and in insisting on the actions that the Holy See must take to begin restoring credibility; ask the good archbishop to forward your concerns to the Holy Father.

Finally, there are some in Rome and even among our own bishops and priests in the U.S. who still see this crisis as a mere tempest in a teapot, largely stirred up by “right-wing” bloggers and Catholics who simply “don’t like” Pope Francis. I know of no one from any sector of the Church who is not heartbroken about this, while also angry and insistent upon reform. This is not a storm created in the “blogosphere.” Every day I am approached by parishioners and contacted by people from all over: young adults in our Bible study and pre-Cana programs, older Catholics in our Sodality and Knights of Columbus, catechists, staff members, long-time Catholics, recent converts, attendees at Sunday Mass, daily communicants, and those frequenting Eucharistic Adoration. They are all concerned; they are on the receiving end of questions themselves from family and friends: “What’s wrong with your Church?” They are dismayed; they are deeply concerned for the Church they still love. These are the people still in our pews, who did not leave during the cultural downslide and have supported the Church through thick and thin. These are the people who look to us. No clergyman should demonize them; they have been too good to us for us to write them off as some fringe element. They are good Catholics and are looking to us for clear teaching, for some return of the love and loyalty they have shown us through the most difficult decades of the cultural and sexual revolutions. They have been exceedingly patient with us. This is no time to be dismissive; this is a time to listen and work together with God’s good people for reform and a new springtime of faith in the Church and in the world. Somebody say, “Amen!”

This seems to be one step forward and three steps back. The Sex Crimes in the RCC is deeper than first believed. Children, families, and communities are in more danger than I am able to say at this time. Where are justice and the law? CM

The pope’s keen instincts as a communicator have abandoned him at crucial moments, especially in Chile, which is no longer dominated by the church

Please read the full article below By Francis X. Rocca and Ryan Dube Oct. 19, 2018, 11:58 a.m. ET--- See the bold sections for the highlight for limited readers. CM

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis took charge of the Catholic Church promising a new style of leadership that would make the church more open, candid and dedicated to the vulnerable. His response to the long-running clerical abuse scandal is undermining those goals.

The pope has dismissed coverup allegations from abuse victims and wavered on promised disciplinary reforms. He has struggled to demonstrate a sense of urgency in addressing clerical abuse and has drawn complaints of inconsistency and inaction.

Nowhere has the pope tripped more than in Chile, which once had one of the highest percentages of Catholics in Latin America. Allegations there involve 167 Catholic officials and 178 victims so far. Prosecutors recently raided church buildings, seized documents and arrested a prominent priest, putting the abuse scandal front and center in the pope’s native region.

“The future of the church is in play here,” said Juan Pablo Hermosilla, a Santiago lawyer who represents sex-abuse victims. “What is happening in Chile is very important for the region, and what happens in Latin America is going to be very important for the church.”

Under Pope Francis, Chile is for the first time no longer a majority-Catholic nation. The declining support comes as the Catholic Church vies with evangelical churches across Latin America, the church’s stronghold.

The sex-abuse crisis ... has reignited with a vengeance over a series of new revelations. More than 300 priests in Pennsylvania were accused of molesting more than 1,000 children over decades, in an August grand-jury report that triggered investigations in other states, as well as by the Justice Department.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former Vatican envoy to the U.S., accused the pope in August of disregarding disciplinary measures imposed on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for sexual misconduct and making him an important adviser on bishop appointments in the U.S. The Vatican this month promised an inquiry.

Pope Francis has called a global meeting of bishops, scheduled for four days in February, to discuss clerical sexual abuse.

Greg Burke, the Vatican spokesman, said Pope Francis has made “combating sex abuse by clergy a priority of his pontificate,” by denouncing abuse, taking the advice of victims and furthering efforts to report abusive priests to the police and remove them from ministry.

Defenders of Pope Francis say criticism of him is unfair because most of the cases now coming to light happened long ago. Some say the abuse scandal has been exploited by people who oppose the pope’s calls for expansive immigration policies, his warnings about economic inequality and global warming as well as his leniency on divorce.

The pope has long cast himself as a tribune of the people against oppressive elites, clerical and secular...as a communicator have abandoned him at crucial moments on abuse.

In an open letter this summer to the world’s Catholic faithful, the pope suggested that everyone in the church shared responsibility.

Last Friday, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., following criticism of the cardinal’s handling of sex-abuse cases during his tenure as bishop of Pittsburgh. The pope also praised the cardinal’s leadership.

“He’s been ambivalent, muddled on sex abuse. It’s not been at the top of his priority list, ever,” said Paul Vallely, a British journalist and author of “Pope Francis: The Struggle for the Soul of Catholicism,” a biography.

Since 2001, church law has required bishops to inform the Vatican about any report of sex abuse of a minor “which has at least a semblance of truth.” As archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013, the future pope referred just two cases to the Vatican, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Among U.S. Catholics, ...Pope Francis ... handling the abuse scandal compared with 62% who said he was doing an only fair or poor job, a recent Pew Research survey found. That compared with 55% who viewed him positively on the issue in 2015.

“I think very few people have faith that the Catholic Church is taking care of this problem,” said Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org, a U.S. organization that tracks abuse cases internationally.

Scandal spreads

Chile became a hot-button issue in January, when the pope’s trip there drew attention to victims who had accused Bishop Juan Barros of covering up for an abusive priest in the 1980s. During his visit, the pope said the allegations against the bishop, who is under criminal investigation in another case, were slanderous.

Bishop Barros’s lawyer, German Ovalle, says the bishop is “absolutely innocent” of the accusations.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, a top papal adviser with a strong record on combating sex abuse in the U.S., publicly rebuked the pope for causing pain to abuse victims by dismissing their claims. The pope apologized but repeated the charge of slander on his flight back to Rome.

The pope also said the Chilean accusers had never approached him with their abuse complaints. Two weeks later, it was revealed that Cardinal O’Malley had given the pope a detailed letter from one victim more than two years earlier.

Pope Francis in April acknowledged “grave errors,” in a letter to the bishops of Chile, following a Vatican investigation of Bishop Barros. Rather than putting the bishop on trial under church law, he accepted his resignation.

Altogether, the pope has accepted the resignations of seven bishops in Chile and defrocked several prominent priests.

The criminal investigation in Chile has rocked the nation’s chapter of the Marists, a Catholic religious order that runs 12 schools there. Victims accuse church officials at some of the schools of preying on boys over decades.

“There was a system of impunity that allowed this to happen,” said Emiliano Arias, a prosecutor who led a raid on church offices in four cities in September. “I’m certain there are more cases.”

Gonzalo Dezerega, a 53-year-old businessman in Santiago, said he has debilitating flashbacks of being sexually abused as a 10-year-old boy at a school run by the Marists. After each incident, Mr. Dezerega said, his abuser would kneel and pray, calling the child a sinner but assuring him he was forgiven by God. The sins, the boy was told, were to be kept secret.

• “I remember crying, asking the Lord, ‘Why me, why was this happening to me, God?’” said Mr. Dezerega, who only recently told his family.

Gonzalo Dezerega visits the sacristy of a Marist-run school in Santiago, Chile, a room where he said he was sexually abused as a boy.

• Gonzalo Dezerega visits the sacristy of a Marist-run school in Santiago, Chile, a room where he said he was sexually abused as a boy.

• Eneas Espinoza said he was abused in the 1970s at the Alonso de Ercilla Institute, a Marist-run school in downtown Santiago. Prosecutor Raúl Guzmán has identified 26 suspects and 40 victims in cases dating from 1968 to 2016.

• Mr. Espinoza, 45 years old, recalled his school as hell. A Marist brother from Spain would take him out of class and sexually abuse him, Mr. Espinoza said. Afterward, the brother would instruct the 6-year-old boy to brush his teeth.

  • As an adult, Mr. Espinoza said, he associated brushing with abuse and avoided it, eventually losing most of his teeth.

In September, a canonical probe conducted by the Vatican concluded that the abuse accusations at the Marist schools were credible. The congregation said two of its members have confessed. One prominent cleric, who has denied abuse allegations, was among those defrocked by Pope Francis.

A representative for Chile’s branch of the Marist order said the schools now have policies to prevent abuse and were “absolutely safe” for children.

Polls show the scandals have a role in Chileans falling away from the Catholic Church. In August, 46% of respondents identified as Catholic, pollster Cadem found, compared with 63% in 2017; about three-quarters of Chile’s population in the 1990s identified as Catholic. The poll also found 96% of Chileans believe the church covered up or protected clergy accused of sexual abuse.

• Eduardo Rozas, 54, said he was a young abuse victim at one of Chile’s Marist-run schools.
• Isaac Givovich, 38, said he was sexually abused when he was 6 years old by a Marist brother in Santiago.

“The church knows better than anyone that it has been wrong,” President Sebastian Piñera said at a Mass last month to mark Chile’s independence day.

In the beginning

In 2013, when Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to resign in nearly six centuries, the world’s cardinals gathered in Rome to choose a successor who would drive through changes after several corruption and mismanagement scandals. Addressing the festering clerical sex-abuse crisis was also seen as urgent, particularly in the English-speaking world.

From the moment the new pope stepped out onto the loggia of St. Peter’s on the evening of March 13, attention instead centered on Pope Francis as the first pope from Latin America—a leader with a disarmingly informal style who toned down the teachings on sexual and medical ethics identified with his predecessor to focus on poverty, migration and the environment.

The new pope said little of the sex-abuse crisis during his first year. He voiced impatience with critics on the subject, telling an interviewer in early 2014: “The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution to have acted with transparency and responsibility. No one else has done more. And yet the church is the only one attacked.”

Some people say the pope has had a blind spot about clerical sex abuse since he was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in his country of Argentina.

“In my diocese it never happened to me,” then-Cardinal Bergoglio said in a book-length interview published in 2010, referring to cases of clerical pedophilia. In another book, he suggested his archdiocese successfully filtered out candidates for the priesthood who might abuse children.

When victims of abuse went public in Argentina, he refused to meet them. In 2006, as head of the Argentine bishops conference, he denounced what he called a media campaign against the Rev. Julio Grassi, founder of a well-known orphanage who was accused of abusing children under his care. Father Grassi was eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison, a verdict upheld last year by Argentina’s highest court.

In March 2014,** the pope established an advisory panel on child protection, at the urging of Cardinal O’Malley of Boston. The panel included two prominent abuse victims-turned-advocates**, which raised hopes of greater influence from laypeople. The panel proposed a special tribunal for trying bishops accused of covering up or neglecting abuse by priests.

**The pope accepted the recommendation and the Vatican announced the decision in 2015. The tribunal wasn’t set up. Instead, the pope amended church law the following year to specify that bishops’ negligence in abuse cases was grounds for dismissal.

The pope’s change of mind was a disappointment for Marie Collins**, a well-known victim of clerical sex abuse who served on the advisory panel. She resigned last year, complaining of Vatican inaction, and was joined by Peter Saunders, the other panel member who had been an abuse victim.

The pope told reporters he had spoken with Ms. Collins and heard her concerns. Ms. Collins said they had no such conversation.

“He has done nothing really to give confidence back to people that the church has a grip on this issue,” Ms. Collins said. “He’s made these statements about zero tolerance and then not operated zero tolerance.”

Mr. Dezerega, the Chilean businessman who was abused as a boy, ... “We want a new and clean church,” he said, “without criminals.”
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On the face of this article, the sin, sexual abuse, crime, and coverup continues under the watchful eye of this Pope (Francis). I will hold my piece to hear first from my fellow CD Users. This is horrendous! Please read or re-read my other postings on this subject matter. In view of this article, what says ye? CM

PS. Longtime crimes call for a long article. Take the time to read about it.

Should Kavanaugh continue to coach girl's soccer team, in light of his past behavior in high school? Should Kavanaugh, if confirmed, rule on sex crimes case that comes before him? Is the Catholic Church "too big" or "too holy" to be held accountable for sex-crimes? If perception becomes a reality, the RCC be a black hole that has no bottom.

Trump's Supreme Court nominee (Brett Michael Kavanaugh) is under a cloud for several other things and will be a stain and subsequent laws of America. What can be done to reassure the American people of fairness and decency on the "High Court"? What says ye? CM

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Stirred by Sexual Abuse Report, States Take On Catholic Church

Sept. 6, 2018

The New York State attorney general, Barbara Underwood, has launched an investigation into whether Roman Catholic institutions covered up allegations of sexual abuse of minors.Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Attorneys general across the United States are taking a newly aggressive stance in investigating sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, opening investigations into malfeasance and issuing subpoenas for documents.

On Thursday alone, the New York State attorney general issued subpoenas to all eight Catholic dioceses in the state as part of a sweeping civil investigation into whether institutions covered up allegations of sexual abuse of children, officials said. The attorney general in New Jersey announced a criminal investigation.

The new inquiries come several weeks after an explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report detailed the abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests over decades. With Catholics clamoring for more transparency from their church, demanding that bishops release the names of accused priests, civil authorities are beginning to step up to force disclosure.

In the three weeks since the release of the Pennsylvania report, the attorneys general of Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico have also said they will investigate sex abuse by Catholic priests in their states and have asked local dioceses for records. Most bishops have been saying they will cooperate.

The newly emboldened approach by the authorities intensifies the scrutiny on the Catholic Church at a time when Pope Francis is weathering a crisis related to abuse by priests and bishops across the globe, from the United States to Honduras to Chile to Australia.

A former Vatican diplomat to the United States, Carlo Maria Viganò, issued an 11-page letter in August calling on Pope Francis to resign and accusing him of rescinding sanctions on former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick for his abuse of adult seminarians. The former cardinal was one of America’s most prominent Catholic bishops before he resigned from the College of Cardinals in July over abuse allegations.

[Read the claims that led former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick to resign.]

Attorneys general in some states said in statements Thursday that they were inspired to take action by the scathing Pennsylvania report, and said they were seeking to bring similar transparency to constituents in their states.

“The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover-ups in the dioceses,” the attorney general of New York, Barbara Underwood, said. “Victims in New York deserve to be heard as well — and we are going to do everything in our power to bring them the justice they deserve.”

Ms. Underwood also said her office’s criminal division wanted to work with local district attorneys to prosecute any individuals who have committed criminal offenses that fall within the applicable statutes of limitations. In New York State, the attorney general’s office cannot convene a grand jury, so it must work in concert with local district attorneys.

New Jersey’s attorney general, Gurbir S. Grewal, announced Thursday that he had appointed Robert D. Laurino, the former acting prosecutor of Essex County, to lead a task force that will investigate clergy sex abuse and any effort to cover up claims of assault. The task force will have subpoena power through a grand jury in order to compel testimony and demand the production of documents.

“I was deeply troubled to read the allegations contained in last month’s Pennsylvania grand jury report,” Mr. Grewal said in a statement. “We owe it to the people of New Jersey to find out whether the same thing happened here. If it did, we will take action against those responsible.”

Both states have set up dedicated hotlines for victims to report information related to allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

John LaValle, 61, recently sought compensation for abuse by his parish priest in the 1960s in the Rockville Centre diocese on Long Island, but he said he was turned away because the priest was a member of a religious order, not a diocesan priest.

Mr. LaValle said he would be willing to call the attorney general’s hotline to share his story again. “What the attorney general is doing is a welcome and important step in the overall healing process,” he said, “because it’s completely out of control, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Church officials are signaling that they will comply with subpoenas and requests for documents. In New York, Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said that all of the dioceses in the state would cooperate.

“It is not a surprise to us that the attorney general would look to begin a civil investigation, and she will find the Archdiocese of New York, and the other seven dioceses in the state, ready and eager to work together with her in the investigation,” he said.

Catholic Church officials are signaling that they will comply with subpoenas and requests for documents about clergy sex abuse of children.Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
But the probes announced in various states were not equally independent or combative. In Missouri, Attorney General Joshua D. Hawley said last month that he will conduct an “independent review” of files that the archbishop of St. Louis, Robert J. Carlson, had just volunteered to make available to review. The two men each released letters about the arrangement on the same day, after survivors of sexual abuse by priests had organized protests calling for an investigation.

Mr. Hawley, a Republican running for the United States Senate, said in a telephone news conference that his power is limited because under Missouri law, he cannot convene a grand jury or issue subpoenas for documents.

But a lawyer for abuse victims called his claim a “half truth.” The lawyer, Nicole Gorovsky, who previously served as a federal prosecutor and an assistant attorney general in Missouri, said that Mr. Hawley could convene local district attorneys in Missouri and coordinate their efforts, as he has done on other issues. Those local district attorneys could then issue subpoenas for far more documents than those voluntarily provided by the bishops.

“He’s allowing the perpetrator to run the investigation,” Ms. Gorovsky said in an interview. “It’s exactly backwards.”

Ms. Underwood’s action represents the first statewide investigation of sexual abuse and potential cover-up by the Catholic Church in New York. Several district attorney’s offices have investigated abuses within single dioceses, but those investigations took place more than a decade ago.

The subpoenas were issued on Thursday by the Charities Division of the attorney general’s office, which has the authority to oversee nonprofits, including religious institutions. They cover all documents related to sexual abuse and the church’s response to that abuse over decades, including information from secret or confidential church archives, a person close to the investigation said, requesting anonymity because the information is related to a continuing investigation.

New York State has a highly restrictive statute of limitations on sex abuse crimes. Under current law, victims only have until age 23 to file civil cases or seek criminal charges for most types of child sexual abuse. Some of the most serious child sex crimes, such as rape, have no time limit for bringing criminal charges, but only for conduct that occurred in 2001 or later.

A bill that would amend the statute of limitations to allow more victims to seek justice has for years failed to pass the state Legislature. On Thursday, Ms. Underwood urged the Legislature to pass the bill, known as the Child Victims Act, which would allow all victims to file civil suits until age 50 and seek criminal charges until age 28.

But she also urged any victim of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, or anyone who knows about abuse, to participate in her investigation, even if they believe that their information may be outside the statute of limitations for a court case.

“All victim information will be helpful to understanding and reforming the institutional approach of the church,” she said.

The potential scope of the investigations is huge. In the Archdiocese of New York alone, 315 victims of sex abuse by clergy have recently received compensation through an independent program sponsored by the church. In the Diocese of Brooklyn, some 250 victims have filed claims through a similar program. These programs did not offer compensation to victims abused by priests working for religious orders, so many more victims may reach out to report abuse through the hotline.

The Diocese of Buffalo has been swamped with abuse revelations in recent months. In February, a retired priest admitted to The Buffalo News that he had molested probably dozens of boys at multiple parishes from the late 1960s until the 1980s. Since then, abuse by other priests has also come to light, raising questions of why it was kept secret for so long.

There have been calls for the bishop of Buffalo, Richard J. Malone, to resign, but he has said he will not. In contrast, the bishop of Albany, Edward Scharfenberger, has taken a more proactive approach to the crisis, recently sending a letter to parishioners telling them that he had asked the Albany district attorney to review the diocese’s records on sex abuse allegations.

“In the spirit of transparency and in an effort to restore a sacred trust that has been broken again and again, I believe a fully independent investigation, one coordinated by the district attorney, is the only way forward,” he wrote in the letter.

Abuse victims and their advocates have accused New York’s bishops for years of covering up the extent of clergy abuse, contending that the church has taken advantage of the state’s restrictive statute of limitations.

In the New York archdiocese, for example, the number of abusive priests who have been named publicly is 83, according to a database kept by BishopAccountability.org, a victims’ advocacy group. In contrast, the Archdiocese of Boston, which has fewer Catholics and priests but was the target of an investigation by the state’s attorney general in 2003, has reported 261 priests accused of abuse.

“Little is known about clergy abuse of children in New York, because of the state’s antiquated and predator-friendly statute of limitations, and because the church has kept the evidence secret all these years,” Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, said Thursday in a statement.

“Finally we will learn the truth in New York.” --Nikita Stewart contributed reporting.

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This Corrupt Religious Empire (schools/churches/seminaries) days are numbered. THE GOOD IT HAS DONE, IS PALE IN COMPARISON TO THE CRIMES, PAIN, AND DESTRUCTION TO INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES OVER THE YEARS.

I don't know about a special place in hell for Pedophile-Priests, but I do know a special place for them in nations with laws. ## "Lock them up! CM

Pope Francis On Clergy Sex Abuse: 'We Showed No Care For The Little Ones'

-- August 20, 20188:41 AM ET

Pope Francis addresses the International Pilgrimage of the Ministrants last month in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.
Andreas Solaro -- Editor's Note: This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.

Nearly a week after a Pennsylvania grand jury released its roughly 900-page report on sexual abuse by clergy, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church has penned a letter condemning the alleged misconduct and pledging repentance.

"The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet or silenced. But their outcry was more powerful than all the measures meant to silence it, or sought even to resolve it by decisions that increased its gravity by falling into complicity," Pope Francis wrote in the letter Monday, which is addressed to "the People of God." "The Lord heard that cry and once again showed us on which side he stands."

The "atrocities" Francis refers to were laid out in harrowing detail by the grand jury report, which used the church's own records to conclude that more than 1,000 credible victims had been abused by some 300 "predator priests" across eight decades in Pennsylvania. What's more, the report explained how the church apparatus enabled and covered up the abuse, often responding to complaints with cursory investigations and leniency toward the alleged abusers.

"Most of the victims were boys; but there were girls too. Some were teens; many were prepubescent. Some were manipulated with alcohol or pornography. Some were made to masturbate their assailants or were groped by them. Some were raped orally, some vaginally, some anally," the report asserted in no uncertain terms.

"But," it added, "all of them were brushed aside, in every part of the state, by church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and their institution above all."

Report Reveals Widespread Sexual Abuse By Over 300 Priests In Pennsylvania
NATIONAL
Report Reveals Widespread Sexual Abuse By Over 300 Priests In Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvania Priest Responds To Sex Abuse Report
RELIGION
A Pennsylvania Priest Responds To Sex Abuse Report
Former Catholic Priest Says Pennsylvania Bishop Ignored His Reports Of Abuse
HERE & NOW COMPASS
Former Catholic Priest Says Pennsylvania Bishop Ignored His Reports Of Abuse
Until the church ceases to protect — and even in some cases promote — accused priests, "we think it is too early to close the book on the Catholic Church sex scandal," the report's authors concluded.

Francis' personal response initially was silence, instead allowing a Vatican spokesperson to offer the church's public response in the days that followed. And it was a particularly blunt one, noting that church officials feel "shame and sorrow" over the "criminal and morally reprehensible" abuses it revealed.

The spokesperson, Greg Burke, noted that the grand jury had found "almost no cases after 2002," when the Boston Globe's Spotlight investigations team famously uncovered a widespread cover-up of sexual abuse allegations. But "the Church must learn hard lessons from its past," Burke added in his statement Thursday, "and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur."

In his letter Monday, Francis spoke in similarly stark terms.

"With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives," the pope wrote. "We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them."

The Catholic church has felt the lingering repercussions of its decades of alleged wrongdoing in court and in its wallet lately. As NPR's Tom Gjelten points out, dioceses and religious order in the U.S. have had to pay more than $3 billion in lawsuit settlements with abuse victims since the allegations came to light.

The Clergy Abuse Crisis Has Cost The Catholic Church $3 Billion
RELIGION
The Clergy Abuse Crisis Has Cost The Catholic Church $3 Billion
And though Francis did not detail concrete steps for how he expects the church to change its conduct going forward, he echoed Burke's statement that such change is needed.

"While it is important and necessary on every journey of conversion to acknowledge the truth of what has happened, in itself this is not enough. Today we are challenged as the People of God to take on the pain of our brothers and sisters wounded in their flesh and in their spirit," the pope said.

"If, in the past, the response was one of omission, today we want solidarity, in the deepest and most challenging sense, to become our way of forging present and future history."

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Anything I have said about the sexual abuse by clergy of the Roman Catholic Church was meek and mild compared to the Pennsylvania grand jury's roughly 900-page report. The Sexual abuse by clergy and the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church is beyond bad, shameful, and sickening. The Half, Haven't BEEN TOLD! The deeds by priests would make you cry, angry and pity the many victims and families. It makes you ask, where were God? Why did He allow so much, too go on for so long, and too so many people?

The report of actual deeds of priests to women, boys, and girls will make any TV or movie shame. This report alone can be a Tv or movie series. The report can be an x-rated movie script. As bad as it is, there are redactions. To add insult to injury, some victims will NOT get justice (stature of limitation). Mr. Cosby and the Catholic church in the state of Pennsylvania are blithe to the state. How can the state convict Mr. Cosby and the RCC goes free? What do you think? Should the RCC shut down operations, immediately, in that state and around the USA until crime-committing priests are identified and prosecuted, to the full extent of the law? What about the many lives that have been destroyed? No more time. Protecting the children and families should be foremost than trying to save the institution (RCC). Until sexual deviants are identified a big warning sign should be placed on all of its buildings: Enter at your own risk, sexual predators presence. What do you think?

This whole situation is lower than a snake's belly and more is yet to be told. How could a society allow a people and an institution of trust to get away this another day? This crime is too deep and wide for the church to handle it any longer.

A special prosecutor needs to be assigned. Lives remain in danger as we read. God, Help the many victims! And, Lord, prepare a place and perpetrators to endure the consequences of their crimes and sins. Amen! CM

PS. Your thoughts...