Abuse Cases Raise Doubt About Claims In Dioceses’ Annual Reports, by David O’Reilly, The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 12, 2011.
From the article: “The gap between that action and the archdiocese’s self-evaluation has “thrown our audit process open,” Kettelkamp said, adding that her staff was debating asking dioceses to open priests’ personnel files to investigators.
Robert Bennett, a Washington lawyer who served on the bishops’ first advisory board for handling sex-abuse issues, said Monday that he did not think dioceses’ self-reporting was effective.
“I don’t know what the alternative would be,” Bennett said, “but you probably need somebody outside the church apparatus monitoring the process.”
The OCYP will acknowledge that the bishops do not even allow the audits to include whether a diocese’s “mandatory” provisions, especially continuing education of priests on the subject of preventing kids being sexually abused, are being followed. If they did, I would bet my house that they would show that in reality, that particular provision would turn out to be “voluntary”.
Its time to stop asking the Cardinals for meetings to discuss this. It time to start telling prosecutors and politicians to get the truth, since the church has proven that doesn’t consider child rape to be that big of a deal.
How did child rape happen even once, ever?
How is it that it happened since.
Here are the new commandments:
1) Keep priests away from children
2) DEMAND that bishops take Catholic money and have investigators investigate every parish
3) make every priest take a lie detector test. They will use the “its not legal” excuse, but they’ve passed the statute of limitations anyways, so the results can’t be used in court. However, they can be used to determine how safe the church is for children. You now KNOW its not safe in Philadelphia, but you have the opportunity to show the Catholic world.
4) Make a team of known victims do the monitoring. What are you thinking allowing a tribunal of priests and chosen lay people oversee it?
Stop asking your Catholic leaders for permission. They are no longer God’s leaders, and God couldn’t make it more clear to you. They have disgraced God and the church, and God wants you to take the church back before the whole world considers it the church of child rape and lying.
Stop acting like you’re asking Daddy for permission. Go in, kick the door down, and tell them what to do, and that otherwise, you will picket and blog and yell and scream and do everything you can to teach Catholic leaders how to be acceptable followers.
It so much worse than you think. That’s why every priest is silent. They’ve heard the confessions. They know its still not fixed. The grand jury report PROVED it to you. You’re afraid to find out.
But these are God’s children that got raped. These are God’s children that the Catholic community didn’t welcome back. These are God’s children that everyone is afraid to fight for because priests and bishops tell you to be silent, and you might get in trouble.
Don’t you think God is going to ask every one of you about this when you die? You think God cares if you went to mass at their church if you didn’t fight for these children? Could He have given you a simpler, easier test?
God will reward the people that stood up with all their might to fight against those that raped children, those that covered it up, those that lied about it, and those that were indifferent.
Pick a side. God’s gonna ask, and He’s not going to accept excuses.
Now that the ‘rcc’ has been exposed again (3rd time) why is everyone afraid ? I can not understand why the PA Legislature has not acted on behalf of the VICTIMS and those that attend mass still donate to an organization that has shown itself to be interested in $$$$$ ? We are not speaking of isolated incidents of abuse but a world wide enabling and cover up. Like Patrick O’Malley stated above ‘Pick a SIde”
Hopefully we are on the verge of a New Period of Enlightenment !
USCCB AUDIT PROCESS –
One of the biggest jokes in this program is the fact that the General Counsel to the USCCB at the time of its issuance was Mark Chopko, 20 year counsel to the esteemed group of US Catholic Church leaders.
A couple of years ago, he left that position and joined Stradley Ronon, the primary counsel to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (William Sasso is the Chairman of Stradley and Ronon). As a matter of fact, Mr. Chopko is the head of the Nonprofit & Religious Organizations Practice Group at Stradley Ronon.
I think it would be illuminating and valuable for the Catholic faithful of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to allow Mr. Chopko to explain in detail the goals and objectives of the audit process and how such failures could have occurred as those illustrated in the second Grand Jury Investigation and Report released in February 2011 by the District Attorney of Philadelphia.
Since such an event is highly unlikely, it may be necessary for those highly-motivated faithful in the Philadelphia archdiocese to have the following details available for their advocacy efforts:
Mark Chopko
Stradley Ronon
1250 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
Direct Line: 202.419.8410
Fax: 202.822.0140
E-mail: mchopko@stradley.com