Papal Props ... Slight Papal Props

It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the Catholic Church, and it’s Pope. I have this thing where I don’t like people or organizations who harbor child rapists, who give child rapists pensions for life if they just go away, who pay off victims of child rape with millions and millions of dollars that they could use for the “Lord’s work” if they would only stop harboring, protecting, and pensioning child rapists.

And I am not so fond of this somewhat new though slightly tarnished Pope Frankie either. When he first came on the scene he was virulently anti-marriage equality, and while he has evolved — much like President Obama — on the issue, he hasn’t fully come around to joining the 21st century. And, sure, he has said some nice things about The Gays, about the Church welcoming The Gays, about how The Gays have “something” to offer — other than being a scapegoat for the Church — he mostly talks but does nothing.

I am kind of an “actions speak louder than words” kinda gay, but, for today, I’ll give Frankie some props.

See, last year Pope Frankie removed Cardinal Raymond Burke — a very conservative American cardinal who doesn’t seem to care for Frankie very much — off the Vatican's powerful Congregation for Bishops, which deals with appointments of bishops worldwide, and then last week Cardinal Burke was removed as the leader of the Vatican’s highest court and re-appointed to a ceremonial position — which, I think, means he gets to keep the wardrobe — as chaplain of the Knights of Malta, a charity group.

And that demotion — though I wonder if it involves a pay decrease — is rather significant because generally the position of Patron of the Order of Malta is given to a retired cardinal, or offered as a second task to an active cardinal.

Still, the move is no surprise to anyone who’s watched the Vatican since Frankie moved his Prada slip-ons into the Royal, er, Papal closet.  After Frankie suggested that The Gays not be treated as less than, as the scourge of the Church, Burke strapped on his heels and pushed hard for the Vatican to revise and water-down its tentative step — really a non-step since nothing happened — toward greater acceptance of LGBT people.

Then he criticized Frankie’s questioned Francis' denunciation of excesses of capitalism — meaning Burke was all about the Benjamin’s and the cushy lifestyle of Cardinal — and then he gave an interview in which he called Frankie’s leadership “a ship without a rudder.”

So, it was really no surprised that Frankie kicked him to a less desirable curb.

And, like I said, while I’m no fan of the Church and the Pope, I’ll give him props for attempting to clean house ... with a whisk broom.

Pope Francis Demotes Outspoken Conservative Cardinal

Hard-line US cardinal loses another Vatican job

Gay Priests: The New Lepers

Cardinal Keith O'Brien has been told by the Vatican to leave Great Britain amid concerns of causing further damage on the Catholic Church in Scotland because, you know, he was a big anti-gay Cardinal who was schtupping priests in his off hours and the Church don’t like that stuff.

So, exile it is! A new kind of Leper Colony.

O'Brien had planned to retire to a church-owned cottage, but now he is being forced to leave the country. Hate the sin, you know, and banish the sinner. He was given the news that he was being asked to leave the country while he was in the process of  moving from his, former, official residence in Edinburgh to a residence in Dunbar where he, the Church hoped, would be out of sight, out of mind.

Now, however, they want him completely out of sight. Out of the country, though not on an island somewhere, with other gay priests would join him. Just be gone.

O’Brien’s banishment is proof that the Vatican is reeling that his admission of a homosexual relationship with another priest, as well as allegations of abuse towards trainee priests, might damage the Church. You know, like the child raping priest scandals have been doing of late.

Still, the Cardinal does have some folks on his side. A recent petition organized by the parishioners of Our Lady of The Waves in Dunbar saw more than 90% of parishioners signing a statement declaring "our support and affection for Cardinal Keith O'Brien".

O’Brien, the former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, was forced by Pope Quitter, er, Benny to retire after admitting "inappropriate behavior" with four priests and a seminarian. He released this statement: 

"I'm just trying to do my best to live a good Christian life myself now. Many people have been helping me to go back on the right path and that's what I have to do. But I haven't always managed to live that in my own life. … If Christianity is about anything at all, it's about forgiveness.”

It’s ironic, though, that the Church, rather than forgive him, wants to send him away and then act as though he never existed. But then, that’s the Catholic Church; hiding away it’s secrets rather than deal with them. 

Think of what the Catholic Church might be able to do if they welcomed gay priests, and allowed priests, straight and gay, to marry, and allowed women into the priesthood.

Imagine what the Catholic Church could do if their pulled their heads out their asses and chose to live in the 21^st century.

They wouldn’t need to exile anyone, ever again.

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Cardinal Keith Admits To Schtupping Priests

It’s clear to even the most casual readers of this blog that I am no fan of the Catholic Church. I suffer fools, I suffer wingnuts, I suffer morons, but I cannot suffer hypocrisy.

The Catholic Church has spent decades, centuries even, talking up all the good they do in the name of children, while hiding child rapists and pedophiles to avoid any shame. They say they help the poor and yet they give the recently resigned Pope, Pope Benny the Quitter, the Catholic MGB™, a palace in which to live with his male secretary while millions go hungry. So, no I am not a fan.

The newest target of my rage is one Roman Catholic Cardinal Keith O’Brien—the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, the most senior Catholic prelate in all of Britain, and its sole cardinal eligible to vote in the upcoming papal conclave—who was suspected of engaging is homosexual affairs with priests and whomever he could get his hands on.

Now, naturally, the good Cardinal denied all of this, and railed against those who would besmirch his name by linking it to The Gays, but then, well, he resigned and it looked like the stories were true. But still he denied and denied and denied until……

In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them.

However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.

To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness.

To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.

I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

So, we can all smile smugly and say, Oh, I knew it but before we do that let’s also remember that Cardinal Keith—as he’s probably known at the local Gay Bar—was one of the most outspoken and highest-profile homophobes in the entire Church. He imagined himself the leader of the Roman Catholic Church’s war against The Gays, and repeatedly smeared loving and committed same-sex couples for having the temerity to ask for marriage equality. All while he was boning a priest.

He spread fear among his minions, calling marriage equality a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right” and threatened an “unprecedented backlash” if the Scottish government allowed same-sex couples to marry. He also lied, which I guess is what one does when one becomes a Cardinal and a priest-f**ker, when he said that if same-sex marriage became legal in Scotland, the Catholic Church would be forced, forced, to perform same-sex weddings. He called -sex relationships unhealthy and inferior to opposite-sex relationships, and said they are detrimental to children; he whipped himself into a frenzy and said that marriage equality would force schools to stock what he called “homosexual fairy stories.”

While f**king priests and lying about it.

Is it any wonder that the numbers of people leaving the Catholic Church grows every day? I mean, why would you stay with a religion that spreads hate and fear and horror stories when the scariest stories of all happen within the church walls?

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Cardinal Authorized Paying Abusers

Oh, this is rich. And sickening.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, one of the most virulent anti-LGBT douchebagging, goosestepping members of the Catholic Church hierarchy, once authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to child raping priests as an "incentive" for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee.

Um, yeah, that sounds like a payoff, doesn't it?

And, naturally, when "Cardinal" Dolan was questioned at the time regarding a particularly notorious pedophile cleric who had been been given a “payoff” to leave the priesthood, Dolan, then the archbishop, called the inference “false, preposterous and unjust.”

But now we know it was true.

A document unearthed during bankruptcy proceedings for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee--because of lawsuits against them regarding pedophile priests--revealed that the archdiocese did indeed make such payments to multiple accused priests to encourage them to seek dismissal, thereby allowing the church to remove them from the payroll.

Pay 'em off, let 'em run, and the Catholic Church looks innocent. Except they aren't Innocent at all.

Jerry Topczewski, spokesman for the archdiocese, confirmed that payoffs were made to “a handful” of accused priests as a "motivation” not to contest being defrocked. And the church even has a name for paying off rapists; they call it “laicization;” a formal church juridical procedure that requires Vatican approval--which means the Pope knew about it--and can take far longer if the priest objects.

“It was a way to provide an incentive to go the voluntary route and make it happen quickly, and ultimately cost less,” Topczewski said. “Their cooperation made the process a lot more expeditious.”

It's all about money.

Oddly enough, "Cardinal" Dolan, president of the national bishops’ conference and fast becoming the nation’s most high-profile Roman Catholic cleric, does not have a comment. Perhaps he ran to the bank for another payoff.

The newly revealed documents are the minutes of a meeting of the Catholic Church finance council of the Milwaukee archdiocese from2003, which Cardinal Dolan attended. The minutes noted that “unassignable priests”--those suspected of abuse--were still receiving full salaries, and also states that it a proposal to “offer $20,000 for laicization ($10,000 at the start and $10,000 at the completion the process)” was discussed. Instead of salary, the pedophiles would receive a $1,250 monthly pension benefit, and, until they found another job, health insurance.

Pension and health insurance. It pays to be a child rapist in the Catholic Church.

The first known payment under Dolan's watch was to Franklyn Becker, a former priest who abused at least ten children. He received a payoff to leave the church and practice his pedophilia elsewhere. When asked, at that time, about the payment, Cardinal Dolan called it “an act of charity,” so that Becker could pay for health insurance.

No act of charity though for the multiple boys and girls sexually abused by Becker, I guess.

And, when you learn that the Catholic Church has paid more than $16 million to settle lawsuits involving Becker and one other priest, it all makes sense.

Pay the pedophiles about twenty grand and send them on their way, and then you don't have to worry about a $16 million payoff.

It is all about economics, I guess.

via NYT

Cardinal Withdraws His Apology For The Catholic Sex-Abuse Scandal

Y'all know about the Catholic Church, its Bishops and Cardinals and Popes, right? 
A bunch of old drag queens in sequined gowns, showgirl headdresses and Prada slip-ons who protect pedophiles instead of the children they rape?
Yeah. Them.
Well, one of those delusional, goose-steppers is Cardinal Edward Egan who, roughly ten years ago, penned a letter that apologized for the Catholic Church's handling of the child rapist scandal. Now, however, he's taking that apology back. 
Uh huh, Cardinal Edward "Aiding and Abetting" Egan now says, apparently with a straight face, that the handling of the priest-abuse crisis under his watch was “incredibly good” and said, of the letter, "I never should have said that....I don’t think we did anything wrong.”
Hmm, didn't do anything wrong? Let me get this queer. A child, or parent of a child, comes forward and tells you that a priest has raped, molested, groped or abused their child, and your response is to hide the priest and ask the victims to be quiet and that was an "incredibly good" way to handle the mess.
Egan also claims that the Catholic Church was under no obligation to report abuse to the civil authorities, and yet, Cardinal, there have been laws on the books since the 1970s that require the Church to report abuse. But then, in your eyes, there was no abuse, because there was no priest, because he was moved to a different parish to rape other children.
This comes as no surprise when one listens to Egan speak. He has arrogantly claimed: “I never had one of these sex abuse cases. If you have another bishop in the United States who has the record I have, I’d be happy to know who he is.” 
Except.......
Back in the day, Bishop Egan ran a diocese that was notoriously dangerous for children. In fact, contrary to his claim, during his twelve-year reign of terror at Bridgeport, Egan repeatedly failed to investigate priests, even when there were obvious signs of abuse, forcing his diocese to settle the cases and award victims some $12-15 million in damages. 
In 1990, in fact, Egan learned, through "a developing pattern of accusations,” that Rev. Charles Carr had fondled young boys. Egan, doing "incredibly good" work, kept Carr working for another five years, and only suspended the pedophile priest after a lawsuit was filed. In 1999 Egan made Carr a chaplain at Danbury's hospital.
And also during his, ahem, "reign", Egan listened as dozens of people accused Rev. Raymond Pcolka of sexual abuse and violence against children. Egan claimed that the accusers were never "proved" to be telling the truth because Egan never interviewed a single one and kept Pcolka in ministry. His head, while probably wearing one of those showgirl head-pieces, was conveniently buried in the sand. 
Now, to be fair, Egan did punish some priests.He punished, and evicted, any Catholic priest that said the Traditional Latin Mass if he thought those didn't pay him sufficient deference. 
So, is Egan the exception, or is Egan the rule. Is "Cardinal" Edward Egan a symptom or cause of the disease of pedophilia that permeates the Church all over the world. Grown men, dressed in the finest robes, doused with jewels, turning a blind eye to children being raped.
The Catholic Church has aided and abetted and protected child rapists for decades, and Little Eddie Egan is one of the worst.


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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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Do Something!

I cannot shield my anger at the Catholic church over the molestation scandal. I am so tired of their excuses; the Devil, the homosexual, the New York Times, Pro-Choice advocates. All, in recent weeks, have been labeled the reasons for the scandal, or, at the very least, the reason for the continuing news of the scandal. All have been accused of fanning the fires of this scandal in order to take down the Catholic church.

Well, that won't happen. The church won't go anywhere, no one will be able to "take it down." But it does have to change. It does have to accept responsibility for being complicit in the pedophile scandal. It isn't the faith, it's the church.

There is nothing wrong with the Catholic faith, even for people, like myself, who don't follow it. The trouble lies in the leaders of the church. Those men who, for years, have protected pedophiles, moved pedophiles from place to place rather than turn them over to authorities; they even moved one back to Vatican City so he could not be prosecuted.

Short and sweet: the leaders of the Catholic church, in order to keep their coffers full, and their art collection in tact, and the Pope in Prada, have systematically aided and abetted pedophiles for years.

Of course, it isn't their fault. They have placed blame for the scandal squarely on the shoulders of Satan. And, for good measure, they have blamed the Gay Community, because all gay men want to have sex with boys; they can't prove it, but they can keep saying it. Even the Pope's highest ranking officials, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, has said, "Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and pedophilia. But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia. That is true. That is the problem."

Can't prove it, but they keep saying it.

And, in addition to the laying of blame for the scandal, they also blame the media, most notably, the New York Times, and people who are Pro-Choice or pro-marriage equality, for fanning the flames of the scandal.

Everyone, it seems, is to blame, except for the Catholic Church.

Okay, then, we'll take the hit, the Gay Community, I mean. We're used to it. We're the cause of the global economic meltdown; it's our fault terrorists fly planes into buildings; we've destroyed marriage from Iowa to Massachusetts; we put Heidi Montag in a recording studio. All the evils of the world are our fault.

Happy now Catholic church. I've taken the blame. But now it's up to you to shut up, to quit whining about being targeted, and do something.

Rid the church of every single pedophile priest. Make the commitment to your followers that you will no longer tolerate this and will seek out and punish any priest accused of molesting a child.

Instead of playing the blame game, DO SOMETHING!

The Rotten Apple Don't Fall Far From The Tree

"Transsexuals and homosexuals will never enter the kingdom of heaven and it is not me who says this, but Saint Paul. People are not born homosexual, they become homosexual, for different reasons: education issues or because they did not develop their own identity during adolescence. It may not be their fault, but acting against nature and the dignity of the human body is an insult to God. Homosexuality is therefore a sin, but this does not justify any form of discrimination. God alone has the right to judge. We on earth cannot condemn, and as human beings we all have the same rights." - Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, one of the top Vatican officials.

Gotta love it when a fucktard talks out of both sides of his ass. He says we deserve the same rights, except for that whole going to Heaven thing. Fuck.Monkey.