I get emails from Catholics all the time asking me why I’m “picking” on their religion. It’s true that they certainly aren’t the only game in town, but they are perhaps the most influential and financially wealthy religious organization in the world. It must be strange for them to hear so much criticism. It’s only been until recently that any of us have actually been allowed to speak ill of the church without having to worry about being put on a rack, so my dear Catholic friends, you’ll forgive me if I take the opportunity to stretch my legs a little.
Of import is the latest report on clerical abuse straight out of what was perhaps the Church’s last great stronghold: Ireland. You might recall a few months ago the bombshell that was the Ryan report; it was only the tip of the iceberg, and now the Murphy report is outlining the exact extent of the conspiracy of silence and aid for pedophiles from both the Archdiocese of Dublin and the Vatican. Here’s one of the conclusions outlined in the report:
The Dublin Archdiocese?s pre-occupations in dealing with cases of
child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of
secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the
Church, and the preservation of its assets. All other considerations, including
the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these
priorities. The Archdiocese did not implement its own canon law rules and did
its best to avoid any application of the law of the State.
Did you expect anything less? The Archdiocese actually took out insurance in the 80’s expecting trouble, proving once more that they were more than aware that something terrible was going on, and it’s doubtful that everyone wasn’t aware at least on some level of the serious issue of pedophilia in their organization.
You might recall that the current Pope also wrote a secret memo (which has since been leaked) urging Diocese to put the interest of the Church ahead of the welfare of children. He was also granted immunity from prosecution in the US by President Bush, so you can thank Dubya for that one too. The Catholic Church has never been particularly interested in stopping the plague of child abuse (or more specifically rape)
November 30th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Priests take an oath to defend and protect mother church above all else. It’s bad enough that they think their imaginary friend is more important than any real humans, but they also hold their institutional church above the well being of any people. The catholics are certainly _not_ a force for good in this world (as was pointed out so well in the intelligence squared debate on the BBC).
December 1st, 2009 at 3:46 am
Man I enjoyed that debate. Especially at the end when so many people adjusted their opinion in favour of “not a force for good”. I really wish the production team had instructed the cameramen to get more close-up, reaction shots. Hitchens lit up like a lightbulb after the numbers were announced but I wanted more of the shock and awe from the religious spokes people.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:25 am
Can’t we get RICO statutes on these people?