Tweet
Recently, I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in the variety — and sheer lunacy factor — in the groups being blamed by the Catholic Church hierarchy, the Vatican, and its spokesmen (and they are always men, let us never forget that) for priests and bishops molesting, sexually abusing, and raping children. Ofttimes the abuse went on for decades while the Church concerned itself more about appearances and not losing a single cleric no matter how vile his behavior.
Some of those being blamed are frequently mentioned, such as "homosexuals" or "loose sexual morals of modern society."
Over the last few weeks, I began compiling a list of those blamed, especially as the Church spokesmen began really going wild with their allegations. Earlier this week, I posted a comment in Eli’s Seminal diary, "Another Day, Another Scapegoat" with the list. A few kind comments later and some encouragement, here’s my first FDL diary ever, including not only the list but links to the sources I was able to scare up with a few hours of Google searches. They may not always be the best web citation and a few are repeats, but I tried the best I could.
Without further adieu, here’s everyone blamed for the Church’s pedophile problem, in no particular order (although the most recent one blaming porn was just reported today):
- Porn on television and the internet
- Homosexuals
- Atheists
- Anti-Semites
- Jews (especially Zionist Jews who brought the Holocaust upon themselves)
- Freemasons (who were in league with the Jews)
- Progressive Western societies with non-repressive sexual attitudes
- Liberals and progressives in general
- Activists, radical feminists, and gays
- International anti-Catholic conspiracies (in addition to the Jews and Freemasons)
- Petty gossip
- The NY Times
- President Obama
- Satan himself
- The children, who supposedly seduced priests on purpose (The Lolita Defense)
- Absolutely no one associated with the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the Vatican, or the current or previous popes ever
- Homosexuals (x3), which by definition also includes lesbians, although how that is supposed to work I have no clue whatsoever
That’s everything. If you have others, please feel free to post ‘em in the comments.
25 Comments
Thank you for this article. It is so offensive to watch the hierarchy of the church of my youth demean themselves. Sinead O’Connor has been more than vindicated. I don’t know whether to cry or puke.
Well said.
I am still waiting for the Church to admonish itself. When I met Pope John Paul II back in the mid eighties, I was not overcome by a sense of deep spiritual connect with God. I was thrown by what I sensed…a hidden, deep evil. It shook me to my core. As I was on a tour in Rome of related Vatican agencies, I past a seminary which gave me the same sense of “something is wrong here.” My guide rushed me past the seminary and tried to change the subject. I was taken back by the response.
I later found out it was a Legion of Christ Seminary
(Eli, I am sorry I missed your post on Tuesday. Great post. And Becca, great comment. Glad you made it into a diary.)
I’m no biblical scholar, but wasn’t that Jesus guy pretty big on honesty?
“They ought to check with that Jesus fella they’re so crazy about. They’re always talking about what would Jesus do, what would Jesus do? They don’t want to know so they can do it, They just want to know so they can tell other people to do it.”-George Carlin
If you haven’t seen this yet, don’t miss it.
Lucifer’s Lodge: Satanic Ritual Abuse in the Catholic Church
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/lucifers-lodge-satanic-ritual-abuse-in-the-catholic-church/343299
Their download is a quick loading PDF and reads like a book.
A word to the wise, If you do a google to find this, the free download from ebooks is a site offering it that actually installs spyware instead.
I found three copies of this paperback on sale for prices ranging from $400 to $995. I highly recommend reading it. On page 199 you will find a cover up that will make you sick and permanently end all legitimacy of the Catholic church.
So, do the lulu not the ebook.
I’ve never been so proud to be an Atheist than I have been the past few weeks.
Thanks for the list (I think). I have compassion for RC’s of faith, but I really do not “get” how anyone could continue to be associated with that church anymore – or at least without parishioners running these greedy pederasts outta the Vatican on a rail.
Why there are not more criminal charges suggests collusions at all kinds of global high levels.
Thoroughly disgusting; representative of power structures gone totally corrupt on all levels.
These kinds of things happen in every church, but this kind of worldwide, insitutionalized, corruption is, even in these days, rather jaw-dropping. That anyone can take these perverts with any grain of seriousness is beyond my imagination, but I have seen posts actually defending the Nazi Ratzi, Grand Poobah Pederast in Chief. Defies logic.
The next time the American Council of Bishops (or whatever they are) attempts to butt into the legislative proces – as they did this summer with HCR and the attempt to limit women’s right to abortions (yeah: keep pumping out those kids, so we have enough to rape) – everyone should be out with pitchforks. I know I will.
great list Becca!
here’s what Jay Ackroyd had to say
Anyone and everyone is at fault, except the Catholic Church and the top leaders who have affirmed and executed the church’s policy of protect the church, children be damned attitude toward a handful of predatory priests who abuse their power.
Apart from mimicking the French government’s attitude during the Dreyfus affair of “we can do no wrong”, the church is avoiding its biggest problems by attacking the messengers who tell the world about them.
One of them is recruitment, not just of bodies or of the emotionally or worldly inexperienced or incapable, but of whole, experienced, devout, loving and professional staff. Surely, that goal would be advanced by finally removing the septic hair shirt of celibacy. The world is no longer a declining Roman Empire; church leaders need no longer find sustenance and safety by rejecting its excesses, while imitating its mode and style of government.
Imagine how much more invigorated this church would be if it did so. Imagine how much more credible would be its pronouncements about the sacred and profane aspects of sexuality and family life if its leaders knew about them first hand, rather than from furtive rustlings in the confessional, the choir or the cellar. Holiness is not derived by removing oneself from life and pontificating about the nobility of rejecting humanity. It derives from immersing oneself in it, and helping to make it more in god’s image.
The afterlife will take care of itself, just as tomorrow will take care of itself. It is the life we live today that needs the assistance of the devotion, integrity, talent and commitment that this church at its best can offer.
There’s a countdown on Benedicts remaining scandals.
A couple more and they’ll oil up his prada shoes to make sure that he has an accident and gets to beg forgiveness from god in person.
I find the reasoning behind the finger pointing to be irrational. The Catholic Church, for example, says it is Teh Gays that are responsible. Are they saying that the general atmosphere on the planet caused their priests to go sideways and rape children? Are they saying that their priests are gay and rapists? Of course, we know that the percentage of child molestation is much higher in the hetero population but facts don’t seem to matter. Soon women will be charged with the blame somehow. And it is clear that those nasty, seductive children must have something to do with it. WTF? In all seriousness, why aren’t these priests in jail?
I think they’ll blame gravity.
Gravity caused them to fall down p***s first onto the tied up child.
Can they blame galileo or copernicus for this? Those damned satanists practiced black magic and mind controlled them into diddling?
Thanks everyone for the kind remarks.
The one on that list I found the most monstrous was when Bishop Alvarez said is was the children seducing the priests — not those words, but the intent was unavoidable.
The RCC does seem to really enjoy blaming gays, even though the responsible studies show that the gender of the child almost doesn’t even matter to the pedophile or child molester, only opportunity and availability.
It remains my contention the only reason why male priests may tend to go more often after boys of a particular age is the nature of the paraphilia induced by their own molestation while in seminary school. If questioned about their actual sexual orientation, the usual percentage would actually turn out to be heterosexual on the Kinsey scale.
These stories of predation by priests and others higher up emerged early on in New Mexico. The Church sent pedophiles to NM, to rural parishes, where their activities were easily kept undercover by a culture that was wedded to the church AND had the necessary component of servitude and submission that furthered the secrets.
I grew up in the Church, and as a survivor of childhood sexual assault, I have a profound fury at this scandal that seems to have no bounds. As a woman, I cannot separate this from the fury I have over the Church demands over my reproduction, my body, my life.
The Church wants separation of Church and State when convenient: to protect assets, avoid taxes, civil prosecution, etc. etc, but wants to insert itself into all aspects of the political realm, whether defining what health care shall be available to women, opining on whom we should elect to public office or proscribing whether a member of the clergy can be elected or express a contrary opinion, while at the same time denying families the opportunity to Protect Their (so valuable and worthy) Children. Children, so precious in utero but once born can find not one ounce of protection from that very Church that supposedly finds such value in their little lives. A Church that treats their innocence with such total disregard.
I lost my faith a long time ago. It is beyond comprehension that the Church can still fill pews. I do understand that faith is profound, but I simply cannot forgive this intentional fraud and these thousands of assaults on the bodies of the most vulnerable.
It is bullshit. Total effing crap. There is no circle of hell hot enough for this betrayal.
There’s a small Catholic retreat in Jemez Springs run by a secretive group of Catholic brothers called the Servants of the Paraclete. Originally founded in 1947 by Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, its intent was to help priests and brothers suffering from drug and alcohol addiction, with a side note that they’d help clergy having issues with celebacy.
But almost immediately the Church started sending him child molesters. In ’48, Fitzgerald set a policy against accepting them, saying there was nothing to be done for these sex offenders but to turn them over to civil authorities for prosecution and/or real psychologists for treatment.
Nevertheless, he continued to be pressured to accept the pedophiles through the 50s and early 60s. Over on Wikipedia there’s an account from Fitzgerald where he said that when he started 8 in 10 were drug or alcohol problems (mostly the latter), and two either celibacy problems in general or molesters. By the mid 60s, it was 50% drug/alcohol and the other half having sexual issues. Of course, one trouble is even he conflated homosexuality with pedophilia, treating them as one and the same, with a preference towards using the former term.
Through the 60s though, Fitzgerald began losing influence over the decision-making and the Church just kept dumping more and more pedophiles at the Jemez Springs retreat, operating under the basic assumption that after some treatment and talk therapy, any cleric could be returned to active duty without limitation.
This went on for decades, until the 1990s when a series of lawsuits — including one related to a priest who was molesting children there in Jemez Springs while at the Paraclete retreat house — the Servants of the Paraclete shut down most of its facilities (there were 23 worldwide at the peak). Although a novitiate remains in operation, the ‘treatment center’ in Jemez Springs itself closed at the end of 2002.
One of the reasons? It had such a bad reputation that no priest wanted to go there for treatment.
I am all too familiar with the Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs.
Very good diary, and for a first one here? Outtathepark good!
I’ve been refraining from these RC pedophile diaries lately, but this was one I thought I should comment on.
Blame shifting is what they do. It’s all about “If you don’t submit…”
- God will be unhappy.
- I will be unhappy with you (victim)
- You will be unhappy (the most cruel and ironic)
Then it’s all about “If you talk about this…”
- God will be unhappy
- I will be unhappy
- You will be unhappy
- Your family will be unhappy
- No one will believe you
It’s about power, and how you get it is by make believe; on the part of the perp and that the perp can keep the blame flowing away from himself.
The Church is losing power and, to the likes of ME, and it simply hates that, and tough shit.
Lots of comment in the Press to the effect that the Vatican has the worst communications strategy ever…I rather disagree, There is a bit of CYA to it, various Bishops, Cardinals and Curia Officials justifying past acts and all, but the mish-mash is really experimental. Throw it all against the wall and see if anything sticks.
The most recent obtuse statements by the Pope pretty much illustrate this, and I reference comments in a homily regarding Penance. Yet one more effort to frame the crisis as a matter of sin, with the standard follow on response, one must do Penance for the sins, within the formula of Confession, Repentance, Church assigned acts of Penance.
The whole point is to avoid the intellectual construction that sexual abuse of children is CRIME, and that Authority other than the Church deals with Crimes against persons, makes judgment, extracts penalty. What all the blame shifting and other diversions amount to is avoiding the core issue, namely that in the Modern World, Civil Authority deals with Crime.
As you watch carefully the language used in many of the Vatican Statements, (most coming from second tier spokespersons), you can read into it all the continuous pettifoggery. This week the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith came out with a statement on “process” to be used by any Bishop in dealing with reports of abuse of children. The statement used the construction “should” contact Civil Authority, as opposed to “Must” contact… So while you have a statement on process now, you still have a shiftyness about actually recognizing the authority of the Civil State. Once you see that, you must understand they still are not “getting it” and comprehending what they are actually dealing with, or at least not being honest about it.
Aye… And I think at the root of it is the clergy, bishops, Catholic hierarchy in its entirety and even the Pope (including the present one and others clearly going back to Paul VI) don’t really believe what is happening to these children is actually a heinous crime.
They see it as a sin, a regrettable and shameful personal failing, but no more.
I’d agree that part of what’s happening now with the flailing about with the Excuse of the Day is an attempt to distract, to try every possible alternative in case one of them catches on. The reason that’s happening is there’s serious pushback from the GLBT community and its supporters worldwide, so the RCC’s old “it’s those nasty gays” excuse just isn’t working like it did a generation ago.
What an excellent diary. Thank you, Becca
Bill Donohue of the catholic league has also blamed Jeff Anderson, and he has blamed SNAP, “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests”
http://www.progressivepuppy.com/the_progressive_puppy/2010/03/bill-donohue-defends-church-blames-gays-for-church-sex-scandals.html
Thanks JudyJones, I’ll add to the list.
The Church would have no luck defending itself if there weren’t way to many week minds that believe in it.
There’s a hell of a difference in believing in God, and or believing in a church that tells You what to believe.
Come on fellow canines. You must admit that the Roman Catholic Church has a remarkable sense of humor. Hell, the next thing you know they will accuse the Jews of killing God. Now if you think about such an absurd statement, you will have to admit that only the insane or the very stupid must think or even worse ‘believe’ such an impossible, ridiculous thing. Again, the leaders of the gloriously inhumane and inhuman Catholic Church should be indicted, tried, and imprisoned for allowing and condoning the raping of children. By their own perverted, sich rules the Catholic Church has damned themselves to eternal hell. Case closed!
Dante himself provided a handy poetic & visually evocative guide describing exactly where those priests, bishops, and their enablers will end up, according to their out-of-proportion afterlife mythology: 9th Circle, 3rd round (known as Ptolomea), reserved for betrayers & traitors toward guests — buried in solid ice.