Pres. Obama, Help! Philly, L.a., N.Y., K.c., Boston, Miami, Milwaukee & ?

By Jerry Slevin
Christian Catholicism
January 31, 2013

http://christiancatholicism.com/pres-obama-help-philly-l-a-n-y-k-c-boston-miami-milwaukee/

[Click here for the petition site.]

Another Philly priest and a Catholic school teacher were convicted today of sexually abusing a young boy. A New York City rabbi was recently convicted of sexually abusing a young girl. Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocesean recent file revelations indicate extensive priest abuse of children. Often the abuse crimes were covered-up for years. Too many similar stories have come out about these and other other religious groups in cities ranging from Boston, to Miami, to Kansas City, to Milwaukee and many U.S. cities in between.

It seems evident that these cases are just the tip of the iceberg of child sexual abuse in religious organizational settings. What is disturbingly also evident, to me as a parent and a retired experienced lawyer, is that neither local legislators nor prosecutors have dealt with many of these cases adequately, timely or comprehensively. Many thousands of abuse survivors have been totally denied justice by all indications.

President Obama was just re-elected with the strong support of mothers and mothers-to-be who wanted him to protect their access to family planning. They also expected, and still expect, his help in protecting the families they have, and will yet have, from sexual violence in institutional settings. These families need his help now!

A petition has been opened for signatures today asking President Obama to set up a national investigation commission into the sexual abuse of children by priests, rabbis, ministers and other religious leaders. Already many have begun to sign it, including abuse survivors and their supporters. Please take 30 seconds to sign it no matter where in the world you live. This is a worldwide epidemic. Just click on the below link at:

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Believing parents and innocent children have too often been betrayed by religious leaders they trusted too much. The obscene revelations of child sexual abuse from Boston, Philly, Milwaukee, Kansas City, St.Louis, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Manchester, Salt Lake City and many other U.S. cities confirm this cancer cannot be curtailed effectively by local political leaders and prosecutors. They seem frequently incapable and/or unwilling to apply or amend a hodgepot of inconsistent laws, often outdated and inadequate, to powerful religious organizations.

The new award winning HBO documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa”, that begins airing internationally in English and Spanish on next Monday evening, February 4, shows, for example, graphically and incisively how local governmental authorities and the Catholic Church hierarchy in the USA and in the Vatican failed for decades to protect over 200 defenseless deaf boys from sexual abuse allegedly by a single Milwaukee priest.

Tomorrow night, Friday, February 1, at 11 p.m. ET, on HBO, Bill Maher will interview the Mea Maxima Culpa filmmaker, Academy Award winner, Alex Gibney, and will likely show some clips.Since Alex Gibney was raised a Catholic, his views should be interesting.

Instead of being made to account for child endangerment on their watch, leaders like Cardinals Mahony, Law, Levada, Rigali, Egan and, earlier Bevilacqua, sail off into well funded retirements, leaving high priced lawyers behind to clean up the mess they leave behind. Abuse survivors often must fend for themselves. Trusting Catholics, whose children were at risk of priest sex abuse and whose churches and schools are ruthlessly being closed, are expected to fund the billions spent by the Catholic hierarchy on a flawed and shameful legal strategy aimed mainly at protecting the hierarchy from prosecution.

The decisive Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has just established a major investigation commission into the sexual abuse of children in organizational settings, by priests, rabbis, ministers, teachers, nuns, coaches, scout leaders and similar custodial persons. The establishment of her commission has already had much positive impact. In polls, the commission has gotten the support of almost 90% of Australians.

Since many of the survivors of organizational sex abuse end up needing governmental financial support, the U.S. is already spending considerable amounts to help survivors, which is as it should be. It would be better, as well, to reduce the number, and extent, of the suffering survivors by the Federal government identifying through a commission actions to deter these sexual crimes more effectively than too many failing local governments and compromised organizations have done so far.

President Obama recently said the first duty of government is to protect children from violence. Now he must step up and do so by establishing this special national commission. Raping children is surely as horrific as shooting them and both forms of violence must be curtailed now.

Please ask others through Facebook, Twitter and other social media to sign the petition as well. It is little to ask to help protect children.