Many Want Pres. Obama's Commission to Probe Child Abuse by Religious

By Jerry Slevin
Christian Catholicism
February 11, 2013

http://christiancatholicism.com/many-want-pres-obamas-commission-to-probe-child-abuse-by-religious/

As a retired Harvard trained international lawyer and lifelong practicing Catholic and a grandparent, I am convinced the obscene sexual violations against children by priests, reported currently in Los Angeles and in the HBO documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa”, will unacceptably continue unless and until the U.S. Federal government steps up. No one else has as much clout to stand up to the power of the Vatican. Local prosecutors have failed for decades to prosecute bishops for enabling predatory priests to attack more children. The cynical reports that Los Angeles law enforcement is re-examining there priest child sexual abuse criminal cases appears mainly to be just the latest political public relations ploy of a failing local bureaucracy.

Many from different faiths and no faith all across the USA, and even worldwide, including some of those harmed by the abuse of the deaf victims in Milwaukee, have already signed my petition calling on President Obama to step up. They have indicated they have had enough with the domination of local prosecutors and legislators by the Catholic hierarchy and its well paid apologists and lawyers. More signatures, including yours, will help accelerate the establishment of the U.S. national investigation commission.

We all have a moral obligation to protect children and signing a petition is a simple, yet potentially effective, way towards meeting that obligation. Please take a minute and sign it at: President Obama: Investigate Child Sexual Abuse By Priests, Rabbis & Religious Leaders

Please, as well, ask those you respect and who value children to sign it also. If you are active in an advocacy group, like SNAP, CTA, VOTF, ARCC, Dignity, CORPUS, WomenPriests, ask your leadership to support the petition. Similarly reticent, so-called progressive Catholic voices, like the National Catholic Reporter and Commonweal, seem dumbfounded by the positive prospects of President Obama establishing a U.S. national investigation commission.

What are they all waiting for? Blogging, writing, talking and prayer, however admirable and well intentioned, have barely influenced the Vatican clique and their subservient U.S. Bishops to date and will likely do little more in the future, certainly in the near term as more children are raped by priests, while duped Catholics continue to contribute enabling compicit bishops to protect priest pedophiles and predators perpetually.

I have separately proposed that President Obama consider appointing First Lady, Michelle Obama, to chair the new Obama commission. She is well respected as a Harvard lawyer and devoted mother. She would be an ideal choice with her established credibility if she were willing to accept the appointment.

The First Lady of the USA could consult with another effective former practicing lawyer, Julia Gillard, Australia’s Prime Minister, who just established a national investigation commission that already has the Catholic hierarchy and the Vatican running for cover.

Prime Minister Gillard recently disclosed that the tipping points in her decision to call for a national commission were the numerous disclosures that the Catholic Bishops, as part of their cover-up, moved predatory priests to avoid prosecution to other states and even other countries, where the predators continued their sexual abuse of more trusting and innocent children. The multistate and multinational dimensions of the crimes against children apparently convinced Prime Minister Gillard she had to take action at the Federal level.This moving of predatory priests interstate and across national borders has, of course, happened repeatedly in the USA as well, necessitating a Federal response in the USA as well.

If the First Lady would oversee this, President Obama would still be able to focus on his many other priorities, including resisting the Pope’s and his plutocratic Republican contributors’ unrelenting and opportunistic efforts to derail Obamacare over contraception insurance and immigration reform over gay marriage.

U.S. voters recently made clear their rejection of the Pope’s lobbying efforts to deny marriage equality for gay U.S citizens. Now the Pope appears to be trying to deny it for gay immigrants. As to his relentless and futile anti-contraception crusade, the Pope’s longtime colleague, 79 year old conservative Cologne Cardinal Meisner, just approved a “morning after” pill of the type that, only a few months ago, many U.S. Bishops were condemning President Obama for helping U.S. women gain affordable access to. Does the Pope understand how contraceptive pills work? Does the Pope understand that President Obama has been re-elected? Is it time to bring back the married butler parent?

If there tragically were not over 200 million “unplanned” children living miserably in countries where Vatican lobbying effectively denied their parents access to affordable contraception, a dispute between a 79 year old celibate and an 85 year old celibate over permissible forms of contraception would make good Saturday Night Live copy! But sadly, the Pope’s anti-contraceptive efforts, apparently mainly to please his plutocratic Republican donors by keeping family planning wedge issues in political play, will very likely only fail again, while these efforts continue nevertheless to burden families and children.

Does the right hand talk to the left among Cardinals and the Vatican clique? Do the unprecedented, selective and well orchestrated shaming by an Opus Dei Archbishop of Cardinal Mahony, and the unexpected support from Cardinal Meisner of contraception that is reportedly starting to stir up German Bishops, indicate a Cardinals’ revolt is brewing before the likely imminent next papal elections? We may soon find out.