1963 letter indicates former pope knew of abuse

[catgirl]

Source: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – The head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in the treatment of pedophile priests visited with the then-pope nearly 50 years ago and followed up with a letter recommending the removal of pedophile priests from ministry, according to a copy of the letter released Wednesday.
In the Aug. 27, 1963 letter, the head of the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete tells the pope he recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministry and strongly urges defrocking repeat offenders.
The letter, written by the Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald, appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope and summarizes Fitzgerald's thoughts on problem priests after his Vatican visit.
A message left with the Paraclete order at one of their two existing facilities in Missouri was not returned. A number for the second facility was disconnected.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100331/ap_on_re_us/us_church_abuse_letter

[Archae]

1. The RCC...

Keeps piling manure on this, hoping they'll grow a pony.

[BunkerHill24]

2. Religion is a global scam. n/t

[Arugula Latte]

12. ...that billions fall for.

It's so depressing.

[UrbScotty]

22. I'm a progressive Democrat because of that 'scam'

[Captain Hilts]

3. NY Daily News says that Pope Ben/Cardinal Rat is not

the creep here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/31/2010-03-31_fairness_for_the_pope.html

It has become an increasingly prevailing belief that as a cardinal, before he ascended to the papacy, Pope Benedict enabled a pedophile priest to do enormous harm. This is false.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd took the accusations against the Pope, whose given name is Joseph Ratzinger, to their most extreme. She wrote:

"Now we learn the sickening news that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, nicknamed 'God's Rottweiler' when he was the church's enforcer on matters of faith and sin, ignored repeated warnings and looked away in the case of the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, a Wisconsin priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys."

Again, and with certainty: This is false.

...

[catgirl]

4. Then please post an acceptable response from him

I haven't seen it. Is there one?

[Captain Hilts]

7. Me either. That's why this op ed caught my eye. The NYDN is pretty progressive

by US standards.

Read www.irishcentral.com for some serious ass kicking of Cardinal Rat.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. This story is not about Ratzie --

Did you read it?

[Captain Hilts]

8. Yes I did and I know it's not. It goes back. But the NYDN takes an angle

to the latter stages of this story I'd not seen.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

5. 50 fucking years ago --

The RCC had enough of a problem with pedos to have an entire Order dedicated to their treatment.

Wow. :mad:

[DeSwiss]

9. K&R

[Odin2005]

10. Ratzo the Sociopath.

[dflprincess]

15. The pope in the referenced article is Paul VI

You know the guy who published the 1968 Encyclical that said using artificial birth control is sinful. Because. if there's one thing the Church can't stand the thought of, it's women controling their own destinies.

However, the sexual abuse of children is not so bad. :sarcasm:

[Odin2005]

17. Oops, my bad.

[Captain Hilts]

19. The only cardinal with a statue in the outfield of Yankee Stadium. nt

[Sanity Claws]

11. Disgusting

An order dedicated to treating pedophile priests. That's an admission that the Church has a serious systematic problem with pedophilia. Did any changes follow? Apparently no.

[unkachuck]

13. "...50 years ago and followed up with a letter recommending the removal of pedophile priests..."

....they preach to us about morality and they won't effectively address the criminality and immorality within their own ranks....hypocrisy, treachery and deceit of the highest order....

....Catholic officials had better soon repent and beg for forgiveness....the Church is hemorrhaging credibility....

[defendandprotect]

20. ... but they're still pulling in $$$$ from members! At least two Catholic churches

in my area are expanding -- one in my town with a HUGE new addition.

It's not Bingo paying for this!

[old mark]

14. The organization exists to serve the organization and protect those who

serve it. The believers are a source of money and power, and occasionally sexual amusement.

The church is the model for the mafia.

mark

[Duer 157099]

16. I wonder if they have priests that specialize in the treatment of murderous priests?

Un-fuck-ing-real.

That Ratz pope has creeped me out since the first day I laid eyes on him, and now I know why.

[UTUSN]

18. Paul VI, not my John XXIII - however, it's millenia-old in the RC church, so MOOT (but NOT for Ratzo

[troubledamerican]

21. Pope Paul VI's involvement with helping Nazis escape to Argentina.

As defeat loomed for the Third Reich and its allies, the Vatican proved instrumental in helping to engineer the escape and sur­vival of many notorious war criminals. This did much to ensure the perpetuation of fascism itself. Dubbed “the Rat Line” by U.S. intelligence officers, the Vatican escape route provided numerous Nazi fugitives with safe passage to political refuge in Latin America. (Many of them later went to work for U.S. and British intelligence, both of which actively aided the Vatican in arranging for the Nazis’ successful flight from Europe.)

In addition to Bishop Alois Hudal and Father Dragonovic (a Croatian priest), one of the most important figures in the operation of the Rat Line was Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini. Montini provided many of the most heinous war criminals with Vatican diplomatic papers, assuring their escape. Montini later became Pope Paul VI. It is worth noting that the Rat Line began as a wartime German intelligence operation and was perpetuated in the post-war period through cooperation between the Vatican and Western intelligence.

[catgirl]

23. Wow. This wasn't in the history books I grew up with.

No surprise, of course.