Post by Clipper on Feb 16, 2019 10:57:52 GMT -5
The ongoing investigations by the Vatican into alleged sex abuse have hit at a higher level than any past actions taken as the Pope has defrocked a highly respected and powerful Cardinal. Most disturbing is the idea that in the past he was given a pass and a slap on the wrist. " McCarrick was a powerful and popular prelate who funneled millions in donations to the Vatican. He apparently got a calculated pass for what many in the church hierarchy would have either discounted as ideological-fueled rumor or brushed off as a mere "moral lapse" in sleeping with adult men."
Is there ever to be an end? Will the church ever reach a point where Catholic parents will be able to trust their parish priest to be alone with their child? SOooo many well respected and beloved priests have been revealed as offenders. Right in the Utica area alone there have been several priests that I have personally known at one level or another. Fathers Colosimo, Casey, Lorenz, Quinn, and Sewall. Father Colosimo's parents lived two doors down from us in N. Utica in the fifties, Father Quinn was at St Pauls in Whitesboro when I made my first communion, and later at St Peter's in N. Utica when my middle son made his first communion. Father Lorenz owned mobile home at Trail's End as a summer getaway, across the road from my ex and I before we bought the house on Kayuta Lake.
Sadly I find one example where the Vatican has allowed a priest to simply be transferred to a different church or different diocese, and the abuse has gone on. I find that to be most disturbing. Father Bill Casey was accused in the Knoxville diocese of abuse in one parish and was simply transferred to one parish after another here in our area of Tennessee until he finally faced trial and was convicted for molesting a young man while serving at St Dominic's in Kingsport Tn, and sentenced to prison. He also faced charges in NC where he pleaded guilty to molesting a Kingsport boy. He was tried in a court house that is two miles down the road from us in Blountville Tennessee. He is currently serving a sentence of over 30 yrs in a NE Tennessee prison. Is it time for the church to report allegations to local law enforcement agencies to be handled and investigated in the area where the alleged activity occurred?
It is the William Casey case that really brought the problem to my attention. It was the fact that they brushed the incidents under the rug and transferred him from one parish to another in the Knoxville diocese, exposing yet more innocent people to his unwanted advances and molestation. THAT was when I became most aware of the problem and the ongoing escalation of accusations and allegations that have proven to be legitimate enough to defrock the accused priests, and the idea that the church would find it okay to allow those priests to move on to different parts of the country and continue their abusive behavior. Had the church turned those cases over to civil authorities, who are much more qualified and have many more resources in place to properly investigate and adjudicate such offenses, many of the incidents of abuse may have been prevented and many of the victims might have been spared.
I am sure that it is not only Catholic clergy that are guilty of the abuse. Other trusted members of the clergy in other religious groups are certainly as guilty as the Catholic clergy in the news, as are others in which families place trust, such as teachers, doctors, and counselors. Actually family members probably top the list of abusers. It did strike me as very alarming that a map showed that 11 priests in the Utica area alone have made the list.
It is a matter that has become a matter that lies heavy on my heart in late years with all the publicity and growing evidence of widespread abuse. My father's family has always had a deeply rooted faith in the church. My grandparents were very devout practicing catholics. My gramp was an usher at St Pauls in Whitesboro and I remember attending mass when he was one of the ushers passing the collection basket. My grandmother and all of my dad's aunts attended mass almost every day, and could be found praying the rosary almost any time of the day when they took time out to relax. Monsignor Willenburg, father Willenburg at the time, was a family friend that had been to our home for dinners and family picnics and he officiated at most of my father's family's funeral services.
While I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I sincerely pray that God will lift the shadow and cloud hanging over the priesthood and the church and heal the wounds and distrust brought about by the scandal. I pray that families will once again be able to place their unwavering trust in the church and in their parish priests who play such a large and vital part in their everyday lives.
www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/Vatican-Defrocks-Former-Cardinal-McCarrick-Over-Sex-Abuse-
www.religiousdouchebags.com/2010/04/father-bill-casey-arrested-for.html
Is there ever to be an end? Will the church ever reach a point where Catholic parents will be able to trust their parish priest to be alone with their child? SOooo many well respected and beloved priests have been revealed as offenders. Right in the Utica area alone there have been several priests that I have personally known at one level or another. Fathers Colosimo, Casey, Lorenz, Quinn, and Sewall. Father Colosimo's parents lived two doors down from us in N. Utica in the fifties, Father Quinn was at St Pauls in Whitesboro when I made my first communion, and later at St Peter's in N. Utica when my middle son made his first communion. Father Lorenz owned mobile home at Trail's End as a summer getaway, across the road from my ex and I before we bought the house on Kayuta Lake.
Sadly I find one example where the Vatican has allowed a priest to simply be transferred to a different church or different diocese, and the abuse has gone on. I find that to be most disturbing. Father Bill Casey was accused in the Knoxville diocese of abuse in one parish and was simply transferred to one parish after another here in our area of Tennessee until he finally faced trial and was convicted for molesting a young man while serving at St Dominic's in Kingsport Tn, and sentenced to prison. He also faced charges in NC where he pleaded guilty to molesting a Kingsport boy. He was tried in a court house that is two miles down the road from us in Blountville Tennessee. He is currently serving a sentence of over 30 yrs in a NE Tennessee prison. Is it time for the church to report allegations to local law enforcement agencies to be handled and investigated in the area where the alleged activity occurred?
It is the William Casey case that really brought the problem to my attention. It was the fact that they brushed the incidents under the rug and transferred him from one parish to another in the Knoxville diocese, exposing yet more innocent people to his unwanted advances and molestation. THAT was when I became most aware of the problem and the ongoing escalation of accusations and allegations that have proven to be legitimate enough to defrock the accused priests, and the idea that the church would find it okay to allow those priests to move on to different parts of the country and continue their abusive behavior. Had the church turned those cases over to civil authorities, who are much more qualified and have many more resources in place to properly investigate and adjudicate such offenses, many of the incidents of abuse may have been prevented and many of the victims might have been spared.
I am sure that it is not only Catholic clergy that are guilty of the abuse. Other trusted members of the clergy in other religious groups are certainly as guilty as the Catholic clergy in the news, as are others in which families place trust, such as teachers, doctors, and counselors. Actually family members probably top the list of abusers. It did strike me as very alarming that a map showed that 11 priests in the Utica area alone have made the list.
It is a matter that has become a matter that lies heavy on my heart in late years with all the publicity and growing evidence of widespread abuse. My father's family has always had a deeply rooted faith in the church. My grandparents were very devout practicing catholics. My gramp was an usher at St Pauls in Whitesboro and I remember attending mass when he was one of the ushers passing the collection basket. My grandmother and all of my dad's aunts attended mass almost every day, and could be found praying the rosary almost any time of the day when they took time out to relax. Monsignor Willenburg, father Willenburg at the time, was a family friend that had been to our home for dinners and family picnics and he officiated at most of my father's family's funeral services.
While I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I sincerely pray that God will lift the shadow and cloud hanging over the priesthood and the church and heal the wounds and distrust brought about by the scandal. I pray that families will once again be able to place their unwavering trust in the church and in their parish priests who play such a large and vital part in their everyday lives.
www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/Vatican-Defrocks-Former-Cardinal-McCarrick-Over-Sex-Abuse-
www.religiousdouchebags.com/2010/04/father-bill-casey-arrested-for.html
