Pope Benedict XVI was warned about Rev. Lawrence C Murphy who is accused of molesting over 200 deaf boys.
Back when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, several Wisconsin Bishops wrote directly to the future Pope and asked him to intervene with Rev. Murphy. Several of the Bishops are now testifying in trial that the Church’s biggest concern at the time was preventing embarrassment - not preventing abuse.
This is the first direct link between the Pope and the sex scandal cover up that continues to rock the Church.
It is not so much that the abuse occurred. As reprehensible as that is, the Church could have been forgiven had they not worked so hard – on so many levels – to cover it up. Merely moving priests around, neglecting to report the evidence to authorities, and destroying documents tend to suggest the Church was not very concerned about those young boys.
There is something so disgusting, so despicable, and so vile about an individual who uses their authority and Godliness to take advantage of children. These priests should not be hidden away in new churches. They should not be covered up or quietly retired. They should be exposed for what they are: sordid, base pedophiles.
Shame on you, Pope Benedict XVI. We all deserve an apology, and you need to step down from your position. You are in no position to lead anyone to God. I didn’t like it when you lived in your golden palace, far above the hungry and poor. I was irritated when you proclaimed Church doctrine without regard to social realities. I was disturbed when I learned of your past in Nazi Germany. But I am filled with nothing but contempt for you now, Joseph. You will no longer bear the title of Pope to me. You are not worth the the respect that title carries.
You are the worst of people: a man who enables a pedophile.
mac
5 months ago
Ratzinger was responsible for the policy in how to deal with these cases.
Then Cardinal Ratzinger used a church document, Crimen Sollicitations, as a way to deal with the allegations of children by his clergy.
He suggested moving the priests. Paying the families of the victims. And threatening the children with excommunication if they didn’t remain quiet about it…whatever it took to keep the crime from becoming public knowledge.
I’ve been going on about why was this guy ever selected pope since he was chosen. There’s wayyyyy too much history for anyone to believe he is worthy of such esteem!
the lion
5 months ago
Ever since I first saw him, I knew there was something shady with this..this…individual. He looks pure evil.
mac
5 months ago
That’s why I have always referred to him as a Nazi….even if he was only a youngster, he joined.
Not everyone did!
Have you ever heard of The White Rose?
the lion
5 months ago
Too true. I think people give him a pass for being young but he still joined Hitler’s Youth. And he has never truly apologized for it. Not that an apology makes up for joining ranks with the world’s most heinous of criminals.
I’ve never heard of it. Care to share?
mac
5 months ago
Surely :-)
The White Rose (die Weibe Rose) was a group of students that opposed the Nazi regime.
It consisted of many students, cheif among them was the six core founders. A brother and sister, Hans and Sophie Scholl are probably the most famous of the group.
The resisted Hitler to the point of their own death. They were tried and executed by the Nazis on 22 Feb 1943.
They had produced six “leaflets”, documenting their case against the Nazi atrocities.
An ironic twist is their sixth leaflet made it out of Germany, to England. There, it was reproduced by the millions, named The Manifest of The Students of Munich, and dropped on German cities via Allied bombers…by executing them, had proven that, maybe, these darned kids were right, and made them martyrs.
From the first leaflet
Isn’t it true that every honest German is ashamed of his government these days? Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes—crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure—reach the light of day?
And the second,
Since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way … The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals … Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!
Which makes me wonder how Benny could have NOT known about the Nazi atrocities.
The members of the WhiteRose are still celebrated in Germany. I believe them to have been true patriots to their country.
mac
5 months ago
I’ve got a thing for history as it pertains to women. Sophie Scholl was a real fighter ;-)
the lion
5 months ago
Oh, he knew. They all knew. They may not have known in the way that we know now. But they knew. Just like Americans knew – and tried to forget – how we treated the Japanese.
mac
5 months ago
Of course, we have a very cruel history ourselves. The settling of this continent by white Europeans is a story of genocide on a massive scale. Untold millions of Natives were slaughtered in our expansion. The US government actually gave Indians blankets infested with Smallpox. Humans are a cruel species :(
the lion
5 months ago
I remember when I first learned of the smallpox blankets. I couldn’t fathom one human doing that to another. Now, sadly, it seems like just another atrocity in a too long list of many.