Rigali Retires: Protecting Child Rapists Is Hard

Cardinal Justin Rigali, the leader of the Philadelphia Roman Catholic archdiocese, which has been under fire, and under the microscope during a continuing scandal over sexual misconduct by priests--which is a polite way of calling them child rapists--has decided to retire.

Protecting and transferring pedophiles is hard work and he's done tuckered out.

See, Rigali's archdiocese, which is the sixth largest in the United States, home to some 1.5 million Catholics, has been accused of concealing the sexual abuse, molestation and rape, of children, in order to avoid a costly scandal.

The key word there is costly. Not the cost of a child's childhood, not the cost of a child's dignity, or trust or faith, but cost as in money that the church would have had to pay out.

They aren't about children, they're about money. The Pope needs more red Prada slip-ons.

Rigali, archbishop in Philadelphia since 2003, has been struggling to contain the pedophilia scandal in the aftermath of a grand jury report issued at the beginning of this year, after which three priests, a monsignor and a church teacher were indicted as a result of the report.

The grand jury report concluded: "We would have assumed, by the year 2011, after all the revelations both here and around the world, that the church would not risk its youth by leaving them in the presence of priests subject to substantial evidence of abuse. That is not the case." The grand jury found 37 such priests who have been kept in assignments that exposed them to children.


Thirty-seven abusers, molesters and rapists kept in their jobs, working with children so the Catholic Church could avoid a "costly scandal". I guess it doesn't matter to Rigali and the Catholic Church and the Pope how much this scandal has cost the children.

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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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