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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
Keep repeating this until the hypocrite walks away, head bowed in shame.
As far as I know, there has never been a huge, multi-decade scandal of gay activists molesting children. No GLBT community centers raided and shuttered. No billion dollar lawsuits against gay bars for abusing children.
Sure, one can always find a rotten apple, but the GLBT barrel -- for the most-part -- is stocked with the organic, red, shiny, healthy variety.
The same cannot be said of the Roman Catholic Church.
According to a new report released today that was ordered by Ireland's government, Catholic leaders in Dublin, in collusion with the police, spent decades protecting and covering up the illegal, sinful behavior of pedophile priests.
What went on -- for decades -- was so incredibly sick and downright evil, that it borders on satanic. Dublin's current Archbishop, Diarmuid Martin, said he felt deep shame and sorrow for how previous archbishops handled the child abuse.
Today's 720-page report focused on why church leaders in the Dublin Archdiocese did not tell police about a single abuse complaint against a priest until 1995. Yet, there had been at been at least 100 parish priests who had sexually molested children since 1940. Those files had remained locked in the Dublin archbishop's private vault.
The investigators also uncovered a paper trail documenting the church's clandestine insurance policy, taken out in 1987, to cover potential lawsuits. Dublin church leaders publicly denied the existence of the problem for a decade afterward but since the mid-1990s have paid out more than $15 million in settlements.
The report cited documents showing how church officials learned about some cases only when Catholic police received complaints from children or their parents, but handed the investigation back to church leaders so they could engage in cover-ups.
It is hard to believe, but this high level of pious pathology, ethical corruption and sin occurred under the "leadership" of THREE Dublin archbishops: John Charles McQuaid (1940-72), Dermot Ryan (1972-84) and Kevin McNamara (1985-87).
The commission found that these moral luminaries eschewed public scandals by shuffling the abusers from parish to parish and overseas to U.S. churches -- where no doubt a few of these heinous hypocrites are still loudly opposing the freedom to marry for gay couples.
Seriously, I refuse to hear lectures on wholesome values and the meaning of family from anyone affiliated with a church that engaged in such shocking and outrageous behavior. The Catholic Church has, indeed, lost its right to discuss such issues and expect thinking people to keep a straight face.
Just to reiterate, the Bishop's and Archbishop's have zero credibility to even discuss my healthy relationship. At least my boyfriend isn't an altar boy.
My advice to these priests is to take their condemnation of my relationship and lock it in a private vault in the Archdiocese, along with the secret records of rampant child abuse.
Finally, I want to make it abundantly clear that this is not an attack on the millions of Catholics who are good people and oppose the handling of these child abuse cases. There are also many Catholics who support equality for all people, including a gay couples' right to marry. This is not meant for the wonderful, charitable people who have clothed the naked, cared for the sick and fed the hungry.
However, the church hierarchy has surrendered its high ground on moral issues and must work to regain the respectability and trust it has clearly lost. Considering the behavior it has practiced, it certainly has no right to preach to those of us who have obeyed the law.
13 Comments:
Well... I am gay and I appreciate the intent here, but you are leaving out a key fact, which is that it is possible (to say the least) to be both a priest AND gay.
posted by Unknown, at
11/29/2009 2:23 PM
There are many nice Catholic people (my parents are two of them), but the hierarchy of the church is filled with a bunch of pathological nutcases.
posted by Chris L., at
11/29/2009 2:36 PM
Well, the Catholic cult, NOM and others scored a big victory in conservative NYS today. They helped defeat marriage equality by a whopping 24-38 majority.
This is one voter who is NEVER going to support the dems ever again. We're damned either way. That idiot Tom Duane must have been delusional when he said that it would pass by a razor thin margin. How dead wrong he was. Looks like we have more bigots in the NYS Assembly and Senate than we'd thought.
posted by Anonymous, at
12/02/2009 3:49 PM
Damned either way Robert? 8 Dems voted against, all the yes votes were dems and the Republicans were entirely against. You're a little mixed up on this one.
posted by Priya Lynn, at
12/03/2009 11:35 PM
Priya, I don't think so. Don't forget, the dems will lose a few seats when primary time rolls around. Make no mistake, Rick Lazio or Rudy Giuliani have any eye on the governor's job, especially Lazio who has a strong following in his party. If Obama's approval rating drops even more and employment doesn't pick up, two wars going on, more home foreclosures, we'll NEVER get the legislature to pass the bill because a republican governor whoever it is, will veto it. Even if we miraculously get 32 guaranteed votes for the bill in 2011 and I don't think we will, do you really believe a republican governor would sign it? Lets hope Andrew Cuomo gets the job, at least the bill will have a slight chance of passing and swiftly signed under his governance.
posted by Anonymous, at
12/04/2009 2:25 PM
of course, no religious cult has the moral authority to ban gays from a civil marriage. The problem with all of them is that they think they own civil marriage too. They don't, the state does since its the only authority to issue licenses. Without a secular marriage license, nobody could get married in the U.S. That brings up the point that Obama is wrong when he says that the government shouldn't be involved in marriage. It most certainly is in many ways considering the more than 1,000 federal and 400 state rights that can only come from marriage.
Personally, I think religious cults should issue their own and not be entitled to federal or state benefits and privileges, reinforcing the separation of church and state. I can imagine the hissy fit they'd all have if that were implemented. Perchance to dream.
The French have the best marriage system. No religious solemnization of the marriage is legal unless a prior civil marriage has been performed by a state certified official, usually a mayor of the local town or someone else so designated. Having a religious ceremony immediately after the civil marriage is purely optional.
posted by Anonymous, at
12/05/2009 11:39 AM
Robert I don't know why you'd ask if I think a Republican governor would sign it, obviously not.
My point was that all the yes votes were Democrats and all the Republicans voted no. Clearly LGBTs are much better off with Democrats so I don't see the point of your "we're damned either way, I'll never vote Democrat again" comment - it just doesn't make any sense.
posted by Priya Lynn, at
12/05/2009 7:05 PM
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