Why Did the Pope Shame La's Mahony, but Not Brady of Ireland?

By Jerry Slevin
Christian Catholicism
February 5, 2013

http://christiancatholicism.com/why-did-the-pope-shame-las-mahony-but-not-brady-of-ireland/

Pope Benedict XVI for the first time publicly shamed a voting Cardinal, Mahony of Los Angeles. The Pope’s pawn, Archbishop Gomez, publicly referred to Mahony’s child abuse cover-up conduct as “evil”. This unprecedented and selective public papal condemnation, in my view as an experienced retired lawyer, significantly increases the risk for Mahony that he will yet still be criminally prosecuted, possibly for obstruction of justice or perjury. Prosecutors now have a papal blessing to go after Mahony. Yet the Pope has also just permitted Ireland’s voting Cardinal Brady to exit gracefully, without papal condemnation. Brady was reportedly involved in priest abuse cover-ups at least as “evil” as Mahony. Why the different treatment for two Cardinals?

The likeliest explanation is current papal election politics. Conservative Cardinals in the Vatican clique, including American ones like Burke, Law, Stafford and Rigali, and their right-wing U.S. Republican contributors, have for years targeted Mahony, often an ally of U.S. Democratic political leaders, as an obstacle to the Vatican clique’s efforts to maintain Vatican domination of the Catholic Church worldwide, through groups like Opus Dei that Gomez and convicted criminal Bishop Finn are members of. Brady, on the other hand, supports domination by the Vatican clique, as evidenced by his acquiescence in the current unchallenged attack on one of Brady’s most popular priests, Fr. Tony Flannery, by the Pope’s new German Inquisitor. Flannery’s brother is a top ally to Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who has strongly opposed papal domination in Ireland.

The signal is clear. The Vatican is prepared, it appears, to use selectively the criminal prosecution risks inherent in the worldwide abuse scandal to intimidate voting Cardinals who oppose the current Vatican clique’s candidate to be next Pope. Since most Cardinals likely have been involved in some cover-up activity, this election blackmail is a significant threat. It also is a compelling reason for Cardinals to call now for a worldwide conference as explained at: http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-gW .

Children in the USA cannot be used as leverage in a papal election. The Pope and local political leaders and prosecutors have repeatedly failed to curtail effectively priest sexual abuse of children. The President has the clout needed to curtail this abuse and he must now step-up and use it. A petition has been opened for signatures 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:

http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-investigate-child-sexual-abuse-by-priests-rabbis-religious-leaders

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 tommorrow on 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.

HBO has over 25 million subscribers in the USA and many more in 150 other countries.

Alex Gibney, the Academy Award winning film maker who made the documentary, was raised a Catholic. He said in a recent interview that he believes the Catholic Church has many good priests and does much good socially. But he also placed the key responsibility for the continuation of the abuse scandal at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI.

Of course, well paid and/or brainwashed papal apologists will try to pivot from the documentary’s horrible truths and will castigate Mr. Gibney as anti-Catholic, when he is only trying to apply Jesus’ mandate to protect children.

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.