Tuesday, March 30, 2010

AB Dolan was working the press Sunday at Mass most like to insure a change his lid color to red.
Pope Benedict being 'scourged at the pillar,' says New York archbishop
New York City, N.Y., Mar 30, 2010 / 06:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).-

In remarks following Palm Sunday Mass, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York urged Catholics “to express our love and solidarity” for Pope Benedict, who, given the recent media onslaught over sex abuse allegations, is “now suffering some of the same unjust accusations, shouts of the mob, and scourging at the pillar, as did Jesus.” (I haven't noticed anyone dragging out actual whips. I personally find this whole line insulting in it's papal idolatry.)
Following the March 28 Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral, the prelate began his brief statement by stating that the “somberness of Holy Week is intensified for Catholics this year” as the “recent tidal wave of headlines about abuse of minors by some few priests, this time in Ireland, Germany, and a re-run of an old story from Wisconsin, has knocked us to our knees once again.”

“Anytime this horror, vicious sin, and nauseating crime is reported, as it needs to be, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame anew, and sincere Catholics experience another dose of shock, sorrow, and even anger,” Archbishop Dolan said. (AB Dolan hasn't exactly been forthcoming on the idea of reporting. see below.)

But the Archbishop of New York found a more troubling aspect of the recent spate of news. “What deepens the sadness now is the unrelenting insinuations against the Holy Father himself, as certain sources seem frenzied to implicate the man who, perhaps more than anyone else has been the leader in purification, reform, and renewal that the Church so needs,” the archbishop asserted. (If this was true, Dolan would not now be Archbishop of New York since his history is replete with protecting the 'filth' at the expense of victims.)

“Sunday Mass is hardly the place to document the inaccuracy, bias, and hyperbole of such aspersions,” he added.“But, Sunday Mass is indeed the time for Catholics to pray for … Benedict our Pope.” (Nice cop out.)

“And Palm Sunday Mass is sure a fitting place for us to express our love and solidarity for our earthly shepherd now suffering some of the same unjust accusations, shouts of the mob, and scourging at the pillar, as did Jesus.”

Archbishop Dolan then defended Pope Benedict from the articles attempting to establish that he mismanaged sexually abusive priests. (Wait until the press gets on the notion of Benedict mismanaging the assignments of bishops who covered up, coddled, and transferred abusing priests---like AB Dolan.)

“No one has been more vigorous in cleansing the Church of the effects of this sickening sin than the man we now call Pope Benedict XVI,” Archbishop Dolan stressed. “The dramatic progress that the Catholic Church in the United States has made – documented again just last week by the report made by independent forensic auditors – could never have happened without the insistence and support of the very man now being daily crowned with thorns by groundless innuendo.” (I think he's mixing up Benedict with the Boston Globe as it was the Globe without which this 'dramatic progress' could never have happened.)

“Does the Church and her Pastor, Pope Benedict XVI, need intense scrutiny and just criticism for tragic horrors long past?” the prelate asked. “Yes! He himself has asked for it, encouraging complete honesty, at the same time expressing contrition, and urging a thorough cleansing.” (Benedict has never asked for any of this as it pertains to himself--just others.)

“All we ask is that it be fair, and that the Catholic Church not be singled-out for a horror that has cursed every culture, religion, organization, institution, school, agency, and family in the world.”
“Sorry to bring this up,” Archbishop Dolan concluded, “… but, then again, the Eucharist is the Sunday meal of the spiritual family we call the Church. At Sunday dinner we share both joys and sorrows. The father of our family, il papa, needs our love, support, and prayers.”


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Archbishop Dolan certainly passes Pope Benedict's loyalty test. Not surprising since Dolan owes his entire career as an archbishop to principally to Benedict. AB Dolan found himself promoted to the Archbishopric of Milwaukee just under a year after his installation as an auxiliary bishop in St. Louis. Dolan wasn't just on the fast track, his rise in the American Church has truly been meteoric. Interestingly enough, Dolan replaced Archbishop Weakland in Milwaukee. Dolan was supposed to be a savior, coming in to clean up the mess left by Weakland.

So how did he do as a cleanser of Benedict's 'filth' in Milwaukee? Here's the review of his tenure from Bishopaccountability.org:


Archbishop Timothy Dolan “Clergy Abuse Fact Sheet”
Dolan record as Archbishop of Milwaukee, 2002-2009

Note: There are 67 clergy offenders from the Milwaukee archdiocese substantiated child sex assault reports, including 2 deacons and 20 religious order clergy.
In August of 2002, a bishop for less than a year in St. Louis, Dolan was appointed archbishop of Milwaukee, to replace the disgraced Rembert Weakland. Weakland had just been discovered to have paid a former Marquette University seminarian a half a million dollars in hush money for a sexual abuse allegation that Weakland characterized as a sexual relationship.

While in Milwaukee –

Dolan has failed to report direct admissions by clergy sex offenders concerning prosecutable cases of child rape. In February of last year, Sr. Norma Gianni was convicted of child sex assault in Milwaukee County after victims went to police. Yet archdiocesan officials, under the direction of auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba, had obtained a previous confession [see article].

In March, Fr. Bruce McArthur was sentenced for child sex abuse in Juneau County although McArthur had also admitted to the archdiocese that he had assaulted children in several parishes in Milwaukee and a hospital chaplain West Bend [see article].

Dolan is leaving priests or clergy in ministry or publically presenting themselves as priests in the Milwaukee archdiocese, in violation of the 2002 U.S. Bishops Charter to Protect Young Children, including Fr. Joseph Mika, who has admitted to child sex assault while a pastor in the Green Bay diocese and is now living with Dolan’s permission in Milwaukee. Victims groups in Milwaukee are claiming there are more such clergy still working under Dolan [see article].

Dolan secretly paid off one of Milwaukee’s most notorious priest child molesters, Fr. Franklyn Becker, in exchange for the priest to sign papers to leave the priesthood. Dolan sent a delegate to Becker to then assure him that the archdiocese would not publicize why he had left the priesthood [see article].

In a June deposition released in November, former Milwaukee archbishop Rembert Weakland revealed what had long been suspected that Dolan’s number two man, Bishop Richard Sklba was his “go to man” in all sex abuse cases and covering up child sex crimes from authorities and parishioners [see article and the relevant page from the Weakland deposition].

Dolan has refused to remove Sklba from his post, saying that he has “complete confidence” in Sklba [see article].

Dolan, according to Weakland, has never once talked with him about the scores of abusive priests in the archdiocese nor has Dolan read or viewed Weakland’s deposition admitting to concealing and transferring sex offenders to “every parish” in the Milwaukee archdiocese [see article and the relevant page from the Weakland deposition].

In September, Dolan told archdiocesan leaders that due to fraud cases filed against abusive priests and their bishops the archdiocese is going to face a “big financial hit” that is likely, according to archdiocesan officials, to lead to bankruptcy [see article].

Dolan has repeatedly lobbied against sexual abuse reforms in Madison, including a bill that would allow childhood victims of sexual abuse by non-blood relatives to bring cases to Wisconsin civil courts [for example, see article].

Last year, Dolan permitted a letter to be published in the Catholic newspaper describing clergy child sex abuse victims as “prostitutes” [see memo].

Weekly church attendance under Dolan in the Milwaukee archdiocese has dropped every single year and the rate of decrease is increasing at an alarming rate [see press release with links].

Other informative documents from Milwaukee about the clergy abuse crisis and cover up --
Read a 2004 history of sexual abuse of children in the archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Read the entire transcript with video excerpts of former Milwaukee archbishop Rembert Weakland's deposition.

Dolan’s record as Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Louis, 2001-2002

Before his appointment to Milwaukee, Dolan was briefly auxiliary bishop of St. Louis, where he was put in charge of the abuse response for the archdiocese by Archbishop Justin Rigali, who was subsequently promoted to cardinal archbishop of Philadelphia. (Cardinal Rigali is another story in and of himself, and another example of Benedict's failure to extend his concern for the 'filth' to his loyal subordinates.)
While in St. Louis --

Dolan left at least three priests in ministry who were charged in civil court with child sex assault, including one, Fr. Thomas Graham who was later convicted by a jury [see article].

May have failed to supervise Fr. Gary Wolken, a priest sex offender living with Dolan at Our Lady of Sorrows rectory in St. Louis. Wolken was arrested in 2002 for raping and sodomizing a boy from age 7 to 10. Wolken had already been under suspension for child sex abuse [see article].

Wrote a letter to the judge at Wolken’s sentencing to keep Wolken from prison, praising Wolken. Wolken was sentenced to 15 years Dolan refuses to release the letter [see article].

Besides Wolken, Dolan was also living at Our Lady of Sorrows with another priest sex offender, Fr. Michael Campbell. Campbell was removed from ministry for substantiated abuse reports in 2002. Dolan praised Campbell to parishioners saying he trusts him so much he would go to him for confession [see article].

After being suspended in March 2002, Dolan's friend Campbell showed up just weeks later, in April, on the altar of a nearby parish (during Holy Week, no less) to the consternation of many parishioners [see article].

Dolan failed to meet with abuse victims or reply to direct abuse reports [see article].



Archbishop Dolan is himself the perfect example of why the media can not let Benedict off the hook. The abuse crisis is not just about individual predators, it is more correctly a systemic crisis aided and abetted by various forms of misguided loyalty and obedience in the episcopacy.

Benedict himself, as Cardinal Ratzinger, repeatedly caved in to other clerics and JPII when it came to this issue. He had ample opportunity to follow his conscience and blow his whistle but chose silence and obedience. For this alone his castigation of Irish bishops and other clerics rings not just hollow, but self serving. Kind of like Dolan's defense of Benedict.

21 comments:

  1. Dolan was sent to Milwaukee to reverse the liberal winds that had blown in with Rembert Weakland. Right away, an elderly woman who had long served as an altar server at the Cathedral - with such dignity - was swept away! During his tenure Mass attendance dwindled and parishes closed.

    A person I know who is studying "religious education" (for a Master's and has concluded that Orthodox theology is simple and coherent but RCC theology is nearly impossible to explain any longer due to inconsistencies!) told me that if you look carefully at the persons being promoted as Bishops (and Cardinals) they are all Canon Lawyers. He told me that "canon law" and its imposition is the clear agenda being imposed from Rome.

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  2. TheraP if a person takes the time to read the linked articles you can't help but come away wondering what the difference is between Weakland's approach and Dolan's approach. That's the really sick thing about this crisis in management. I doesn't matter what side of the theological spectrum these guys are on, they all react in the exact same way. When it comes to protecting the status of the priesthood, church assets and the authority of the hierarchy, it's a one party system.

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  3. Dolan, Cantalamessa, Levada, Benedict, are fish who live in their own idolatrous priestly fish bowls and nothing else matters except their own waters and that they are fed.

    Though as priests they are to be fishers of men, they have become like the fish; cold blooded creatures. They are blind to their own injustices and indeed they are full of idolatry.

    They turn a blind eye to the children who were abused and persecuted and prefer to live with the pedophiles and prefer confessing their sins to pedophiles and scourge us all for daring to tell the truth, while they profess to be persecuted in their fish bowls.

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  4. If Benedict is being "scourged at the pillar," it's a consequence of his own shortcomings and those of the hierarchy he appointed. It is a self-inflicted wound.

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  5. The Catholic Church has a long history of insisting that clergy be judged (or not judged) by clergy and not by civil courts. It's somewhat akin to the separation between the military and civil system. Go all the way back to the 12th century and look at the story of thomas becket. The straw that broke the camels back in the ongoing conflict between becket (as catholic archbishop of canterbury) and henry II was not taxing church properties, it was the arrest and subsequent execution of an alleged rapist priest by civil authorities. That is where becket as head of the catholic church in england drew the line. Becket was assinated for speaking out against the king on this. And the catholic church has commemorated the entire story by canonizing becket. So the church has a long history of exalting bishops for not cooperating with civil law in cases of sexual abuse. We'll see if benedict and dolan are canonized too. Cardinal Law, who should be in jail, was awarded with one of the four major basilicas of rome for his part in the worst scandal the US church has ever seen, so things bode well for benedict. I, like AB Dolan, am praying for pope benedict too. But I'm praying that he'll accept personal responsibility and suffer the consequences. A pope who truly loves the church would do what it takes to sincerely restore its image in the hearts and minds of thinking, feeling people.

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  6. ah, well. there's where my theory falls to the ground: the priest's case, though pivotal in the film becket, was a "fictionalized plot element." duh...
    it sure did fit with what we're seeing today!

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  7. Perhaps Dolan the chubby glutton, should put down his cigar & shot of scotch, dispense with his uniformed butlers in the NYC Archbishop's Mansion.....and put on Christ.

    The problem is that he does not know how. Or if he once did, he has not forgotten how, for all his clerical training. A pity for his soul.....

    Look at his career: he is the very model of a 'company man'. Both his assignments & attitude prove this. He knows how to 'talk God'...but does not know God.

    His career rise is also due to hsi friendliness to Opus Dei. $20 says he is an Associate member. He would not be where he is otherwise.

    As to TheraPs comment: yes, being a Canon Lawyer or at least conversant in the topic is key to getting a See now. They want 'enforcers'.

    Thus this sermon & track record of Dolan comes as no shock. Presenting the pope as 'Christ on earth' has long been the pretext to authority uber alles. The obvious blasphemy of comparing Ratzinger to Christ is not surprising - except for it timing & application.

    Now we turn to Rembert Weakland. We see very clearly that his hands were tied by Canon Law, so that he was obligated to ask his Roman superiors for advise, consent & action to through the abuser priest out of the priesthood. In other words: Weakland was trying to do his job.....and to do what was RIGHT.

    If he had turned the priest over to the local DA, Weakland would likely have received a bullet to the brain. Or had a (pre-planned) heart attack. Count on it!

    Now, even though Weakland is guilty of violating his vow of Celibacy (though with consenting adults...) his personal sexuality might never have been made public had he not made this fateful decision:

    To have the abuser priest defrocked.

    "Company policy' would have been to cover it up. Deny it. Have attorneys threaten the victims. Have Chancery officials stonewall and/or threaten & intimidate the victims. Rembert did not follow this path, in the case of the abuser of 200 deaf boys. He at least tried to do what was Just - through in-house channels.

    Thus it is not out of line to assert that his VERY public 'outing' & humiliation as he was about to retire in 2002 - coming from the strident chorus of Conservative/Traddie/Opus Dei folks - was...'payback'. Perhaps ditto for the motivation for the person who tried to extort him to go public with the dirt.....was not his own idea.....!

    Rembert had to be 'punished'.

    Ask yourself this: why was he treated thus, while the many other gay prelates - even those who have been 'outed' (Egan, Hubbard, et.al.) are "Untouchable"?

    Does the phrase "Spanish facsism" hold any value here?

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  8. One might also note the parallels between Timothy Dolan & Sarah Palin.

    1. Both are virtual pathalogical liars.
    2. Both affect the 'always happy to be anywhere & smile endlessly' false persona. Leading one to wonder what the real person is like.....or if there IS a real person inside.
    3. While both appear superficially intelligent, neither is truly well educated in the real sense of the term. They know only enough to make themselves appear to know what they are saying - and have staffers to prep them on talking points.
    4. They are both 'corporate personalities"....company men, so to speak. Where 'reality' and 'truth' is Releativism, carefully 'spun' for the present. And altered tomorrow, if need be.
    5. Their true loyalty is to themselves. They feign loyalty to their paymasters - in the same way a cat will, for the purposes of procuring tuna fish. And with the same degree of sincerity:)

    They are absolutely loyal to 'X' as there is a check involved.

    6. Both are of the 'Conservative Christian' mold. Sarah the Evangelical; Timothy the conservative Catholic. Yet neither of them believe in God. For them, 'God' is a construct which is useful to them.

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  10. Dolan's doctorate is in church history, I believe. But yes, canon lawyers and historians seem to be getting more appointments these days.

    Note Bene: Canon Law and History are both written by the victors. Notice how the US hierarchy has ZERO education in the natural or social sciences or philosophy. Their theology is informed by whatever maintains and expands their power.

    Canon Law and Church History (of the conventional kind) provide the only kind of intellectual 'expertise' that bishops can wield without requiring of them any real reflection on the institutional flaws within the Church.

    Every other field of knowledge would put too much pressure on them for reform. They therefore must increasingly present themselves as an object worthy of a PhD.

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  11. Sorry, Colleen, I was actually musing on other vivid differences between Weakland and Dolan - liturgical ones, I guess. (Sorry that all got mixed up!)

    Thanks, anonymous, for your perspective on Weakland. The sense of vendetta against anyone high up in the hierarchy, who might stand against the "approved lackey role" is horrifying. The evidence of lackeys right and left is disgusting! Who can believe those prelates coming forward to "support" the pope? They are supporting the Papacy, not the pope, I think. And the Papacy and hierarchy seems rotten to the core at this point.

    Who can believe any except a dissenter at this point? No matter what they say... you have to wonder about hidden agendas.

    Very sad.

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  12. Likely you've seen this:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/30/pontiff-power-bureaucracy-catholic-church

    and this:

    http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/2010/03/pope_benedict_effective_leadership_on_sex_scandal/all.html

    Interesting new nuances. Especially the latter.

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  13. Thanks for the links TheraP.

    Tonight on Larry King.
    Larry King Live at 9:00pm ET
    on Tuesday, March 30, 2010

    Tonight: Inside Catholic Church Abuse Scandal

    The Catholic Church rocked by sexual abuse scandal!
    Several victims reveal their childhood nightmare
    of a priest who may have molested up to 200 boys!
    What do they think of the Vatican’s response?

    Plus! Singer Sinead O’Connor’s very
    personal reasons for getting involved.

    Tonight on Larry King Live!

    Send us your questions for tonight’s guests
    to http://www.cnn.com/larryking!


    Larry King Live can also be seen on CNN International
    at these times around the world:
    Europe, Middle East and Africa (CET) Live at 0300
    South Asia (IST) Live at 1530
    Asia Pacific (HKT) Live at 1800
    Latin America (EST) Live at 2100

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  14. In re Dolan, a parody on the hymn "Ecce Sacerdos Magnum"

    "Behold, a fat priest! Who in his days pleased Opus Dei and was found 'just'.

    Therefore, by an oath, his Lordship made him to increase; to increase about his waistline, his waistline. Alleluia!

    Glory be to the Curia & to the Holy Office, and to the Rota, as it was in the Middle Ages, is now, and ere shall be, Imperial Church without end. Amen"

    ...with apologies to all:)

    (I just HAD to write that)

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  15. Anon, you are definitely on a roll. Does AB Dolan really have uniformed butlers in the chancery?

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  16. Dolan and Di Marzio of Brooklyn apparently both plan to go full speed ahead and preach against the New York Times. Sorry, guys, but that dog just won't hunt. You are blaming the NYT for telling the truth and wanting to attack them for doing it.

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  17. Yes - Dolan does indeed have uniformed butlers in his Episcopal Mansion behind St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. This comes from a lengthy interview done by the New York magazine:

    http://nymag.com/news/features/59256/

    "...A uniformed butler serves a glass of water on a gold-rimmed plate atop a sterling-silver platter......Then, down the staircase bounds New York’s new archbishop, Timothy Dolan, red-faced and boisterous, who succeeded Cardinal Edward Egan in the post in April. “You want coffee? You want anything in it?” He is a glad-hander and a backslapper, a tall, energetic, portly Irish-Catholic lug who likes smoking cigars and sipping Jameson’s...."

    My comment: :"while Christ, in the person of the homeless Lazarus, would love to eat of the crumbs which fall from Dolan's well laden table"

    Of course, as with the Rich Man in the parable of Lazarus, Dolan has before him daily "Moses & the Prophets".

    Yet one fears that Dolan could share the fate of the Rich Man.

    You may find the balance of the article either a ripe starting point for a blog......or a reason for the peasants to come to 457 Madison Avenue with lighted torches & pitchforks:)

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  18. This article at the WoPo this am, but a 78 year old Jesuit in Cairo is OUTSTANDING!

    http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/03/a_call_for_a_catholic_reformation.html?hpid=talkbox1

    I hope this gets a wide readership.

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  19. Oh, boy.... a search on this Jesuit turns up a blog in Spanish, reporting the same letter to the pope back in Feb titled: "Without Fear of the the Opus".

    http://sinmiedoalopusdei.blogspot.com/2009/10/henri-boulad.html

    Anon... keep an eye on this guy.

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  20. @TheraP,

    Excellent catches. Obviously Colleen has used the article by Fr. Henri Boulad. I'd like to add that his letter was published originally in 2007 on his own blog (in French) " Culture and Faith":

    http://www.culture-et-foi.com/index.html

    Very interesting I wholeheartedly agree with Fr. Boulad.

    Fr. Boulad's current blog has a link to an article by Professor Mary Condren published in the Irish Times 12 June 2009. "Clerics dodge responsibility to claim moral high ground"

    http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0612/1224248683859.html

    p2p

    PS the word verification for this comment was "cries". How appropriate.

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  21. We noticed quite awhile back that the word verifications are sometimes quite serendipitous.

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