Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Admission of awareness damning for Law - By Thomas Farragher, Boston Globe Staff, 12/14/2002



WATERGATE (AGAIN)?


Cardinal Bernard F. Law's tempestuous road to resignation was marked by roiling protests, televised apologies, secret sessions beyond velvet ropes at the Vatican, and the specter of financial calamity.

But the roots of the archbishop of Boston's demise lay in a simple admission he made in court papers in June 2001 and then reaffirmed with a damning repetition.

He knew.

He knew about allegations that John J. Geoghan, the now-convicted child molester, had been attacking little boys and returned him to parish work nevertheless.

He knew that the Rev. James D. Foley had fathered two children with a woman who later died from a drug overdose after going to bed with him, and yet he kept Foley in active ministry until this month. Photo Law

Law knew that the Rev. Peter J. Frost was an admitted sex addict and child abuser and still held open the prospect of future ministry for him.

With an undeniable certainty, the cardinal's own words, revealed in documents forced from locked chancery filing cabinets by court order, confirmed that knowledge.

Law blamed sloppy record-keeping. He blamed a leadership style in which he delegated tough personnel decisions to subordinates. He said he tragically had relied on now-outdated medical advice to return predatory clergymen to churches where they enjoyed access to children. Photo TIME Washington Post - J Mitchell

And for a time, as last winter's seismic revelations about widespread clergy sexual abuse began to fade, it appeared Law might survive the storm.

But when the year ended as it began - with a release of graphic court records last week that made clear that Law's knowledge about abusive priests was more extensive than he had acknowledged - the cardinal's paper-thin support was swept away. Photo MMCalling

''It struck like an explosion and things were suddenly worse than they were at the beginning,'' said Thomas H. O'Connor, a Boston College historian. ''If there had been any wiggle room at all, it was now gone.''

The beginning of the end for Law and his 18-year tenure in Boston came in the summer of 2001 after 86 people who said Geoghan had assaulted them as children filed civil lawsuits against Geoghan and his supervisors. In response, Law acknowledged that within six months of his arrival here in 1984, he knew Geoghan was notified of charges that Geoghan had molested seven boys. Photo People -M Mitchell Speaking

That admission, and a judge's ruling to unseal Geoghan's court file, triggered months of reporting by the Globe that showed that it took a succession of three cardinals and many bishops 34 years to place children beyond Geoghan's reach. Read complete article & archives - By Thomas Farragher, Boston Globe Staff, 12/14/2002


Watergate (Again)?

___________________

Someday, maybe,

there will exist a well-informed,

well-considered, and yet fervent public conviction

that the most deadly of all possible sins

is the

mutilation of a child's spirit.

Erik Erikson

"Kids Are Being Hurt !!!"


Related Links:

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"Kids Are Being Hurt !!!"


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New Catholic Sex Abuse Findings: Gay Priests Are Not the Problemby DAVID GIBSON – Politics Daily - November 18, 2009

Report: Sexual orientation not a factor in priest sex abuse -Philadelphia Gay News - Jen Colletta


"Kids Are Being Hurt !!!"


This about the reckless endangerment of childrenin a calculated, purposeful strategy to protect the institutional Church - By Jason Walsh - The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

Pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests' – London Evening Standard – standard.co.uk

Child Protection Service of the Archdiocese of Dublin,November 2009 -Report by Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child abuse against clerics of the CatholicArchdiocese of Dublin. Read complete report->Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin

Murphy report is only the beginningThe Sunday Times – Times Online, November 29, 2009

Catholic Church in Ireland given immunity for child sexual abuse cover-up, report says, 26, November 2009 – Telegraph.co.uk

Irish Church accused of abuse cover-up – BBC News, 26 November 2009

Open letter to nuncio calls on pope to remove bishops– by GENEVIEVE CARBERY - The Irish Times

AUSCHWITZ * FLASHBACK, AGAIN!!! *** Love is NEVER a Threat – Hate is ALWAYS a Threat - To Everyone!!! ->Part 2

AUSCHWITZ * FLASHBACK, AGAIN!!! *** Love is NEVER a Threat – Hate is ALWAYS a Threat - To Everyone!!! -> PART I



Someday, maybe,

there will exist a well-informed,

well-considered, and yet fervent public conviction

that the most deadly of all possible sins

is the

mutilation of a child's spirit.

Erik Erikson

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