Catholic League president Bill Donohue defends child molester and molester's boss...
Oh, and contrary to rumor, the Catholic League is not just Bill Donohue.
There are several on their board and in their membership.
And what of Finn's defend er s among the Catholic R ight ? They include Bill Donohue (apparently operating with the blessing of Cardinal Timothy Dolan). Others in t his group comprised a veritable Who's Who of the neoconservative Catholic Right -- Domino's Pizza magnate Tom Monaghan; Opus Bono Sacerdotii (OBS) (BishopAccountability.org describes OBS co-founders Joseph Maher and Paul Barron as "members of Legatus." Based in Monaghan's hometown of Detroit, Michigan, many of the key members of Legatus are also affiliated with other Monahan-founded or funded organizations); and of course, Donohue's Catholic League whose board of advisers besides Monaghan, includes such leading theocons as Hadley Arkes, Mary Ann Glendon, Robert P. George, Michael Novak and George Weigel.
This cabal (which rarely expresses concern for the victims) lashed out at the Kansas City Star newspaper for its reporting on the Finn affair, as well as victims rights organization as well as the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Astonishingly, Donohue recently continued his attacks on the newspaper and praised the disgraced Bishop:
"... not only is Bishop Finn a bishop in good standing in the Catholic Church, he is a holy man who has done a magnificent job in securing bright and able men to the priesthood. Indeed, the number of men he has galvanized to become priests makes Finn the envy of bishops in much larger dioceses throughout the nation."
But that is not the end of it. On April 21, 2015 Donohue issued t wo press releases. The first , titled, " Bishop Robert Finn Resigns " was an exercise in ch ut zpah. Incredibly, the Catholic League president declared, "... no child was ever touched or abused by Ratigan. " He also claimed, " Bishop Finn did not take a cavalier attitude toward his misconduct. If he had, Ratigan's problem would have been ignored altogether, counting on the fact that no one ever called his office saying Ratigan had abused his (sic) child. "
Let's recap events a bit. Finn' s conviction resulted from his knowledge of the related crimes of Fr. Ratigan who had previously pleaded guilty in Federal Court to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography. As I reported here and here, Bishop Finn had constructive knowledge of Ratigan's improper touching of young girls and possession of child pornography. Finn not only knew or had good reason to suspect Ratigan's crimes, but had he acted, he would have prevented other crimes against children under his pastoral care.
Let me repeat, "Ratigan's improper touching of young girls and possession of child pornography." Only someone with the audacity of Bill Donohue could claim, "... no child was ever touched or abused by Ratigan. "
In the second press release of the day, "Foes of Bishop Finn Rejoice," blatantly attempts to shift the focus of child abuse to church politics. Indeed, nowhere in this statement his Ratigan's or Finn' s troubling behavior ever mentioned ; it is purely a vendetta piece.
Finally, one further question needs to be answered: on the issue of child abuse, can the Church afford to have two such polar opposite opinions coming from its hierarchy? There is a serious disconnect when Pope Francis and Cardinal Sean O'Malley understand the need to remove the like s of Bishop Finn -- but do nothing to chastise those who defended him by of obfuscation -- especially Bill Donohue and Cardinal Dolan .
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2015/5/17/74745/9176/Front_Page/Thoughts_on_the_Finale_of_the_Finn_Debacle
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