The Criminal Rises to The Top

More fallout from that bastion of self-righteousness,the Catholic Church.

Already in the news is the Vatican sex scandal, with prostitutes and priests, now comes word that His Holy Rollerness himself, the actual Pope has been drawn directly into the decades-old molestation scandal as news emerged about his part in a decision to send a pedophile priest for therapy. That particular man went on to reoffend and was convicted of child abuse, though, believe it or not, he continues to work as a priest in Upper Bavaria.

Back in 1980, the priest was sent from Essen to Munich for therapy after being accused of forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex. The current Pope, then a cardinal, approved a decision to accommodate the priest in a rectory while the therapy took place, according to the archdiocese.

The pedophile priest, who to this day is only identified only as H, finished his therapy and was moved to a different church in Germany, where he was once again charged and convicted of sexually abusing minors. He was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence and a small monetary fine, and there have been no formal charges against him since.

The Catholic Church has been accused of covering-up at least 170 allegations of child abuse by German Catholic priests, in cases that go as far back as thirty years. Three decades of children being abused at the hands of the very people they trusted, and three decades of the Catholic Church hiding that fact, by moving the accused priests to other parishes rather than dismissing them for their abuses.

The Pope, whom the church considers a monarch, is not subject to prosecution for his part in the scandal. In addition, it is being told that the decision to let H continue working in Germany as a priest, and with children, was made by Gerhard Gruber, 81, who was vicar general of the archdiocese. The Vatican says that Gruber has taken “full responsibility” for the priest’s move back into pastoral work but did not comment further.

Gruber, for his part, said that the Pope, who was made a cardinal in 1977, was simply too busy to be made aware of a pedophile priest sent to therapy and then reassigned; the cardinal left many decisions to lower-level officials. “[He] could not deal with everything,” Gruber said. “The repeated employment of H in pastoral duties was a serious mistake ... I deeply regret that this decision led to offences against youths. I apologise to all those who were harmed.”

And continue to be harmed by an organization that protects pedophiles and its own needs over those of it's members and Innocent children.