" Culpa" Pope: Pres. Obama & Mahony V.law Pell,finn,egan Brady,rigali&?

By Jerry Slevin
Christian Catholicism
February 7, 2013

http://christiancatholicism.com/culpa-pope-pres-obama-mahony-v-law-pellfinnegan-bradyrigali/

As HBO airs the revealing documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa”, all are strongly reminded that child endangerment is immoral and usually illegal. Is child endangerment, however, always “evil” for the Pope, or only if it is allegedly done by a constant USA political opponent? The Pope’s record here is most troubling.

The Pope, reportedly acting through Los Angeles Archbishop Gomez, for the first time very publicy shamed a Cardinal, Mahony, even as “evil” for alleged child endangerment misconduct. The chosen term was an ontological one, “evil”, even “brutal”, not the usual and evasive papal theological or psychological euphemisms of “sinful” or “bad judgment”. To the likely dismay of Cardinal Mahony and his criminal lawyers, LA law enforcement officials have already noticed this unprecedented papal green light and have commenced new criminal investigations, as well they should. Better late than never. No offer of “Cardinal Law-style” Vatican immunity is apparently expected for Mahony.

Cardinal Mahony may well be asking himself, why me? Why now? After all, the Pope has already, in effect, previously given “free passes” without public shaming to many Catholic hierarchs who reportedly seriously mishandled many priest child sexual abuse cases, including Cardinals Law, Bevilacqua, Brady, Rigali, Egan, Pell, et al. The Pope has not really even similarly shamed hierarchs who admitted to actually committing child endangerment related crimes, for example, in Kansas City (Finn), Palm Beach (Symons), Belgium (Vangheluwe) and Norway (Georg Mueller). Moreover, the Pope even earlier also gave “free passes” to his brother and himself on reported failures to curtail child abuse in Munich and Regensburg and to Vienna’s Cardinal Groer for reportedly abusing numerous young seminarians. Cardinal Schoenborn blamed the last failure on Cardinal Sodano, who reportedly got an apology from Schoenborn.

Of course, significantly, the Pope and his imminent hand-picked successor could still turn on and shame any of these living hierarchs, as the Pope just did to the USA’s leading clerical “liberal Democrat”, Mahoney. This prospect likely is giving some hierarchs a few sleepless nights, especially voting Cardinals thinking about the next papal election expected in the near term. These Cardinals may be waiting to see what Mahony does, since Mahony is considered by some to be scrappy, seasoned and shrewd.

So what is really going on? Surprisingly, the Mahony papal “pile on” appears directed at undermining President Obama’s immigration plan. Mahony has been for decades the leading Catholic hierarch in the USA on immigration law reform. His support for the Democratic plan last year likely helped re-elect President Obama with the substantial Latino vote differential. If Mahony’s Latino clout is not neutralized, he could be a real player in the reform process.

AP (NY) is reporting that the U.S. Bishops, presumably under papal direction, have just submitted, with some right wing evangelical Christian support, to the White House, presently confidential “gay marriage” related objections to the current immigration reform proposals. It would be surprising if Mahoney would have taken this approach or be a welcome ally here. Papal support for immigration reform may now turn on on gay marriage “dogma”, as papal support for health insurance coverage turns on contraception insurance “dogma”. How much papal interference will President Obama accept? In the meantime, once more, security and justice for innocent children and abuse survivors in the USA are being treated as pawns of papal politics.

In only 30 seconds you can help to curtail these ongoing outrages by rejecting the latest “papal bull” and applying your political clout. Just click on, as others from all over the world, including many abuse survivors, are now doing, and sign the petition to President Obama: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-investigate-child-sexual-abuse-by-priests-rabbis-religious-leaders

If you haven’t signed, why not? Please reconsider and do so now. You could help save a child from “soul murder”. If you have signed, thank you. Now consider asking others to sign as well.

The petition will stay up until President Obama steps up. If too few sign, he may just disregard it. Catholic political leaders, from Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Leon Panetta, Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo, to John Boehner, Chris Christie, Peter King, Rick Santorum and Rudy Guiliani, have been shamefully too often silent. Perhaps the President can teach these Catholics how to be better Christians. Similarly, so-called Catholic reform groups are still silent on supporting a Federal investigation commission, apparently preferring to let the Spirit do the heavy lifting!

Moreover, it is clear from the comments of some of the early signers that support for the petition in itself is helping some survivors cope and is giving them hope. So please sign it now.

“Mea Maxima Culpa” effectively highlights the key elements of the common worldwide pattern of priest abuse and hierarchical complicity, namely ACCESS, OVERSIGHT and ACCOUNTABILITY.

ACCESS risks can be reduced by educating children better and by selecting religious employees more carefully. The Church, prodded by its liability insurers, has improved education. The growing priest shortage, intensified by the Pope’s needlessly excluding many available and willing married and women priests from the selection pool, is leading bishops to accept more questionable seminarians and to retain more predatory priests, almost guaranteeing the priest child abuse risks will remain, if not increase.

Money is most important to the Vatican clique. Low cost celibate male priests are the hierarchy’s main source of profit, “selling” the unique Eucharist weekly at Mass and offering VIP treatment for large donors . Priests must be obtained, retained and replaced upon retirement, it appears, no matter what risks their replacement and retention may present to children. The Los Angeles, Philly and Boston Archdiocesan criminal files make this crystal clear repeatedly.

OVERSIGHT is presently very inadequate, as the same files clearly show. Bishops are not really subject to independent audits and know they can get away with taking chances on questionable priests, even if innocent children pay for the bishops’ bad bets. Overly trusting Catholics immorally, yes, immorally (!), just keep giving to pay for the bishops’ mistakes and to help the bishops to avoid prosecution for child endangerment. Meanwhile, bishops continue to risk recklessly Catholic children’s security, as they ruthlessly close churches and schools unaffordable mainly due to the bishops’ $3 billion failed abuse prevention strategy in the USA.

ACCOUNTABILITY is generally absent at present. Local legislators, mayors and prosecutors are too often unwilling to take on the local bishops, with their financial, legal and media clout. Los Angeles, Philly, Kansas City, Boston, Manchester, Chicago, Miami, Bridgeport, New York, Long Island, Kansas City, San Diego, St. Louis, Portland, and many other cities’ priest child abuse scandals make this sickenly clear. It is a national crisis and requires a Federal resolution.

For over three decades, Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor, John Paul II, have gone through cynical public relations motions, while countless Catholic children have been raped or otherwise sexually violated by priests with impunity. Pope Benedict’s “rap sheet” is long. It includes his failures to act to stop abuse in Munich and Regensburg in the 1970′s, to his numerous failures to act as a Vatican Cardinal to his recent appointment of one of Cardinal Law’s aides as chief Vatican prosecutor and his sacking of an independent abuse investigator in Germany. The new prosecutor’s recent press conference, that was fawningly, superficially and disappointedly reported on by AP’s and Reuters’ usually thorough and objective Vatican correspondents, indicate he will preform as Cardinal Law and the Pope apparently expected him to perform, loyally and ineffectively. Meanwhile, the German Shepherd has fooled few with his occasional “media shows” with a few carefully selected abuse survivors.

The Pope’s treatment of Mahony is sending a clear signal to other Catholic hierarchs. The Vatican is prepared, it appears, to use selectively the criminal prosecution risks inherent in the worldwide abuse scandal to intimidate voting Cardinals who might think of opposing the current Vatican clique’s candidate to be next Pope. Significantly, Mahony was not offered Vatican immunity as Cardinal Law was. Other Cardinals will surely note that.

Since many 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 pre-emptive worldwide conference of lay and clerical, male and female Catholic representatives to be held before the next papal election conclave is announced, far away from Rome, as explained in more detail at: http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-gW .

If Cardinals do not act pre-emptively to protect themselves from the Vatican clique’s picking them off as they are apparently trying to do to Mahony, the Cardinals are acting very foolishly, in my experienced legal judgment.

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.

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.

Of course, well paid and/or brainwashed papal apologists will try to pivot from the HBO documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa”‘s horrible truths and will castigate it as anti-Catholic, when it is only trying to advance Jesus’ clear 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 abused or at risk of priest sex abuse and whose churches and schools are ruthlessly being closed, are then 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 and has led to many admissions by the Catholic hierarchy. In polls, the commission has gotten the support of almost 90% of Australians. A U.S. poll on establishing a Federal investigation commission would likely have similar results.

Since many of the survivors of organizational sexual abuse end up needing governmental financial support, the U.S. is already spending considerable amounts to help survivors of predatory priests, 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 an investigation commission effective actions and legislation to deter these sexual crimes more effectively than many corrupt 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.

For more details, please read my statements on the top by clicking on to them. Also, you might consider searching relevant key terms on Google.