Click here to read: “Catholic backgrounds of juror candidates impacting who gets chosen for abuse case,” by John P. Martin, The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 29, 2012
Excerpt: “Each reflected a recurring dilemma for the defendants and lawyers in the landmark case: Should they choose Catholic jurors? And if so, how will those jurors’ own experiences with the church affect their judgment?”
I have yet to meet a Catholic that is unbiased on this matter. They are either appalled by the “anit-catholics” that are infairly persecuting the church or are furious and would love to see them all in jail… I guess they’ll need to get a mixture of both of those sides to have a fair trial.
Boom – that’s the problem. Most Catholics don’t think – they just do what they’re told, and believe what they’re told by priests and bishops.
Of course, we now know how much priests and bishops lied about child sex abuse, but if you go into any Catholic rooms or blogs, Catholics will quote from the following prepared statements:
– it happens everywhere (of course its not nearly as bad anywhere else)
– its just anti-Catholic hate (this is a sociological phenomenon that allows weak-minded people to think they are fighting righteously for a cause without knowing the facts)
Catholics should not be allowed on the jury, since most will follow the lead of their hierarchy and “lie for the church”.
Should the 57 yr.old, potential juror (–the ’73 graduate of Cardinal Dougherty) believe Fr. Dunne was the only offending priest operating out of our Alma Mater – then he’s definitely in the dark! According to Bishops Accountability, there were so many, many more there!
So sad to think about the agony of their victims over the years, at the place where I felt so safe and at home.
Hey, did somebody say “Cardinal Dougherty”? Do you remember the pep rallies on Fridays? Back in our days, I didn’t even know about the “girls” with that big wall separating us in the cafeteria.
Yes, there were great times there, but, obviously, during our high school years, there was some very evil, criminal, despicable, treacherous and lecherous conduct and behavior going on there in the dark recesses of the school and the dark recesses of abusers’ minds. This is why we pray every single day for our victims, their families and the ruined and devastated lives that have resulted from such a betrayal of trust and destruction of bodies, spirits and minds.
Michael, that wall had been torn down by the time I got to Dougherty. When I think back, what breaks my heart is the knowledge that the kids who were preyed upon were probably not the outgoing, college-bound, middle class kids, who spent the weekends at their family’s shore houses and who were supported and protected by their families. It seems that the victims were often the poorer more vulnerable kids who lived with the scars of difficult family backgrounds, and who may have struggled just to be able to attend CD. I so badly want justice for these kids.
Doesn’t this bring home the point that every catholic has been affected by the clergy abuse scandal, whether they believe it or not.
Try finding a catholic juror that hasn’t attended a church or school that housed a pedophile or was run by enablers…impossible!
It’s going to be a dilemma for both sides, probably more for the defense. Go ahead and sit your loyal, practicing Catholic on that jury…let them listen to what their “beloved hierarchy” did to the least among them. I have yet to meet anyone who has heard the detailed stories of a victim, seen the “normal” families those children came from face to face and not be moved to disgust and wanting to do “something” to prevent it from ever happening again. Those who keep victims at arms length don’t know what those jurors are going to learn. Wait until they are sitting on a jury determining guilt or innocence while being betrayed at the same time. Will it cloud their ability to remain impartial? Of course it will.
I think some prayer for the Jurors, is probably really a good idea. These are the folks who did NOT read the Grand Jurt reports for 2005 and 2011 , located in the RESOURCES link at the top of this page.
SW is right.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/29/12-jurors-seated-for-philly-priest-sex-abuse-trial/