Catholic Church: Chicago Archdiocese protected pedophile priests

Rattinger, forced out but kept the red shoes

By Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired

The media reported last week that the former pope, Joseph Rattinger, the first to quit the job in some 700 years as opposed to leaving in a coffin, defrocked 400 priests in two years as sexual abuse by pedophiles priests mounted.

We all know now that the church hierarchy protected pedophiles and in many cases simply moved them from their victims to other areas where they continued the abuse.

Being defrocked just means losing your job basically.  One wonders how many of these criminals, especially the higher ups that protected them.

The problem is so vast that the UN has held hearings on the matter. The other issue here is that the Catholic Church, today the most important religious institution defending capitalism, is the only religion with its own state. Consequently, it has diplomatic representatives in all countries it has a presence which allows it to influence policy and help suppress dissent more efficiently. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, is the Vatican’s U.N. ambassador in Geneva and appeared before the UN committee to defend the city state.

Troubles continue to mount up as the institution’s Chicago Archdiocese, one of the nation's largest, was forced to release documents, letters, memos and other material to lawyers of victims abused by priests.  The documents reveal that the “church protected some priests for decades and didn't remove them even as evidence of sexual abuse grew.” the Journal reports.

Over the last 8 years the archdiocese has paid out over $100 million to victims.  But what remains to be dealt with is the punishment for the perpetrators, even more so those like previous pope and the Chicago hierarchy that allowed the abuse to continue by covering up for the perpetrators and even sending them to fresh hunting grounds.

The documents, “….lay out how the church protected some priests for decades and didn't remove them even as evidence of sexual abuse grew.” The WSJ adds and the response from the church hierarchy is interesting.  In a statement released to the public the archdiocese said that its leaders, “…made some decisions decades ago that are now difficult to justify. But they added the response followed the law at the time.”

We hear this excuse all the time in banking scandals and other examples of theft, plunder, and the daily corruption that individuals and institutions of capitalism like the Catholic church perpetrate on society.  “We acted within the law” says the banker accused of insider trading or money laundering, bribery and other such pastimes.  They are being honest about this.  The laws are written by them or their political representatives to protect their interests.

Representatives of the Catholic church are different.  They would normally argue that they are guided by a higher law would they not?  But here the church is making excuses for the sexual abuse of children by its employees by saying that they “followed the law at the time”.

They “follow the law” as long as the business and political interests of the institution are protected. “According to lawyers for abuse victims,” the Wall Street Journal adds,  “…the documents, some of which date back to the 1960s, include details of a priest threatening two boys with a handgun after allegedly molesting them and how a priest known as "father happy hands" remained a pastor even after state officials investigated allegations made by 13 boys.

The documents also reveal that, Cardinal Francis George, the present head of the Chicago Archdiocese since 1997, “delayed removing one priest from the ministry over the recommendation of a review board and worked for the early prison release of another priest convicted of sexual assault.”

On top of this only yesterday a Vatican cleric was arrested on a money laundering charge. Apparently he was trying to smuggle $20 million in to Italy. Perhaps this was years of loot collected from the peasants of Latin America who in their desperate poverty fall prey to the myths these institutions perpetrate and try to buy a place in heaven.

How many of these defrocked priests, only punished because the hierarchy was no longer able to protect them, have ended up in jail or institutions for the mentally ill?

“Father happy hands”. What a disgusting institution.