UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary
Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 30, 2013
Why would a vowed celibate man have pictures of naked or semi-naked children on his computer? Why, when given the evidence of these photos, would this man’s supervisors do little or nothing, even when the crime is federal and one of the easiest to report?
Since, in this case, the supervisor is a Catholic bishop and the man with the pornography is a priest, the inaction of the bishop is a window into the fetid, rotten soul of hierarchy of the church.
This situation above reflects scandals that have rocked two midwest dioceses: St. Paul/Minneapolis and Kansas City/St. Joseph. In both instances, priests were in possession of evidence or photographs of naked or semi-naked children. The bishops, when finding out about the images, didn’t report. Instead they hid (or allegedly hid) evidence in order to protect the church.
The soul of the hierarchy of the church cannot get any more rotten than that.
In the real world, child pornography is a federal crime. It’s also one of the easiest crimes to report. The evidence is apparent and obvious. In the case of priests, the line is even more distinct: there is no reason whatsoever that an ordained and celibate cleric should have anything even remotely resembling child pornography is his possession. And if there is any question, a supervisor should report the photographs to law enforcement anyway.
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