Twenty-Priests Suspended

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that twenty-one priests have been suspended--suspended, not arrested--from active ministry in connection with accusations that involved sexual abuse or otherwise inappropriate behavior with minors.


Of course, the church did not do this of their own accord, or in the interests of the children who were molested, or, um, behaved with inappropriately, they did this only after a grand jury report was issued, which accused the archdiocese of a widespread cover-up of predatory priests, stretching over decades, and said that as many as 37 priests remained active in the ministry despite credible accusations against them.

Same old, same old, for the church. They claim, and feign, innocence, and keep these pedophiles working, until word gets out to the public, then they act as though they are interested in helping children.

And, of those thirty-seven priests, just 21 were suspended, while three others had already been placed on "administrative" leave after the grand jury report was issued. Five others would have been suspended, but three are no longer active and two are no longer active in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. The eight cases, in the eyes of the church, warranted no further investigation.

So, two priests, suspected of child molestation are 'no longer active' in the Philadelphia Archdiocese? Well, that begs the question, where are they now? Is it just another case of more pedophile priests being moved and shifted and held unaccountable by the Catholic Church for raping children, and behaving "inappropriately" with children?

And to further add insult to injury, for the families of those minors who were violated, the names of the twenty-one suspended priests were not released, drawing the fury of groups representing abuse victims.  Most parishioners won't learn which priests are gone until they show up for services and there's a new face at the altar.

Cardinal Rigali

And worse yet, is the fact that Cardinal Justin Rigali had first responded to the grand jury report by saying that none of the priests listed in the report were still active in the ministry. Wait, what's this? A member of the church lying about pedophile priests?

Color me stunned. And pissed off. But not entirely shocked.

The Catholic Church has been fighting off these scandals for decades and yet they continue to arise. Proof positive that the church has no desire to fix the situation, to have the pedophiles arrested, or to protect the children of their parishioners. The church is solely out to protect its image and its finances.

In the name of god.

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