Why is this forum so quite about the Virginia Priest Convicted of Assault, Rev. John E. Leonard.

Are member not allow to discuss such issues

Why do church leaders engaged in a conspiracy to protect accused priests from prosecution and transferred them to new assignments rather than defrock them.

-- nolan (nolannaicker@webmail.co.za), February 09, 2005

Answers

They don't. Most bishops have in place an absolute zero tolerance policy regarding the commission of such crimes. As for Father Leonard, what's to discuss? The guy committed a crime and was tried for it just like any other citizen. End of story.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), February 09, 2005.

Why is this forum so quite about the Virginia Priest Convicted of Assault, Rev. John E. Leonard.

yeah, how dare those catholics not feel like another round of discussing old news.

you know what i want to know? wheres the public outcry about the michael jackson scandal? this isnt the first time that he has stood publicly accused of molesting a child. that whole situation puts the hypocracy to everything that anti catholic bigots have slung at the church over this issue.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), February 09, 2005.

most catholics simply deny the truth or cover it up a whole lot and make of it an irrelevant thing...the always blame indivuduals for it and now the whole institution...while in most of the cases the problem lied in the institution and it's actions

-- sdqa (sdqa@sdqa.com), February 09, 2005.

So th einstetution told him to be a Child Molestor?Be relaistic SQ...

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), February 09, 2005.

i said in most of the cases...but isn't the institution made of these men also? like these are sperate things,the institution and the men inside the institution...

-- sdqa (sdqa@sdqa.Com), February 09, 2005.

sdqq

''--while in most of the cases the problem lied in the institution and it's actions,'' --And this is the ''dude'' that Ian calls bright??? OK, Ian-- ''bright,'' SURE.''.

A little lout figured it all out; he knows all about ''most cases.'' and, ''(sic)it's ACTIONS! Haha! Why hasn't this poor half-wit been banned yet? How long do we put up with undisguised BILE like that?

-- eugene c. chavez (loschavez@pacbell.net), February 09, 2005.

"but isn't the institution made of these men also? like these are seperate things,the institution and the men inside the institution"

A: But isn't the country made of men also? Like these are separate things, the country and the men inside the country. So maybe we should blame the country for citizens of the country who commit crimes?? Or maybe just blame the human race, since all these men are members of it?? If the problem lies with the institution, why is it that fewer than 1% of those who are members of the institution have the problem?? The fact is, the incidence of such problems among priests is no greater than the incidence in the population at large. The way such problems were handled in some dioceses is of course scandalous. But the fact that a few of the 50,000 priests in the United States have the same kinds of problems as other men is not in itself a scandal. In fact, it is to be expected.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), February 09, 2005.

''Nolan'' is a slightly ''brighter'' bulb.

He can't spell, but at least his direct question is fair enough.

Nolan, --

We have long ago gone over those subjects, for about 8 months in this forum. We had anti-Catholic scum-bags in here each day FREELY attacking our Church & her bishops and the priesthood. They attacked me. They attacked other members of our Catholic forum. They attacked priests at large, and they criticised everything from celibacy to the Pope. It's all OLD stuff.

We never defended any evil priest. We hardly ever defended a bishop, although I made an effort. --Of course it was terrible for a few of these bishops to ''transfer' those offenders when it was CLEAR that a crime had really been committed. Nobody wants that kind of priest, or bishops who cover up for him. But many of these cases were never proven ANYWAY. Some priests were accused falsely and still treated like criminals by anti-Catholics and the news media. Huge settlements were paid out, simply to avoid (NOT COVER UP) all the shameful scandals.

Don't people realize our Church isn't bullet-proof; and evil men can infect her? Satan works through a small number of cancer cells like some evil priests; making the entire organism sick. He tempts everybody, not only our priests. Many excellent and holy people in our Church can see how the age-old Mafia still exists, with thousands of supposedly Catholic men doing great evil everywhere for money and power. But not BECAUSE they're ''Catholics''. We can't blame the Church for all the sin.

Blame the devil, who wishes to destroy the Church. Satan wishes there were NO CHURCH, because the Catholic Church is all that stands between HIM and US. We simply have to fight evil, and trust God. We can win, because Jesus is dwelling (forever) in His Church, to keep her always holy. We must keep faith with HIM, and overcome every scandal. Jesus is not about to abandon His people. His people make up a HOLY Catholic Church. Of course many are sinners; what to DO? We persevere. We pray and we denounce sin. If non- Catholics must always hate us on account of a small number of sinful priests, and for our faith, it's too bad. They hated Jesus; and they crucified Him. They hated His apostles and disciples, and they persecuted and crucified THEM. They can hate. But they can't wipe out Christ's Church; His faithful ones. We still have thousands of holy, innocent and trust-worthy priests. We're not ashamed of them, we love them. They suffer with us, yet they don't cry. They keep the faith and serve God in silence. Why? They understand this is the world. It's been called The Valley of Tears.''

-- eugene c. chavez (loschavez@pacbell.net), February 09, 2005.

Yeah interesting you mention about Michael Jackson, paul. I find it sardonically amusing. All admit that Jackson lured scores of pre- adolescent boys into his home and even shared a bed with them. he dangled his own infant over a balcony. His public behavior brands him an A1 certified weirdo at best. There have been repeated credible accusations of pedophilia by various unrelated children over many years. Yet most people insist Jackson must be innocent because he’s a “Celebrity”! Yet every time the most outrageous, implausible, incredible or even impossible single accusation is made about a Catholic priest, it’s “well we KNOW he MUST be guilty because he's a priest!”. In fact statistics on pedophilia show that this common perception is totally upside down. Statistically speaking, if you had to leave your child in the care of a man you didn’t know, the best thing you could do to statistically minimize the chances of the child being molested, is to choose a man who is a Catholic priest.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), February 09, 2005.