The Clerical Sewer Gets Deeper And Wider

Cardinal Schonborn seems to be repeatedly alluding to something about the "Vatican" and it's policies for covering up high profile sexual abusers.

In the interview with Fr. Tom Doyle that precedes this post, there is this quote:

"And there's a lot of serious, serious corruption that needs to be taken care of so the Church can really be what it's supposed to be."

I, as well as many others, have pounded on the theme that until the authority and accountability structure in the Church is radically revised, we can have no confidence that anything will change when it comes to abuse of the laity. The following article from the London Times gives a great example of how serious the corruption in the Vatican is, and how powerless even Pope Benedict was and is, to combat it's influence. This kind of corruption can only exist inside a silent all powerful clique which is precisely why certain Cardinals are coming to the defense of that power structure.

John Paul ‘ignored abuse of 2,000 boys’

Bojan Pancevski in Vienna and John Follain in Rome - UK Times - 4/4/10

When John Paul II died five years ago the crowd that packed St Peter’s Square for his funeral clamoured “Santo subito (Saint now)!” in a spontaneous tribute to the charisma of the Polish pontiff.

As the faithful marked the anniversary of John Paul’s death on Good Friday, however, he was being drawn into the scandal over child abuse in the Catholic church that has confronted his successor, Benedict XVI, with the worst crisis of his reign.

Allegations that the late pontiff blocked an inquiry into a paedophile cardinal, promoted senior church figures despite accusations that they had molested boys and covered up innumerable cases of abuse during his 26-year papacy have cast a cloud over his path to sainthood.

The most serious claims related to Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, an Austrian friend of John Paul’s who abused an estimated 2,000 boys over decades but never faced any sanction from Rome. (This is a totally mind numbing figure and indicative of just how perverted this clerical culture of silence really is.)

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Groer’s successor, criticised the handling of that scandal and other abuse cases last week after holding a special service in St Stephen’s cathedral, Vienna, entitled “Admitting our guilt”.

Schönborn condemned the “sinful structures” within the church and the patterns of “silencing” victims and “looking away”. (I think there is a cabal with in the Vatican that silences reformers and forces them to 'look away'. I think that is the point that Schonborn is really trying to make.)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — who became Pope Benedict — had tried to investigate the abuses as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Schönborn. But his efforts had been blocked by “the Vatican”, an apparent reference to John Paul.(Maybe 'the Vatican' refers to much more than just JPII.)

Asked by The Sunday Times whether John Paul’s role in the cover-up of abuse should be investigated, Schönborn said: “I have known Pope Benedict personally during 37 years of amiable acquaintance and I can say with certainty that ... he made entirely clear efforts not to cover things up but to tackle and investigate them. This was not always met with approval in the Vatican.” (This is really an interesting quote because he is asked specifically about JPII, and chooses to restate Benedict's inability to effect change because of 'the Vatican'.)

The Groer affair became public in 1995 when former pupils of an elite Catholic school accused him of sexual abuse.

After an outcry, Groer was replaced and made the prior of a convent. He was never punished and issued only a vague apology in 1998 before retreating to a nunnery where he lived until his death in 2003. Some of his victims were offered “hush money” from the church.

Michael Tfirst, 54, one of Groer’s victims, claims to have reported the abuse to highranking church officials from the 1970s onwards. He says the church paid him £3,300 in 2004 under a contract that obliged him to keep quiet.

“There is no question that Ratzinger knew all the details of reports on abuse within the church, as there is no doubt that John Paul, his superior, took part in a massive and systematic cover-up,” Tfirst said.

John Paul also faced criticism last week from Poland for protecting Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, who was accused of abusing trainee priests. Letters detailing the charges were sent to John Paul’s office and to Ratzinger in 2000 but were ignored. Paetz resigned in 2002 when the allegations became public. (Nothing is ever done until the 'anti Catholic' media forces something to get done. I'm going to start referring to the media as the 'pro Jesus' media.)

Stanislaw Obirek, a Polish theologian and a former Jesuit priest, said: “I believe John Paul is the key person responsible for the cover-up of abuse cases because most of it occurred during his papacy. How can someone who is to blame for this be beatified?”

In America critics pointed out that although Benedict has borne the brunt of criticism over ignoring the scandal of Father Lawrence Murphy, accused of molesting 200 deaf boys at a special school in Wisconsin, Ratzinger had acted on the authority of John Paul. (True, but he should have acted on the authority of his personal conscience.)

Another beneficiary of John Paul’s discreet approach was Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest known as Father Maciel, who founded a conservative religious order. He was accused by former members of abuse in 1998. John Paul blessed Maciel in the Vatican in late 2004, at a time when Ratzinger was investigating him. A year after Ratzinger became pope, the Vatican ordered Maciel to lead “a reserved life of prayer and penance”, effectively removing him from power.

John Paul was also accused of ignoring controversy over John Magee, a former private secretary to three popes including the Polish pontiff, who named him Bishop of Cloyne in 1987. Late last month Magee was forced to resign after an independent report found that his diocese in Ireland had put children at risk. (Magee would do his soul and the Church a great service if he came out and spoke the truth of what he really knows. I imagine the hope in some quarters is the he takes the Marcinkus route and retires in silence through to the grave.)

In the Vatican the spiralling allegations have prompted a siege-like mentality. Father Federico Lombardi, Benedict’s spokesman, declined to comment on John Paul’s handling of abuse cases. “We’re busy with Easter celebrations, let’s focus on the homilies,” he said.

The Polish cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s private secretary for four decades, rejected as “unfair and misleading” any attempt to distinguish between the approaches of the two popes to abuse cases. “Benedict is strongly committed to clearing things up, like a father,” Dziwisz told La Repubblica, the Italian newspaper.

In Europe there are signs of the faithful turning their backs on the church in large numbers. In Austria alone more than 20,000 Catholics left the church in March.

In America there was a furious response by Jewish groups to a Good Friday sermon by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Benedict’s personal preacher, in which he compared the wave of attacks on the church to anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, of the American Jewish Committee, protested: “So far I haven’t seen Saint Peter burn. The Vatican is trying to turn the persecutors into victims.”

John Paul was expected to be beatified in October but the process may be delayed. A French nun who appeared to have been miraculously cured of Parkinson’s disease through his intercession has reportedly been found to be suffering from a different illness.

Giancarlo Zizola, a leading expert on the Vatican, said the church officials who had gathered documents and questioned witnesses about John Paul’s suitability for sainthood had examined “negative” aspects of his papacy, including his handling of abuse cases.

“There’s no chance of Benedict delaying the beatification because of the abuse scandal,” Zizola said. “On the contrary, I expect he’ll accelerate it.” (Should Benedict cave into this, it will only add more accelerant to the bonfire.)

Allegations

Critics say John Paul II:

- Failed to encourage bishops to report accusations of paedophilia by priests to the police.
- Ignored accusations against senior members of the clergy, at times promoting them to higher office.
- Allowed many priests accused of paedophilia to be transferred to a new diocese without anyone being warned of their record. (Across international lines to avoid prosecution)

- Decreed that “pontifical secrecy” must apply to cases of sexual abuse in church trials.

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I wrote in a response to a comment the other day that as one went up the food chain, the perversion would get more distilled. I also wrote that I thought Cardinal Schonborg was hinting for the media to use the Groer case as a starting point to further revelations. I'm glad to see at least one 'pro Jesus' media outlet is starting to take up that challenge.

Pope Benedict is up to his ears in organized clerical sewage, and no amount of Papal pep rallies orchestrated by the conservative Vatican cabal of Cardinals is going to sweeten the stench.