The Rev. Justin Hoye was struggling to figure out what, if anything, to say on Sunday to his parishioners at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church about the new turmoil facing the local Roman Catholic diocese.
Days before, news had broken that Bishop Robert Finn and the diocese had been indicted on criminal charges for failing to report a priest found to have pornographic photos of children, including children of his congregants. The priest is accused of having taken more such photographs in the months before church leaders turned them over to law enforcement.
Father Hoye, after reaching out to priests in neighboring parishes ”” all of whom expressed the same uncertainty ”” decided not to address the matter directly from the pulpit but to offer a homily on man and God that emphasized forgiveness.
For the best view of forgiveness, a summary of the events, actions and inactions of the Bishop and the officials of the Kansas Diocese and the priest caught with child pornography, go to the American Conservative blog and read the carefully and clearly written articles on this situation by Rod Dreher. http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/
Another good article is the one by Dan Levine, which makes it obvious that the prosecutors, though hating to bring charges against the church, felt the evidence was so compelling that there was no other choice: Editor’s choiceIsraeli soldier Shalit, Palestinians freed in captive swap
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By Dan Levine
Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:55am EDT
(Reuters) – The first indictment of a bishop for failing to report child pornography would have been groundbreaking in itself but legal experts say a second charge — against the diocese — is almost as rare.
Bishop Robert Finn of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph appeared in court on Friday on one count of failure to report child abuse. Prosecutors in Jackson County, Missouri, alleged Finn knew in December 2010 about hundreds of photos of children on Reverend Shawn Ratigan’s laptop but did not notify authorities for five months.
Finn pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Prosecutors leveled a second charge against the diocese itself, which also pleaded not guilty.
“You don’t want to tarnish the name of the Catholic Church, which can do many good things,” said Brian Klopfenstein, a former prosecutor in Missouri. “But maybe they felt they had to do something profound to get people’s attention.” […] “If it’s so damn bad and you’ve been warned and warned and warned and you pay a settlement and there’s no action,” Klopfenstein said, “then it’s almost like even though it’s God’s house, you can’t turn a blind eye.”
The Kansas City diocese also hired a former federal prosecutor to investigate itself and his report concluded that diocese leaders “failed to follow their own policies and procedures” in Ratigan’s case.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/16/us-usa-crime-bishop-idUSTRE79F0UF20111016
I apologize for all the extra text that got copied inadvertently. I will re-submit a corrected comment composed offline.
For the best view of forgiveness, a summary of the events, actions and inactions of the Bishop and the officials of the Kansas Diocese and the priest caught with child pornography, go to the American Conservative blog and read the carefully and clearly written articles on this situation by Rod Dreher. http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/
Another good article is the one by Dan Levine, which makes it obvious that the prosecutors, though hating to bring charges against the church, felt the evidence was so compelling that there was no other choice: “You don’t want to tarnish the name of the Catholic Church, which can do many good things,†said Brian Klopfenstein, a former prosecutor in Missouri. “But maybe they felt they had to do something profound to get people’s attention.†[…] “If it’s so damn bad and you’ve been warned and warned and warned and you pay a settlement and there’s no action,†Klopfenstein said, “then it’s almost like even though it’s God’s house, you can’t turn a blind eye.â€
The Kansas City diocese also hired a former federal prosecutor to investigate itself and his report concluded that diocese leaders “failed to follow their own policies and procedures†in Ratigan’s case.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/16/us-usa-crime-bishop-idUSTRE79F0UF20111016
I am so sick and tired of the excuses for these horrible people.
Forgiveness is one thing.
Forgetting what they are, whitewashing their criminal behavior, “tip toeing around the situation”, convincing others to feel sorrier for the criminals than for the targets of their crimes, and/or enabling perpetrators to continue in their criminal activity is quite something else, indeed.
People like Finn are criminals, plain and simple. They enable; they aid and abet the perpetrators to continue harming others.
And those part of any conspiracy of silence are every bit as culpable.
All of these individuals must be stopped, held accountable, held civilly liable, and vigorously criminally prosecuted.
Civilly, Finn is liable and those above him are vicariously liable for the acts and failures to act of those beneath them. In a hierarchical structure, that is the way it is. Authority flows down. Liability flows up. End of story.
The Roman Catholic Church and those above the perpetrators can always recoup any financial losses from the perpetrator himself or herself if those above the perpetrators are in no way responsible for the acts or failures to act under the law.
What some of the excuse makers and “forgive without holding people accountable types” want people to forget are the targets of the abuse.
Do not allow them get away with this further emotional rape of the targets.
Think about the targets. Focus on them. Think how their lives have been changed forever, maybe even destroyed.
Think of the excruciating pain and suffering they have gone through and will endure for goodness knows how many long days, nights, weeks, months, and years and years.
How anyone can justify and rationalize the criminal behavior of perpetrators and those who enable them, who aid and abet, under the pseudo forgiveness nonsense is blowing smoke and/or deluding themselves and others.
That game is pure sophistry at its most diabolical.
See it and call it for what it is.
Far too many clergy everywhere need to reevaluate their positions and begin doing what they are required to do under the laws of both man and God Almighty.
The conspiracy of silence, the pseudo forgiveness games, the enabling, and the aiding and abetting must stop.
Kudos to the prosecutor in Kansas City and to SNAP, the Survivor’s Network for those Abused by Priests, for their diligent and unceasing work to enact justice and protect the most vulnerable amongst us.