Benedict XVI's endless pathological lies: John Paul II sainthood and "Child abuse won't happen again"...but he could not buy Fr. Maciel's victims

Beatification party for JPII


John Paul II was pope for over 26 years from 1978 to 2005 and Cardinal Josef Ratzinger was Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 to 2005 and together both of them ruled the Vatican and the Catholic churches around the world and together they used their absolute powers to cover-up and enable thousands of pedophiles rapists-priests around the globe, See the John Paul II Pedophiles Rapists-Priests Army http://jp2army.blogspot.com/. That’s over 24 years and the last quarter of the 20th century. And now in 2005 he is saying that “Child abuse won’t happen again”, really, who is he kidding? He aided and abetted the most heinous crimes against children committed by his holy priests for over 24 years and now he is “stopping” them? In reality, it was the media who started to stop them, the Boston Globe, SNAP, Abuse Tracker, Bishops Accountability and secular lawyers who exposed and put a brake on priests’ sexual abuses on children. If Benedict really want to end child sexual abuses by priests by priests, he must start with the financial compensation to priests' sex abuse victims in Ireland and around the world and set up a Catholic Registry of Pedophile Priests so that parents and little boys are warned of predator priests roaming in their midst.

The fact is, Benedict XVI very slowly and hesitantly started to mention and apologize about 'clergy abuse on minors' (very vague terminologies). But he was forced to apologize by the media and the people around the world most especially by American media before his trips to the USA.

In Mexico, Benedict XVI and the Vatican had to bribe the biological son (and secret illegitimate wife) of Fr. Marcial Maciel -- to delay coming out in Mexican radio and media -- that he was continuously sodomized by his priest-biological father Fr. Maciel, so that as pope would have the first say, he would appear to be the first to announce the ‘discipline’ of Fr. Maciel and forbid him from saying Mass in public as his ‘penance’ and to investigate the Legion of Christ.

Fortunately, the Vatican trillion dollars Bank could not “buy the souls” of these poor Mexicans, the poor biological son and secret wife of Fr. Maciel and they came out to tell the truth to the whole world. The Vatican Bank could not “buy the souls” of the owners of the radio and newspapers in Mexico who revealed these ugly truths about the double life of Fr. Marcial Maciel, the “Holy Father” of the Legion of Christ! See Beloved companions John Paul II and Fr. Marcial Maciel together in their journeys to Guadalupe: Both were great founders and great deceivers alike http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/01/beloved-companions-john-paul-ii-and-fr.html

Imagine, Fr. Marcial Maciel brought in 35 billion dollars to the Vatican Bank and his followers the Legion of Christ could not “buy the souls” of these poor Mexicans, the secret biological son and wife of Fr. Marcial Maciel? Money isn’t everything, not even the almighty Vatican trillion dollars Bank in Switzerland, hello! all the Swiss Banks are owned and controlled by the almighty Vatican!!! Hallelujah for the few good honest men and women left in this world who cannot be bought by the last despot sitting the Chair of Peter the pathological liar Pope Benedict XVI.

It is also now up to the media to keep exposing the evil of John Paul II as he will be hurriedly elevated to sainthood, the evil of his John Paul II Pedophiles Rapists-Priests Army, his most important legacy as pope for 26 years see http://jp2m.blogspot.com/.

John Paul II canonized a rapist-priest who raped all virgin Chinese girls in an entire village in China, a Franciscan, http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2007/09/john-paul-ii-canonised-rapist-in-china.html even amidst protests from the Chinese. So it is not surprising that Benedict XVI will canonize John Paul II responsible for the worst heinous rapes by priests against Catholic children for over 26 years!

Thank God, there are a few journalists and media publishers left who will not be bought and will not “sell their souls to the Devil” and will keep exposing the evil priest-pedophilia legacy of John Paul II and Cardinal Josef Ratzinger now Pope Benedict XVI.


For evil to triumph is for enough few good men - and good women - to say and do nothing about it.

How St. Michael the Archangel tied the giant millstone to the neck of John Paul II at his last World Youth Day in 2002 http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2006/08/john-paul-ii-pope-of-sodomy.html

Victims - Attackers - Responsible Leaders

Pearl Harbor - 3,000 victims - 170 planes - Admiral Yamamoto

WTC & 9/11 attacks - 5,000 victims - 19 Muslims - Osama bin Laden

USA Priest Pedophilia - 12,000 victims - 6,000 rapists-priests - John Paul II, Benedict XVI & Opus Dei (the Vatican Trinity: Opus Dei controlled the 26+ years papacy of JP2)

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Benedict XVI-Ratzinger, God's Rottweiler - February 11, 2010
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http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/02/benedict-xvi-condemns-abuse-of-children.html

Benedict XVI angers Jewish groups for declaring “Venerable” Pius XII who did nothing during Holocaust… like John Paul II did nothing for clergy abuse http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2009/12/benedict-xvi-angers-jewish-groups-for.html

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The Devil’s bowels smell like roses in the Vatican http://jp2army.blogspot.com/

What thinking? The Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI foundation was set up to "promote research and studies on the thinking of professor Joseph Ratzinger" http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/

Commentary on John L. Allen Jr 'Benedict XVI and Tom Doyle on the crisis' in All Things Catholic http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/12/commentary-on-john-l-allen-jr-benedict.html

John L Allen Jr. cements Benedict’s pathological lies http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/12/john-l-allen-jr-cements-benedict-xvis.html

John Paul II clone Cardinal George must resign as President of Catholic Bishops Conference of the USA http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2008/11/john-paul-ii-clone-cardinal-george-must.html

John Paul II, VOTF, Diamond Bride Mother Angelica http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2008/02/john-paul-ii-diamond-bride-mother.html

John Paul II Pedophiles Rapists-Priests Army http://jp2army.blogspot.com/

Latin is not a mother tongue and therefore cannot be the “official language” of the Vatican. Why must the Vatican Bank be above all banks? http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/10/latin-is-not-mother-tongue-and.html

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The Vatican is not a Country as other European Countries. It’s an artificial State created by Mussolini in 1929. It now wants power in European Union http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/08/vatican-is-not-country-as-other.html

The John Paul II Millstone

The Roman Catholic Church is no longer « Holy ». All Catholic churches, sacristies, rectories are not «holy» but potential priestly pedophile places http://jp2m.blogspot.com/

Pope Benedict, what the Church need are not more "reflections" but financial compensations for victims and a "Catholic Registry of Pedophile Priests" http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/12/pope-benedict-what-church-need-are-not.html

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See Canon Law and John Paul II, the Vatican & Benedict XVI never saved children nor excommunicated pedophile priests during last quarter of 20th Century http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/07/canon-law-and-john-paul-ii-vatican.html

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Benedict XVI and his infallible powers http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html

John Paul II portrait by Danish artist http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2007/10/john-paul-ii-portrait-by-danish-artist.html

Rome's 3 GAY priests caught in video at gay clubs and having casual flings' http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2010/07/romes-3-gay-priests-caught-in-video-at.html

From Fatima, Jacinta would throw the first stone at John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army‏ to defend her little brothers and sisters http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/04/from-fatima-jacinta-would-throw-first.html

John Paul II miraculously cures his German barber of hernia in Rome… as the John Paul II Pedophile Priest Army jolts Germany http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/03/john-paul-ii-miraculously-cures-his.html

New book on John Paul II ‘Why He's a Saint’ is a pack of lies http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-book-on-john-paul-ii-why-hes-saint.html


Vatican edict in 1997 rejected calls to report priests who abused
IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
A 1997 VATICAN directive rejected a recommendation by the Irish Catholic Church that priests who abused children should be reported to the civil authorities, it has emerged.
The disclosure is made in an RTÉ documentary to be broadcast tonight, which also reports that an Irish bishop described the Vatican directive as “a mandate . . . to conceal the reported crimes of a priest”.
The Would You Believe documentary, Unspeakable Crimes , is broadcast on RTÉ One television at 10.35pm.
In a January 1997 letter to each Irish bishop, marked “strictly confidential”, the Vatican said it would support the appeal of any priest defrocked by the Irish church in connection with child sex abuse. It did so in a number of cases, leading to a threat of resignation by one Irish archbishop.


Rome told bishops not to report abuse
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Lynne Kelleher and Stephen Rogers
Monday, January 17, 2011

A LETTER sent to Irish bishops in 1997 shows that the Vatican secretly blocked attempts to report paedophile priests to gardaí.
In the letter, the bishops are urged not to report clerical abuse as a criminal offence.
A documentary to be aired tonight reveals the contents of the letter and also claims that, on at least two occasions, the Vatican stepped in and stopped attempts by Irish bishops to defrock abuser priests.
Last month, details of one of those occasions was made public when a High Court order finally allowed the full publication of a previously censored chapter in the Murphy Report on the Dublin Archdiocese.


Child abuse won't happen again: Pope
IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

A senior Vatican investigator into clerical child sex abuse scandals in Ireland yesterday spoke of the Pope's determination that such evil does not happen again.
But Archbishop of Toronto Thomas Collins warned the congregation in Thurles Cathedral, Co Tipperary, that "even one priest gone wrong" caused immense harm, and that throughout the world priests had done unspeakable evil, sometimes at church events.

Archbishop Collins has been instructed by Pope Benedict XVI to conduct an inquiry into the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and to submit a report on his findings to the Pontiff by Easter.


Vatican asked Irish bishops not to report clerical abuse to the police
IRELAND
Irish Central
A letter sent by the Vatican to Irish bishops in 1997 shows that they blocked attempts to report pedophile priest to the police. A new documentary reveals the contents of the letter and claims that, on two occasions, the Vatican intervened and stopped attempts made by Irish priests to defrock pedophile priests.
Bryan Maguire, abuse survivor and spokesperson for the Voice of the Faithful organization said the letter changes the way he feels about the clerical abuse. He said “It certainly puts a different complexion on the way in which the Irish bishops acted and points a finger right back to Rome.
"At root what we’ve got is not just abusive priests and bishops that cover up, but an entire system that has enabled and facilitated those bishops and priests.


This man presided over a clerical abuse cover up ....

IRELAND Herald
By Anna Nolan

Tuesday January 18 2011

What happens when a little ol' nun in France says she is cured of her Parkinson's? You get one step closer to being a saint!

Pope John Paul II has been working his magic from beyond the grave and chose to cure a woman who dedicated hours of prayer to him after he died.

This process to becoming a saint baffles me. One 'miracle' - and you are beatified. Two and bingo, you're a saint.

PEARLY

Now it's not because I don't believe in miracles, but surely to goodness, it makes sense that a saint is decided on what someone did while they were alive, rather than what happened when they were dead? The reason the miracles are part of the sainthood process, it seems, is to make sure they are in Heaven and not just hanging around somewhere between here and the pearly gates.

I've worked around the area of miracles.

COCKTAILS

I once filmed a documentary about a healer in Limerick. She claimed she could cure people by praying over them. I spent time with her and although her intentions were good and people had faith in her, to me it was absolute nonsense.

When I heard about the little nun, (I don't know why I presume she is little, she could be a huge big nun) saying that she was cured, my cynical antennae stood to attention. She says that her Parkinson's left her body as a result of John Paul, but the evidence has not been examined by an independent doctor. Only the Vatican doctor has given the thumbs up for a miracle.

Hmm, now there's a thing.

The Vatican is desperate rushing this through. They are under pressure as they have planned a big ol' beatification party on May 1 in Vatican City to celebrate the Pope being one miracle away from sainthood.

It is going to be the biggest event since Pope JPII died. Beatification balloons, beatification streamers, who knows, maybe even a beatification cocktail - the 'Miracle Mojito'?

The fact that this man chose not to take what I and many others would deem appropriate action over much of the child abuse allegations is being swept under the Vatican carpet.

Last night the RTE documentary Unspeakable Crimes revealed Rome under Pope John Paul II urged bishops not to report clerical abuse as a criminal offence.

honchos

Add this to the fact that Pope John Paul's ban on condoms left millions having to cope with an AIDS epidemic without assistance and he's hardly worthy of sainthood, in my opinion.

I've no doubt he was a charming man who won the world over with his endless travelling to many countries. But it would be interesting to ask a victim of priest sexual abuse whether they think he should be a saint.

Or perhaps someone who contracted AIDS in Africa. Ask them if he should be put up there with the head honchos whose life works assured them front row seats in Heaven.

Now just one more miracle stands between John Paul II and sainthood.

Well, here's a suggestion. Maybe if Brian Cowen actually listened to what the country needed and resigned it would be a miracle we'd all find useful.

Nah, there are miracles and then there's the downright far fetched.
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The Buck Stops at the Top
UNITED STATES
Leon J. Podles: Dialogue

In my book Sacrilege, I said that they way tl abusehat American bishops mishandled allegations of abuse was so uniform that it looked like it was the result of a more or less explicit policy set by the Vatican.

Here is what an Irish documentary is reporting:

In his letter to the Catholics of Ireland last March, Pope Benedict said to his “brother bishops’’ that “you and your predecessors failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse”.

At a 1999 meeting in Rome the Irish hierarchy was reminded collectively by a top Vatican official that they were “bishops first, not policemen”.

The programme claims the Vatican and Pope Benedict himself failed to apply the norms of canon law to the issue of child abuse, one of the pope’s major criticisms of Ireland’s bishops. The Vatican failed to do so where two US priests were concerned and the pope did so in 2005 where Fr Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, was concerned.

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John Paul and the Church of Celebrity
January 21st, 2011 · 3 Comments
Sardath said in the comments:

This is a man who survived the Nazi genocide against the Poles, out-maneuvered the Soviets, and utterly crushed liberation theology; and yet we are to believe that he had no idea what he was doing when he signed false bank documents, had no idea that bishops and priests in Latin American were giving aid and comfort to state terrorism, and had no idea what Law, Groer, and Maciel had been up to all those years?

The “santo subito” people can’t have it both ways. If JP2 really was the intellectual and spiritual titan that he pretended to be, then he must have had the capacity to know and understand what his own people were up to. If he knew and did nothing, he was an accomplice in their crimes; if he could have known but chose not to, then he was criminally negligent, which is almost as bad. Either way, they have no business putting him up for sainthood, because he doesn’t even remotely qualify.

There’s also a big problem with some of the theological positions that Ratzinger staked out on these issues while he was head of the CDF, including the claim that while the pope may not be infallible in his disciplinary decisions, those decisions are nevertheless “not without divine assistance” and therefore “call for the adherence of the faithful.” So if JP2 was not without divine assistance in the way he ran his shop, why has everything come to ruin? What sort of saint is it who holds the position of “Vicar of Christ on earth” but somehow consistently fails to avail himself of the divine assistance which, we are assured, was always available to him if he only asked for it?

And now Ratzinger is pope himself, and so is also presumably not without divine assistance in the decisions he makes–and yet he is not only rushing headlong toward a disastrous premature canonization of his predecessor, but has continued to surround himself with the same people who, we are now being told, wrecked the papacy of JP2 with their lies and corruption. We have been told that it was Ratzinger who tried and tried to clean up the corruption around JP2, but was checkmated at every turn by the evil Sodano. So what is his excuse now? He of all people must know what Sodano and the others were up to, and he of all people has the power to send them packing. Why has he not done so?

John Paul’s refusal to act was inexplicable. Benedict’s is explicable but discouraging.

I am of course an outside observer, but even Cardinal Schönborn, who pleaded with John Paul to make a statement about Groër and to stem the resignations for the Austrian Church, was baffled by John Paul’s refusal even to say anything.

I repeat. Cardinal Schönborn read my book Sacrilege, and he said that in the case which he was familiar, that of his predecessor Cardinal Groër, things were worse than I knew. Groër had made strongly homoerotic gestures to almost every student he had come into contact with over the years; Groër stopped short of penetration, but that was the only thing he didn’t do.

John Paul had appointed Groër archbishop of Vienna over the objections of the Austrian episcopate, because Groër preached Fatima. Even after Groër left Vienna and the scandal was in full bloom, John Paul continued to favor him. Schönborn was in Rome for the consistory in which he was made a Cardinal. Without telling Schönborn, John Paul had invited Groër to Rome and was receiving him socially. When Schönborn was informed of this at a news conference, he uttered some undiplomatic words about the situation.

Almost the entire Austrian episcopate, including Schönborn, the writer of the Catechism, publicly announced they were sure Groër was guilty. The numerous victims said Groër was guilty. Why didn’t John Paul believe them or at least order a thorough investigation. John Paul not only did not order an investigation of Maciel; he allowed Sodano to thwart Ratzinger’s attempt to get at the truth.

Benedict apparently has decided that ridding the Church of abusers is enough; he thinks he does not have to change the culture among the hierarchy that allowed the abuse to go on.

But once Benedict is gone, a new pope may not have the same priorities. He may think that sexual abuse is a minor problem compared to poverty, the conflict with Islam, secularization, and the other difficulties Christianity faces. The bishops can then return to (or continue in) their old ways in countries that do not have the vigorous tort system that the United States has.

John Paul thought the Church could flourish with PR – and Benedict, by canonizing him, is continuing the policy. Cleaning the Augean stables of the corrupt clergy would be painful, and many of the laity would oppose it, but a church that cultivates only the appearance of holiness without the reality is preparing itself for a crisis as big as the Reformation. Or even worse, no Reformation. Just corrupt and lax mediocrity that narcissistically calls itself holiness. If men turn away from Christianity because it is too austere and other-worldly, it is one thing; but if they turn away because it falls beneath the standards of common decency and honesty, that is another.


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If Only the Führer Knew!
January 17th, 2011 · 20 Comments
Ian Kershaw wrote of the common German’s reaction to Nazi excesses and atrocities:

the myth of ‘if only the Fuhrer knew’ was already at work. Many genuinely believed that matters, especially if unpalatable, were deliberately kept from Hitler, and that if he learned of them he would act swiftly to set things right.

A similar attitude characterizes most Catholics’ reaction to the possibility that John Paul II was guilty of a major failure in tolerating sexual abuse by clerics. They can’t believe that John Paul knew what was going on and didn’t act. His subordinates most have kept things from him or he must have been disabled or…or…or well something!

But the evidence is very strong that John Paul knew (or had every reason to suspect) what was going on and decided not to investigate and not to act against it. We do not know his motive for not acting – probably something to do with clericalism. He feared, probably, that cleansing the Church of this evil would necessarily involve revealing the extent of the evil, a revelation which would discredit the Church, from Marciel Maciel and Cardinal Sodano and Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos down to the abusers in isolated rural parishes. Better the children suffer (however regrettable that might be) that the great work that the Church was doing be undermined. I doubt that he ever put it so baldly to himself, but as far as we can tell from the evidence and his actions and inactions, that in fact is what was in his mind.

It is the temptation of all those in authority, taking the broad view, looking at the greater good. Another high priest advised, “it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

http://www.podles.org/dialogue/

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January 18, 2011

Vatican Warned Irish Bishops Not to Report Abuse
IRELAND
The New York Times

[1997 letter]

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 18, 2011

DUBLIN (AP) — A 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police — a disclosure that victims' groups described as "the smoking gun" needed to show that the church enforced a worldwide culture of covering up crimes by pedophile priests.

The newly revealed letter, obtained by Irish broadcasters RTE and provided to The Associated Press, documents the Vatican's rejection of a 1996 Irish church initiative to begin helping police identify pedophile priests following Ireland's first wave of publicly disclosed lawsuits.

The letter undermines persistent Vatican claims, particularly when seeking to defend itself in U.S. lawsuits, that Rome never instructed local bishops to withhold evidence or suspicion of crimes from police. It instead emphasizes the church's right to handle all child-abuse allegations and determine punishments in house rather than give that power to civil authorities. ...

Joelle Casteix, a director of U.S. advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, described the letter as "the smoking gun we've been looking for."

Casteix said it was certain to be cited by victims' lawyers seeking to pin responsibility directly on the Vatican rather than local dioceses. She said investigators long have sought such a document showing Vatican pressure on a group of bishops "thwarting any kind of justice for victims."

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Vatican lawyer & spokesman try to ‘explain away’ damning letter; SNAP responds

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

Once again, we mere mortals are told that we’re too dumb to understand the subtle and sophisticated Vatican document.

A Vatican lawyer claims it’s been “deeply misunderstood” and means “precisely the opposite of what has been reported.” And a Vatican spokesman says “That approach (concealing clergy child sex crimes) has been surpassed.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/world/europe/19vatican.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/01/19/ireland.church.scandal/

Let’s look at these far-fetched claims. But first, let us remember that high ranking Catholic officials are almost universally smart, well-educated men. The notion that they can’t make their points understandable is silly on its face.

Fr. Lombardi, the official Vatican spokesman, says the letter “refers to a situation that we’ve now moved beyond.” (John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter makes a similar claim, saying that the letter is "another confirmation that, in the late 1990s, there was deep ambivalence in the Vatican about how far they should go in terms of reporting priestly sex abuse to civil authorities.")

Even if this were true, it’s a dodge. Time and time again, Vatican officials have denied telling bishops to conceal child sex crimes. Now, however, it’s clear that they did, at least in Ireland (and we suspect elsewhere as well).

A wife-batterer can’t, when caught, claim his crimes have “been surpassed” and walk away. All of us, morally and legally, must be held responsible for our wrong-doing, especially those who profess to be moral leaders.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/01/19/ireland.church.scandal/

And Lombardi suggests the church hierarchy now supports “collaborating with civil authorities.” But if that’s true, then why does the Vatican, even now, 15 years later, still refuse to accept the Irish bishops’ proposal to call police in child sex cases? (“To this day, the Vatican has not endorsed any of the Irish church's three major policy documents since 1996 on safeguarding children from clerical abuse,” reports Al Jazeera. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/01/201111964351899702.html)

And why then, in 2001, did another high ranking Vatican Cardinal praise a French bishop for not telling police about a serial pedophile priest. ("I congratulate you for not denouncing a priest to the civil administration," he wrote. "You have acted well and I am pleased to have a colleague who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son and priest." The priest was later sentenced to 18 years in jail for repeated rape of a boy and sexual assaults on 10 others. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE63E2H420100415)

Is there one nation on the planet, besides the US, in which Catholic bishops have clearly and formally promised “We’ll report all known and suspected child sex crimes to law enforcement?” More important, how many times have church employees – from Cardinal to custodian – ever been disciplined, even slightly, for ignoring or concealing child sex crimes? (We can only think of two such instances, involving only four employees, and their penalties were laughably light.)

Until there are real consequences for church employees who ignore and conceal child sex crimes, child sex crimes will continue to be ignored and concealed.

Let’s remember that it was only last year, after a series of stunning revelations of Vatican complicity in child sex abuse and cover up cases, that the Vatican issued a non-binding, one sentence “clarification” saying that bishops should report clergy child sex crimes to secular authorities in those jurisdictions that require such reporting.

That’s hardly reform – suggesting that bishops obey civil and criminal laws.

Finally, Lombardi, the official Vatican spokesman, makes the pathetic claim that the letter is “not new” and “has been known in Ireland for some time.” That’s ridiculous. Virtually every single news account says the letter is just now publicly surfacing. Such a contorted and desperate denial of the obvious from Pope Benedict’s spokesman is an insult to Catholics and casts serious doubt on Lombardi’s judgment.

Wouldn’t it be reassuring to hear Pope Benedict say, simply and clearly, “It’s now official and binding – every church member and employee must report every known and suspected child sex crimes to law enforcement. And every time a cleric breaks this rule, he’ll be severely disciplined. Period.” But he hasn’t.

And wouldn’t it be reassuring to hear top Vatican staff say “We were dead wrong to even hint that bishops not call police about known and suspected child molesters. We are deeply sorry.” But they aren’t.

So it’s pretty hard to believe there’s been any real change in the church hierarchy on child sex crimes and cover ups.

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More proof shows Vatican urges stonewalling police; SNAP responds

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach CA, western regional director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (949 322 7434, jcasteix@gmail.com)

In the mid 1990s, Irish bishops wanted to start telling law enforcement about horrific child sex crimes. Top Vatican bureaucrats told them no. That’s what this newly-released letter shows. We can’t help but wonder how many other similar documents – in which the Vatican thwarts local efforts to combat abuse – remain hidden in church records across the world.

And according to one Irish newspaper, “A new documentary reveals the contents of the letter and claims that, on two occasions, the Vatican intervened and stopped attempts made by Irish bishops to defrock pedophile priests.”

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Vatican-asked-Irish-bishops-not-to-report-clerical-abuse-to-the-police-113868834.html

Last year, disclosures showed that Vatican officials refused to defrock proven predators. But this is worse. These disclosures show Vatican officials refusing to honor the most basic duty of citizenship – notifying police about crimes.

There’s no way to “spin” this. In black and white, in a letter to a group of bishops, a high-ranking Catholic official in Rome essentially says “protecting our priests is more important than protecting your kids.” A key Roman Catholic figure basically tells bishops that church policy trumps criminal laws and that church officials, not secular officials, get to quietly handle child molesters “in house.”

Defrocking child predators happens only after severe harm is done. Calling police about suspected child predators can help prevent severe harm. But Vatican officials have told church staff to avoid either step.

This disclosure makes Catholic officials in both Rome and Ireland look bad. It’s a widely-held moral precept that one cannot excuse immoral actions because of edicts from one’s boss. That’s basically what Irish church officials have done.

Why have Irish bishops obeyed such clearly hurtful and reckless directives from the Vatican? Why have they stayed silent for 15 years while the Vatican refuses to approve new child sex abuse policies?

But obviously, Vatican officials look much worse. Who but the most callous, corrupt and self-serving individual tells others to keep quiet about possible or proven child predators?

A clear and disturbing pattern has emerged. The child sex abuse and cover up scandal begins to emerge in a nation. Lay people demand action by their bishops but get little response. So they urge the Vatican to act. The Vatican ‘passes the buck’ back to local church officials, claiming they’ll handle it. But when local church officials make even paltry attempts at reform, the Vatican blocks them. And kids continue to get hurt, predators continue to walk free, law enforcement continues to be ignored, and bishops continue to pretend to be powerless.