Is the Pope guilty of sexual abuse cover up?

[give her dixie]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8587082.stm

Pope Benedict faces child abuse cover-up queries 

Benedict once led the Vatican office charged with investigating abuse 
Questions are being raised about whether Pope Benedict was personally involved in covering up a case of child sex abuse by a Roman Catholic priest.

Documents seen by the New York Times newspaper allege that in the 1990s, long before he became Pope, he failed to respond to letters about a US case.

Fr Lawrence Murphy, of Wisconsin, was accused of abusing up to 200 deaf boys.

Defending itself, the Vatican said US civil authorities had investigated and dropped the case.

For more than 20 years before he was made Pope, Joseph Ratzinger led the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith - the Vatican office with responsibility, among other issues, for the Church's response to child abuse cases.

Allegations that the Church sought to cover up child abuse by Catholic priests in Europe have haunted the Vatican for months.

'So friendly'

The documents seen by the New York Times suggest that in 1996, the then Cardinal Ratzinger twice failed to respond to letters sent to him personally.


  Instead of removing [Fr Murphy] from the priesthood, they just gave him a free pass

Jeff Anderson
US lawyer
They concerned the Rev Lawrence Murphy, who worked at a Wisconsin school for deaf children from the 1950s.

Three archbishops of Wisconsin were told Fr Murphy was sexually abusing boys but those allegations were not reported to civil authorities at the time.

Alleged victims quoted by the New York Times gave accounts of the priest pulling down their trousers and touching them in his office, his car, his mother's country house, on class excursions and fund-raising trips, and in their dormitory beds at night.

"If he was a real mean guy, I would have stayed away," said Arthur Budzinski, 61, a former pupil of at St John's School for the Deaf, in St Francis, in the Diocese of Milwaukee.

"But he was so friendly, and so nice and understanding. I knew he was wrong, but I couldn't really believe it."

According to the New York Times, Fr Murphy was quietly moved to the Diocese of Superior in northern Wisconsin in 1974, where he spent his last 24 years working freely with children in parishes and schools. He died in 1998, still a priest.

Two lawyers have filed lawsuits on behalf of five men alleging the Archdiocese of Milwaukee did not take sufficient action against the priest.

One of the lawyers, Jeff Anderson, told the Associated Press news agency that the documents they had obtained on Fr Murphy, and shown to the New York Times, showed the Vatican was more concerned about possible publicity than about the abuse allegations.

"Instead of removing him from the priesthood, they just gave him a free pass," he said.

'Tragic case'

The Pope's official spokesman, Federico Lombardi, called it a "tragic case" but pointed out that the Vatican had become involved only in 1996, after US civil authorities had dropped the case.

"During the mid-1970s, some of Fr Murphy's victims reported his abuse to civil authorities," the Rev Lombardi said in a statement.

"The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith was not informed of the matter until some 20 years later."

The Milwaukee diocese was asked to take action by "restricting Father Murphy's public ministry and requiring that Father Murphy accept full responsibility for the gravity of his acts", the Rev Lombardi added.

He also said that Fr Murphy's poor health and a lack of more recent allegations had been factors in the decision not to defrock him.

But the Vatican's decision not to carry out its own investigation is the question that brings the now Pope's own involvement centre stage, says BBC religious affairs correspondent Christopher Landau.

Victims of sexual abuse by priests have long argued that the Church has been more interested in protecting its reputation and helping its priests than seeking justice for victims, our correspondent adds.

Fr Murphy died in 1998, with - in the Church's view - no official blemish on his priestly record.

But questions about why Cardinal Ratzinger failed to respond to concerns being raised by American archbishops still demand answers, our correspondent says.

And such questions mean that this sexual abuse crisis continues to have an impact at the very highest level in the Roman Catholic church, he adds.

[Orior]

Oh yes, and he's also guilty of not telling us who really killed Jesus, who really killed Judas, who really got Mary preggers.

And while we're at it, I once stole a pen from work. Should I through myself of a cliff?

[longrunsthefox]

No-start a new thread..    Good Popes- What have they done for you? 

[orangeman]

Does a bear shite in the woods ?

[Estimator]

Does a beat shite in the woods ?

Not sure
What exactly is a beat?

[orangeman]

Does a beat shite in the woods ?

Not sure
What exactly is a beat?

[Master Yoda]

Anybody of thinks that the Pope was not involved in keeping the whole business of abusers and pedophile priests as quiet as possible is living in Cuckoo land.

[Main Street]

Cloud Cuckoo land is a nice place though

[longrunsthefox]

Cloud Cuckoo land is a nice place though

THE VATICAN

[The Iceman]

So I don't think I make any secrets about my faith on here.  I will say that I do believe the Pope (then Cardinal), in my opinion, was aware of the abuse and failed to act on it.  He failed the victims and lives were ruined as a result.  Just like Sean Brady did.

So what happens now? The media and the public go crazy, the Pope is told to resign (which he wont) and the media and public call for everyone and anyone who had any notion of half of what was happening to stand down.  The Church falls apart.  Everyone lives happily ever after?

The Church messed up (biggest understatement ever) but I believe that the people in positions of power today, despite their failings, are in the best position to lead us (the Church, the faithful, people who actually go to Mass) out of this tragedy and forward towards reconciliation and peace. 

[Puckoon]

Who tells the pope? Seeing as he is christ's vicar?

[Kerry Mike]

Who tells the pope? Seeing as he is christ's vicar?

Christ did not select him, Joey Ratzinger took over the vatican circus show long before JPII died, he ran the show for the funeral and was it any surprise then that all the auld cardinals then voted him in, jaysus I'd say they were scared shitless of him. It would have been a great time for a younger man to get elected and to bring some modern thinking to the church and first thing to do would have been to stand up and apologies for the past and root out all the evil hoors from the church and ensure the wrongs of the past were never repeated.

Hard to warm to the pope, he's too old school, John Paul had his flaws but he had a bit of charisma and people trusted him and in the most part liked him. Benny 16 is driving people away from the church.

As for the topic yes I'd say all popes have been quilty by association of some form of cover ups over the years.

[stew]

Who tells the pope? Seeing as he is christ's vicar?

Christ did not select him, Joey Ratzinger took over the vatican circus show long before JPII died, he ran the show for the funeral and was it any surprise then that all the auld cardinals then voted him in, jaysus I'd say they were scared shitless of him. It would have been a great time for a younger man to get elected and to bring some modern thinking to the church and first thing to do would have been to stand up and apologies for the past and root out all the evil hoors from the church and ensure the wrongs of the past were never repeated.

Hard to warm to the pope, he's too old school, John Paul had his flaws but he had a bit of charisma and people trusted him and in the most part liked him. Benny 16 is driving people away from the church.

As for the topic yes I'd say all popes have been quilty by association of some form of cover ups over the years.

He is of course guilty but to say he is worse than JP 2 is a stretch, they both knew what was going on and on both their watches Priests were moved around rather than held accountable for their disgusting actions.

The message el papa sent to us all was hardly an admission of wrongdoing, it was however wonderful from a bullshit artists point of view, he should resign, in fact he should never have been elected in the first place.

If the Catholic Church is to survive it first has to cast out all of it's demons, i.e, be 100% honest in what it's leaders knew, who the paedos were (all of them) and then explain why they did not contact the authorities when they found out who these scumbags were. After that, they need to compensate the victims and screen all potential priests within an inch of their lives.

The Popes throughout history have been mostly men completely out of touch with their flock at best and absolute sadistic whoremongers at worst

[ludermor]

The Church messed up (biggest understatement ever) but I believe that the people in positions of power today, despite their failings, are in the best position to lead us (the Church, the faithful, people who actually go to Mass) out of this tragedy and forward towards reconciliation and peace.

Just like our present government 

[ardmhachaabu]

stew, I know for an absolute fact that religious orders and diocesan people responsible for recruiting men to the priesthood have been screening people within an inch of their lives via the RUC/PSNI/Gardai for at least 15 years.  That includes psychological interviews and tests along with prolonged interviews with trained counsellors as well as priests

That doesn't mean that the security checks with cops will pick up on all paedophiles, as those checks only pick up known ones