This is only fitting, "The civil suit is notable for its unusual approach: It accuses church leaders of violating a consumer protection law, a statute that is more commonly applied to companies, not religious institutions."
The catholic church and all religious organizations havve been robbing us with their "tax-free" supposedly non-profit status. They are one of the wealthiest organizations in the world. They are now taking over OUR U.S. health care system and trying to force their religious beliefs on the rest of us.
I hope this civil suit takes back all the property they have amassed and puts them out of business. Then there need to be civil lawsuits against "evangelical" organizations and other supposedly religious non-profits. They are profit-seeking cults.
6
Consumer protection?
More like a mile wide opening for the tort bar to sue a slew of targets:
-- the Church, for the obvious
-- universities, for much the same ^^^ and possibly for lousy educational outcomes and much more
-- cell phone companies,/b> for distracting youth and young adults and -- why not -- enabling and fostering prostitution, drug trafficking and addiction
And a host of other deep pocketed businesses, institutions, associations, et al.
2
The non-action by the Pope after the French convicted a Cardinal of cover up in their abuse case, is telling. The Catholic Church talks a good game, but will actually do nothing, as usual. Civil authorities will have to imprison those found guilty of a crime or its cover up. It is necessary to put this kind of pressure on the church before change will happen.
I would also suggest applying the RICO laws to the Catholic Church and revoking their tax exempt status as a way of forcing change.
9
Allowing priests to marry won't make a whole lot of difference. Most of the women I know who were molested and/or raped as children were assaulted by family members--uncles, older brothers or cousins, even fathers. Some of these men violated their younger male relatives as well.
I was sent to Hebrew school a couple of times a week after my regular public school classes. One day the teacher kept me after class. He embraced me, very hard, and said some complementary things about me as a student. Something told me to get out of there real fast. I didn't tell my parents what had happened, but I never went back. So for the time being, that was the end of my religious education.
8
In Australia, the church run by now-disgraced pedophile Cardinal George Pell cleverly structured its affairs so the entity that could be sued was not the entity that owned the Catholic Church’s assets. This meant that people suing the church couldn’t recover damages even when they were awarded. This was deliberate and premeditated. The Church knew what was going on was wrong, but protected itself instead of the victims.
As a lapsed Catholic I bear no ill-will to the Faith. But the Church is a criminal enterprise and should be broken up. The faithful need a new vehicle.
22
Most of the attacks on the Catholic Church are based on anti catholic bias. No wonder West Virginia prosecutors are using these "novel" practices in order tu ruin and destroy the Church in their
state. Almost 80% are protestant and only 6% catholic! I went to a boarding School in Spain ran by St Vincent of Paul fathers. Thousands of us meet once a year; no case of sexual abuse! How about the Penn State sexual abuse for many years? Did the prosecutors and tha judges punish the university with millions of $'s. Nooooo! My family contributes to the church for education and charities all over the world, for our church and diocese; this money is not to pay fines. If a priest is guilty sende him to jail, but don't destroy the good work of the Catholic Church. The best of all religions.
4
@perdiz41 .... none are so blind as those who will not see.
14
@perdiz41
This is the year 2019. Your old medieval ideologies have no practical nor constructive purpose for building a new society free of discrimination and sexism, under scientific precepts. Other religions have disappeared, Catholicism has nothing exceptional going for it except a seemingly infinite supply of bad faith.
4
@perdiz41: What you characterize as "attacks...based on anti Catholic bias" are actually attempts to hold the church responsible for the reprehensible conduct of its employees, aka priests. They are no more blind bigoted attacks than are the efforts of any crime-fighting organization to catch and punish wrongdoers. Sometimes the truth hurts, but ignoring or covering it up has never made any situation better.
8
I hope this succeeds! I'm a lapsed Catholic...all schooling including college was Catholic. I can assure you, the most effective way to change the Church's behavior on these crimes is to hit them in the pocketbook!! It has been my belief all along that "the faithful" should withhold tithing until the Pope takes the necessary action. I wish West Virginia the best!!
10
I think the current problem is the result of three factors:
1. The junior seminary and adult seminary system. Back in the 50s and 60s boys as young as 13 were sent to all male highly regulated and authoritarian "junior seminaries" to begin their journey into the priesthood. A recipe for disaster! These boys then predominated the seminaries that supplanted colleges for the future clergy. Many if not most came from"strict" Catholic families who gained prestige by having "given a son to the Church"
2. The lack of virtually any outside accountability of the church be it to the laity or its own ordinary clergy let among the larger community.
3. The hubris that results from believing in one's own false sense of delegated "devine authority".
P.S. I wil add a very astute and cultivated sense of "political immunity"
15
@Fr. Bill For what it’s worth, the “diocesan school in the 1980s” where one of the priests named in the story, Patrick Condron, was employed, was a junior (“preparatory”) seminary in Vienna, W.Va., that was open from sometime in the 1960s through 1987.
Jeff of California,
I was also educated by nuns but my experience was a more pleasant one than yours. I left a private Catholic girls school in Baltimore due to a mentally disturbed nun. My parents were wise and intelligent enough to know something was not quite right with this woman. It never made me bitter and I remained a Catholic.
I chose a Catholic girls college in Florida with some hesitation but once there I had no regrets. The mostly Irish nuns were some of the kindest and compassionate teachers I had ever encountered. I flourished under their guidance and loved every moment I was there. I could not have been happier at this school.
I have many happy experiences as a Catholic and consider myself a lucky Catholic. I have been given many blessings in life and owe much thanks to God and my Church. I will continue being a practicing Catholic because I truly believe in my faith. It has been very good to me and I am very grateful.
5
@WPLMMT Good for you. Glad you're grateful. You escaped some horrific abuse that many of us still suffer from! Your defense of the Institution that perpetrated the abuse and then protected the priests and nuns who beat, molested, and raped children is morally bankrupt. Please let us seek the justice we deserve without being smarmy. Be as obsequious as you want. Our voices deserve to be heard without the taint of your pride. It mitigates our voices.
9
@Jeff
WPLMMT probably ignores the fact that official church policy up to the end of the late nineteenth century included opposition to democracy as a form of political organisation. The Vatican is a dangerous nexus which needs to be tamed.
1
going forward from 2002 when this blew up in Boston, a parent would have to be insane to trust their kids alone with the Church.
this all starts in the seminary and every single priest, bishop, cardinal and pope knew/knows about it. it's been going on for centuries. to say otherwise is an outright lie. it's the 'code of silence'
12
There is a lot of anti Catholic hate and bigotry that would never be tolerated towards other faiths. The sexual abuse that has occurred within the Church is abhorrent and no one will ever excuse this from occurring. But if you think that it is exclusive to the Catholic Church you are very much mistaken. It has happened in the Jewish Orthodox religion, the Protestant religions, public school system and every other organization where adults are in contact with children. It is everywhere. It does not excuse the Catholic Church but if there is honesty in reporting it would also be covered within these venues.
No one forces any Catholic to remain in the Church and yet there are still many members who attend each week. They obviously find the practice important and relevant to their everyday lives. Some of the comments here are mean spirited and unjustified. The Church has made mistakes but it has done a lot of good throughout the centuries. It is the largest Christian denomination in the world and it does not have to go searching for members. People are still joining its ranks. Why? They like what it has to offer to those who believe. The Catholic Church has withstood the test of time and much to the chagrin of its critics and Catholic haters will never wither away and die. Those of us and there are many will see to it that it continues to exist. And that you can be sure of.
5
@WPLMMT
'Done a lot of good'. Such as Karol Wojytla's irresponsible Aids policy during the 1980s partially responsible for a massive epidemic in Africa due to anti-condom stands. Then there is the ecologically irresponsible preference for large families, difficult to avoid when birth control is either shunned or impossible to obtain. Keep your self-righteousness for your fellow parishioners.
5
"People are still joining its ranks." Far fewer than ever.
The RCIA program struggles to attract. A majority are spouses joining because one spouse is already a member.
But you gloss over the more stunning fact that more person are leaving the RCC than joining. It ranks at the top of religions in which members have the weakest allegiance.
3
Great. Now even the state is looking to make a quick buck from public bias. How about instead of getting proze money they officially have all Churches in the state liquidated. Maybe the Faith can be practiced in peace if it's practiced in secret.
3
Imagine that we were not speaking of "The Church,"
but rather any other institution that cares for the vulnerable.
How in the world could we possibly condone this behavior????
It is not possible.
There are many good people in the church. It would appear that the members of the church hierarchy are not among them.
15
What a pity - that all those God-fearing Catholic officials (priests, etc all) who “preyed” their way through to the odious, violent realm of child exploitation for their cowardly, overpowering, criminal benefit, - have mostly (in large part), it would appear, gotten off easy for their dark and vile offenses against society’s most innocent ones. Did they believe that the Lord told them it’s okay ....?
13
Jack Noon,
You ask why any parent would still send their children to Catholic schools. Maybe it is because they receive an outstanding education and discipline. Many minority parents love the fact that the Catholic schools actually teach and do not put up with disruptive students. They want their children to learn and not just act as a babysitting service. Most of these students go on to institutions of higher learning and many graduate from college. It is worth the cost and investment of this excellent eduction to see their children succeed in both school and life. They could not be happier with the end results.
7
@WPLMMT The Catholic schools near me take bribes to get their kids in. For Real.
7
@WPLMMT as a 71 year old fully recovered Catholic, I am appalled that anyone trusts this corrupt mafia with their male or female children. It is rotten to the core. Yes, there are many excellent educational institutions associated with the church but the executives are morally corrupt old white males.
33
@mbb500- nailed it.
8
Good news, and thank you. This is how such cases should be handled.
It's a shame how long it took a modern society to understand that sexual abuse at, in, close or around a church, caused by priests, nuns or popes, is not a matter of a church but a legal issue that needs be to investigated and handled by prosecutors, the police, or some other legal and justice executive.
We expect the same when a Wal-Mart, Amazon or Uber manager goes after kids, aren't we? It's quite simple, actually.
19
In the local newspaper listing of community churches:
"The Catholic Church contains ingredients known to the State of California to cause sexual assault."
7
You know, this isn't a bad thing. I think art museums should accept donations from the Sacklers and then hand the money over to organizations battling the opioid epidemic. Its time for people to become ethical. Like Mitch McConnell. Like the FAA. The FDA. The list is long unfortunately.
5
Why isn’t the Catholic Church being charged with criminal conspiracy? The organization conspired to harbor, promote and move around criminal abusers and to keep them from being tried as criminal.
They knew the crimes were taking place, they knew the perpetrators and the victims and went to great lengths to keep the criminal law doing the same acts in different jurisdictions. They also used pressure tactics on witnesses, victims and parents to keep them silent.
27
@Buttons Cornell - the article states that in West Virginia, the Attorney General "has the authority to bring only civil cases, not criminal..." It is to Patrick Morrisey's great credit that he has taken on this near-impossible fight with the small arsenal at his disposal and I wish him luck and the crime victims success. I ask you, how are these crimes being prosecuted in Toronto? And to us US citizens, what will we do within our states to find ways to legislate justice for other victims?
1
The Catholic Church has had almost two decades to get rid of the pedophiles and change their culture of abetting priests who prey on children. They haven't done diddily. The Church is the problem. RICO charges now!
18
The Church has known about these problems for a lot longer than 2 decades.
4
Thorough sexual abuse investigations should also be conducted towards every religion and venue in the United States. I am sure it would be an eye opener to discover that this is not exclusive to the Catholic Church. All abuse is horrendous and should be exposed. We must rid this evil wherever and whenever it is discovered.
12
Phil Carson,
My love of my Catholic faith is unwavering as I am a lifelong and blessed Catholic. I defend my Church when it is justified and will criticize it also when warranted. The sexual abuse within the Church is horrible and I have not hesitated to speak out against this evil. I also have known and still know many fine and outstanding priests, nuns and laity who have never abused any human being. They have dedicated their lives to the Church and are tireless in their devotion. I remain in the Church because of them and they need to be acknowledged.
These fine men and women far outweigh the bad and evil ones. I speak as someone who has been an active Catholic for years. I will remain as long as these exemplary religious are in my Church. And I know this will always be the case.
6
@WPLMMT I'm a lifelong Catholic so I speak from experience. Aside from paedo priests who prey on young men, thousands of nuns, including the ones who taught me, were overwhelming abusive in both physical and emotional ways that have had traumatic, life long effects. The Catholic Church in America and Ireland trafficked in babies that were ripped from their mothers arms or while while they were punished by working in a laundry. Even today, the Pope refused to accept the resignation of a bishop who put children in front of paedophile priest. You are part of the problem, not the solution. OPEN YOUR EYES.
26
@Jeff:
Thousands of nuns? You say you were traumatized. I say I received an outstanding education that served me through several advanced degrees from the sisters who taught me in elementary school, grades 1 through 8. They were gentle, caring, and extremely well prepared. Exaggeration weakens the point.
2
@John Please read up on the poor children who died and were buried at Magdalene Laundries all over Europe and Ireland. They reach back to the 1700s where they took in "fallen women" and perpetuated excessive abuse. Please read, "God is Love" which details sexual abuse perpetrated by nuns. Please speak to Catholic school children who grew up in poverty and are in their 90s about their Catholic school experiences in rural and urban environments. I, too, had some gentle, caring, and well prepared sisters as teachers. Not one of them spoke up when my 6th grade math teacher Sister Milburga slapped a child across the face for not doing his homework. I'll tell you about Sister Julia, a sister at OLA in Lynnfield, MA who admitted to hating children and became a nun to get out of poverty in her native Ireland. Her screams in my face and the humiliation I suffered at her hands would give me the worst stomach cramps and anxiety I ever had on a daily basis. I was 12. So I stand by my unexaggerated "thousands" comment. You had a great Catholic school experience. Great! I am happy you did. However, please do not belittle or demean the experiences of those of us who did not. That denial is why sadism and sexual abuse is perpetrated and covered up by RCC adherents.
10
The Catholic Church is complicit with aiding and abetting pedophilia and sexual abuse. Every diocese should be forced to hand over the names of the offenders. New state and perhaps federal laws need to be made that makes it a crime to shield every offender no matter who they are.
16
Is it possible that it’s a money issue?
5
The Catholic Church is a sham. No, I don’t mean you Catholics who faithfully show up each Sunday to pray to your god. I mean the institution, the organization that sits on billions of dollars. Even in Jesus’s teachings the idea is that the church is not a building (and I think that can now translate to the organization and Vatican), but the people. To Catholic people: reject the Vatican, reject these centuries of warped vision, reject your church’s history and false teachings and start from scratch with the basics. Even in my twenties, after 12 years of Catholic schooling and a large chunk of my life spent going to mass, it was clear as day to me to walk away from the church. I knew what was being covered up and confidently said goodbye to this house of manipulative guilt and hypocrisy.
26
It's about time...
15
Proud Catholic and supportive of this action. The Church needs to be cleansed of the rot within. Church leadership has proven they won't or can't do it.
20
The courts and law enforcement are the only avenues for holding this criminal organization — the Catholic Church — accountable. Clearly, as has been known for decades, they refuse to do it themselves.
14
The Church is in good company that paragon of all the progressive virtues Mayor DeBlasio is running an organization doing the same thing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/nyregion/sexual-harassment-neutral-reference.html
2
Organized Abraham's Religions, when was any of that pedantic tribal misogynistic primitive old wealthy males' organized mental illness not just a form of child-abuse, women-abuse and human abuse on this Planet? When was that, Dearies?
Dear New York Times moderators I know you all dislike public rethorical and Scientific "attacks" on the old idiocies we all call the Abraham's religions, particular those you might associate yourselves with, but above is a History question, STEM quasi, only truly educated Americans and Middle Easterners will be able to solve correctly.
So. Kindly please have at it: Your answers?
Thank you kindly
Godless Best,
A.E.
Projectheureka LLC
2
While saluting the WV AG's creative and smart pursuit of "every avenue to effectuate change", I must point out that calls of some here to crush the Catholic church and pull the tax-exempt status of all churches would also harm or effectively eliminate many worthy Catholic institutions that continue to tirelessly serve vulnerable and needy children. Such organizations are typically not given access to the Vatican's deep pockets nor unlimited legal defense funds that the archdiocese may confidently draw upon. I am not speaking in the abstract; my family has been both a beneficiary of and a donor to such Catholic institutions.
As WV is showing, we can punish abusers and try to prevent future institutional protection of abusers without destroying those individuals and organizations that seek to do good in the world. The world is not black & white. It is possible to discern evil and still seek out good. We must try not to eliminate the former at the expense of the latter.
7
@Quite Contrary
I disagree. All the good that "some" religious organizations do can be done just as well by non-religious organizations. As an atheist, I support numerous secular organizations that serve the poor, provide health care, defend the rights of the oppressed and strengthen families and communities. Many of us concluded long ago that religion is unnecessary, and too often provides cover for those who prey on others.
17
@Quite Contrary
The are some crimes that cannot be excused by other good works. The Church has had about two decades in this most recent exposure of criminality to weed out the pedophiles and clean up their act. But they continue in their time-honored tradition of abetting priests who prey on children. Just like pedophiles, the Church wraps itself in good deeds to show a deceptively decent face to the world. I sympathize with Catholics who gain some sort of solace from their participation in the Church. But the organization had proven itself to be a criminal entity. They do not deserve tax-exempt status, and they also need to be charged in a RICO suit.
8
@ARNP
Tell it to my devout, early-widowed Irish Catholic grandfather, who battled the Chicago archdiocese, the court's "child protective" system and fought (successfully) to keep his mentally retarded young son in the care of a Catholic orphanage, instead of in a state mental institution - with the help of his parish priest. Yes, that was 1929, but today the same institution is serving a whole different demographic of vulnerable, needy children and their parents - few of them Catholic. I respect and support their work, then and now. I am neither Catholic nor religious, just grateful.
4
The Times ran a story on 28 February that revealed a new low in an Australian case:
"In court on Wednesday, Robert Richter, another defense attorney, argued that the cardinal’s sentence should be mitigated because at the time of the offenses, he [Cardinal Pell] had no special relationship or duty of care to the children he abused at Sunday Mass.
“But Judge Kidd said that the cardinal’s actions absolutely involved ‘a breach of trust,’ which began the moment the boys’ parents dropped their children at the church that morning. ‘Every single member of the church’ had a responsibility to the boys, he said.”
How can a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church allow his attorney to make such an argument? Desperation?
Or does it encapsulate the de facto attitude of the Roman Catholic hierarchy?
That same attorney reportedly offered an even more repulsive argument in mitigation. He then publicly apologized for it.
I did not read of any comment by the Cardinal.
10
Lawyers will make narrow legal arguments while being blind to their moral bankruptcy. It’s not only the attack dogs that traditionally defended the Church. Larry Nassar’s lawyer questioned the veracity of some of the victims statements. Legal ethics is the cruelest of oxymorons.
2
Once again, the employees of that large man in the sky cover up for each other knowing that that the only thing in the sky is our solar system!
They have purveyed the same nonsense throughout their long and sad history and have had the same history of abuse that history!
Is nothing sacred?
Not even science?
6
@JG, the "large man in the sky" is not God and does not have employees. I don't know who the guy in the sky is, but God is everywhere and has no employees. God is love and lives within every person created in God's image, which is every person. No nonsense about that.
3
WV is anti-Catholic. I know -- I grew up there.
Having said that, the Catholic Church is a broken organization. They need to address this criminal activity at every level. I'm glad that WV is being pro-active in looking in to this. The Vatican should address this with sweeping changes, not just empty words.
12
I applaud WV for doing this and hope other states do the same! Priest who abuse have to have severe consequences -- not just w/i the church, but out of it too.
20
I sat in a Catholic canon law class discussing the reaction of Church hierarchy to the child abuse scandal over a decade ago. To my right was a Catholic mother who worked as a judge. “It’s called ‘aiding and abetting’,” she said angrily.
I’m glad accountability is coming but I’m sorry it came to this. Other than for charitable relief efforts, I quit giving this church my money.
15
@Bamagirl...
The Roman Catholic Church has become an abomination before the eyes of God.
What is needed is a Mueller like special counsel dedicated to investigating the long history of child rape in the Roman Catholic Church.
Because the Church itself has no choice other than obfuscation. Because what we don't yet know... is much, much, much worse than what we already do know.
4
This is commendable, creative lawyering by West Virginia's A.G., of the "there's more than one way to skin a cat" genre. Hopefully, the discovery process will uncover significant incriminating evidence of initial statutory violations and subsequent coverups of those. If the state's Consumer Credit and Protection Act provides for punitive damages, usually not insurable, with a substantial award of damages this Catholic Diocese could face liquidation or, in this case, a snuffing out of all the candles.
4
While I agree with many of the comments here, I would like to make a different point. The Catholic Church is both a religious entity and a sovereign state. Though priests minister to the laity, they answer to the hierarchy, and bishops and archbishops are more or less authorities unto themselves (unless they do something so egregious that it gets reported up the chain). The religious orders add another level of obscurity; somewhat like frats, they have their own cultures that colour the behaviour of their adherents.
The point is the money. A bishop could be a vicious reprobate and if his diocese were thriving his behaviour would be considered his business by the church hierarchy. A wealthy diocese also necessarily implies that whoever became bishop would be a charismatic glad-hander well integrated with the local authorities and influential community members. And he would be making business decisions by keeping or moving priests who transgressed – or cutting them loose if they transgressed in visible ways with people they should have avoided.
The last three popes have all been aware of the abuse, and for geopolitical reasons (JP II) and to preserve the institution they have made piecemeal changes at best. It will take extensive collaboration between flock and state to lay bare all the abuses and comprehend their scale, and I don't see that happening – many of the laity will continue to believe that abuse was a lapse, not a pattern, and the state needs to pick its battles.
8
Any religion, especially inculcated in innocent, defenseless children, so mutilates the heart, mind, soul, and personality, that raping the body as an afterthought hardly matters. Rape is *very* serious; but even worse is the destruction wrought on children to make them mindlessly obedient to their rapists and their repulsive doctrines.
12
The FBI needs to be involved.
23
@Pen Vs. Sword
Won't happen. It is a little known fact that Donald Trump's sister is a fervent Catholic probably blocking any kind of serious federal intervention in this sordid affair.
This article does not state when this sexual abuse occurred. No matter when this took place it is terrible but it would have been interesting to know the dates of abuse. I am just curious to know when it started.
8
The hiring of pedophiles by the West Virginia bishop is no doubt horrendous. But it must be repeated that the majority of Catholic clergy and laity are not sexual abusers. Most are highly moral and ethical individuals who would never lay one hand on anyone. They are outraged over these scandals and do not hesitate calling out these abusers. We should not condemn an entire religion because of the evil committed by a few.
I am a lifelong Catholic and have just returned from Mass as this is the Lenten season. The Church was well attended and I have not noticed a reduction in Sunday attendance because of the abuse. The reason for continued Catholic practice? It is because we need Jesus in our lives and cannot go it alone without his help and guidance. He gives us a peace and consolation that is not to be found in an ever growing secular world.
As Catholics, we abhor this sexual abuse and want to rid our Church of this scourge. We can if we demand that any Church member who is accused and found guilty be turned over to the authorities and removed from permanent ministry. We will not give up on our Catholic faith and for many of us it rock solid. It is who we are and we will continue worshipping in a faith that is over 2000 years old and has a membership of 1.3 billion and growing.
8
@WPLMMT
Your defense of your religion is admirable.
But "most" is obviously not enough.
One is led to wonder whether, despite your defenses, you see or should explore how your faith is related to widespread child abuse.
Is it possible that "faith" blinds you to sick men who enter the priesthood? Is it possible that life-long celibacy is not healthy and could be a contributing factor?
Furthermore, if "most" Catholics and clergy are upstanding, how did sick and criminal behavior become so widespread and went on for so long without being detected?
I say these things not to cast aspersions, but to outsiders, these perverse crimes seem pervasive and willfully ignored by Catholic officials. In fact, that is the picture painted by the Church's own investigations, as well as outside authorities.
It seems these questions, and others, will need to be answered for society at large to be as comfortable as you are with the Catholic religion.
12
@WPLMMT I do not recognize ANY of these quotes you made about the RCC, of which I connected to. In fact, see the exact opposite of what you state.
" . . . the majority of Catholic clergy . . . are not sexual abusers." Not my personal experience with the RCC.
"Most are highly moral and ethical individuals who would never lay one hand on anyone." Not my personal experience with the RCC.
"They are outraged over these scandals and do not hesitate calling out these abusers." This is a laughable, ridiculous, and absurd statement by any measure.
Your contributions and views perpetuate the sexual violation of children.
3
@Phil Carson
Good post. However, life-long celibacy does not cause men to prey on children. Normal men seek sexual relationships with women, not kids. Many, many pedophiles are married. It's part of their public face they show the world. Likewise, priests have, until very recently, been immune from scrutiny. The Church, in dragging its feet, makes me believe the problem is far worse than is generally known.
3
Leading by example. Way to go West Virginia!
8
My education oriented, Hindu parents were religiously neutral with cross cultural and global mindsets; they sent me to Jesuit (Catholic) schools as Jesuits are reputed to be one of the best educators in the world. I have the highest regard for some of my Jesuit teachers notwithstanding the fact that I grew to be an atheist. I recently mourned the death of my High School Principal who passed away in a Jesuit facility in Brussels. He was a real dedicated soul who also happened to be a strict disciplinarian and yet a very caring soul. He taught us Latin and instilled the spirit of aiming high in us: “Nihil Ultra” (Latin for “Nothing Beyond”). We were also empowered to “Seize the Day” or “Carpe Diem” in Latin.
I feel very sad and deeply enraged by the heinous acts committed by a large number of Catholic priests. The leadership in the Vatican has been agonizingly slow to punish these priests who committed these morally outrageous deeds.
In my humble opinion, the Pope should swiftly follow the message from Psalm 34:14 - “Depart from Evil and do Good; Seek Peace and Pursue it”
4
If you are a parent you know how wrong this is. If you are a Catholic parent you need to step up now !
7
TAX. THE. CHURCHES.
No more free ride for Sky Daddy.
26
That’s right...sue the pants (robes) off these guys.
Put this cult out of business.
21
The Church is as bad as ever.
Your Federal Congress fails you.
The Supreme Court fix is in.
Your president is a demented maniac.
Have a wonderful Spring, America!
13
@Technic Ally Yeah, but at least the Church is worldwide.
Finally! Thank god. This is criminal, and the entire food chain is complicit. It is only in prosecuting all involved that it might stop.
26
@JC Carr
Thank who??
2
When will these priests ever go to jail? The Church of Rome has shown over and over it cannot be trusted with this issue. As long as the church is held in some kind of "exalted" status this will happen again and again.
33
The Catholic Church is a business ran for profit. Look at the massive wealth that the Catholic Church holds. In keeping with God and faith, 80% of that wealth should be distributed to the poor. Instead, the Vatican stock piles cash in secret bank accounts, away from prying eyes.
Charismatic ministers rake in millions monthly from TV sermons. I once listened to Joel Osteen explain why God was okay with him paying a million dollars for the lot for his home. I'm not sure who he was trying to convince; his followers or himself. I doubt anyone bought his explanation. Joel Osteen lives in a mansion that makes the Hollywood elite green with envy. Selling the word of God is immensely profitable.
To make sure churches pay their fair share of tax revenue, their exempt status should be deleted. Or, they should be required by law to donate 80% of their revenue to those in need.
38
West Virginia is known for Christian churches with pastors who are snake handlers about which most of us are dismayed and perplexed. Catholic churches with pastors who handle our children are a far greater threat.
9
@Frank Heneghan ALL of them? I think I detect a trace of venom in the comment.
3
@kenneth I apologize for my generalization. Thank you.
I’m astonished that any caring parent would send their child to a Catholic school or camp. In addition to the risk of sexual abuse, children are indoctrinated with medieval mythology and superstition designed to give clergy power and control.
48
I hope this is a costly lawsuit, and it results in ongoing updates being reported by this and other media, motivating additional states to follow suit. The Pope does nothing but blah-blah-blah. Someone needs to REALLY care, and unfortunately it's not the Catholic Church -- not its leaders and sadly, not its parishioners, who for some remarkable reason, keep forcing their innocent, beloved children to church, confession, first communion, and camps, hoping to repeat the cycle of lifetime membership in this criminal organization.
10
Lock up all the criminals no matter how they wear their collar. Another example of privilege. And yes, let’s end the tax loophole. Why should taxpayers subsidize criminals. With so many examples lately, election fraud, sexual abuse etc. let’s see how the guilty like stripes.
15
@M. Olson Ah, yes, gotta get the usual tax comment in there somehow.
3
Last year the Pope said that there would be a great meeting and at that meeting that solutions would be found for stopping the rape of children and the cover-ups that ensued.
So, everyone waited with bated breath to see what would happen, what "solutions" would be offered by the Pope.
And, then....
..... nothing happened.
Oh, the big meeting happened, but "solutions"?
Not a one.
Others in this comment section have already pointed out that the French Cardinal's resignation was refused by the Pope.
More than that? The Pope also did not call the cops to come pick him up.
So, I say, Jail them both.
Strip every diocese of every piece of art, every pew, all land, all houses, all cars, all robes, sell it all at public auction and set up a fund for the education, health care, housing and mental health professionals for the victims who have not only have to have suffered the horror of these crimes ... BUT, have also had to suffer that this society sat back and let it go on and on and on and......
I want all contracts with the United States and separate states and any church to end.
We are a secular country.
There are hundreds of religions and thousands of denominations.
No where in the US constitution does it give permission for the US to give any favored status to any religion.
"Congress shall make NO LAW..."!
Jail them, Patrick.
It's nothing but a sex-ring.
Shut them down.
16
@rosa Jail whom? The bishop in WV or every Catholic in the entire United States?
3
The cover-up exceeds the minority of offenders. "What you do to the least of my brethen.you do to me".
Yeah- Jesus said many words- but none more powerful than those few.
3
@Dennis McSorley exceeds the minority ??
It is time every Bishop in the country was investigated for complicity. Only then can our confidence in our Church be restored. I especially want to see Dolan and Chaput investigated for what they knew and when they knew it, then did nothing.
21
Is it finally going to happen? Will there be actual consequences, if not for individuals (due to statutes of limitation) then at least for the Church? I'm tired of getting my hopes up, but...
28
I simply do not understand why so few Catholics have left the church. If people believe what the church teaches then why are they still members? To me it says none of the people believe in church teachings. Or they approve or know something we don't.
27
This article from the same newspaper that highlighted John Oliver's rant against Jay Leno for hypocrisy over the issue of "public shaming."
Considering the small percentage of Catholic clergy who have abused people, the continued shaming of the entire Catholic Church over the abuse of a few is nothing more than public shaming.
All abuse is abhorrent. And it can never be excused. But to condemn an entire church over the sins of the minority is not exactly fair journalism.
There are wonderful priests who do wonderful work; and you are sullying them with the same brush.
10
@Michael, As you say "to condemn an entire church over the sins of the minority is not exactly fair." I would agree except you are only talking about the pedophiles, the NYT and the commenters here are not talking about just the pedophiles but the army of Christian soldiers who covered up for those sins. They are legion.
15
@Michael
Can you quote the source that says it’s a “small percentage”?
6
@Michael
All abuse is abhorrent. And it can never be excused
And yet, here you are. Doing exactly that.
11
My only question is why not just use the RICO statute to go after the entire organization?
89
Yes! They qualify in every way.
Centuries of institutional abuse and corruption and coverups.
A sex mafia.
7
When are the Feds going to bring a RICO action? Im no expert but it seems that the church may be an organization that has been conspiring to allow pedophiles to continue to act as pedophiles from location to location across the country.
52
I've always wanted to know why a bishop who protects a pedophile priest isn't charged with aiding and abetting a felony. Does anyone at the NYT know or raise this question?
83
Could not agree more. Damning. Complicit.
9
@Coop Cooper- and if a civilian did it? Well, you know the rest of the story.
5
My Greek father and his Greek friends had a Greek saying:
"I believe in Christ, but not in priests."
35
Can’t we all agree that the Catholic Church is totally discredited and beyond redemption?
52
We should start staving the church of any financial support. It has been corrupt since its early days. It is a cult.
18
It's about time that politicians show the courage to prosecute pedophiles and their enablers who happen to be Catholic priests (and higher).
This on a day when the Vatican rejects the resignation of a convicted pedophile enabler. Again, the church is clearly not doing all that it can ...
19
Catholics should just start over and start going again to members homes to worship and let the experience be as intended, with fellowship and remembrance of Jesus' teachings.
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@PamJ Do you really think the privacy and seclusion of the home would be safer?
1
Without creepy “celibate” priests it might.
1
I am tied of hearing what the Vatican is doing or what they think or what church law says. These people are here and our laws are what matter. These church's should be closed down.
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Of course they knowingly employed pedophiles. That may be one reason they wouldn’t dismiss them. Firing one would be admitting their mistake. In addition, priests were like managers in a corporation and managers are almost never fired. An important question that has not been answered is why they found it necessary or a good idea to do this. And what does this practice say about the church’s attitude toward their women communicants?
25
Unfortunately, in my opinion, our "esteemed" AG, Patrick Morrissey is more than likely looking to pad his pockets with any money that might come from a settlement. He cares not a big about West Virginians, adult or child.
8
@Jean for whatever perceived short comings you feel the AG may have his move to hold the church accountable is light speed compared to other agencies.
7
I’ll take it to get pedophiles in jail where they belong, and the entire church’s attention that being complicit is not a sin, but breaking the law.
3
The AG of your state was elected by the voters. He doesn't work for a private law firm. How could he make money from this law suit?
3
Note the other headline today on how the Pope did not accept the resignation of a cardinal who covered up abuse. Apparently, we need the states to go after the Church to rid ourselves of criminals. The Church has had decades, if not longer, to do something about it. Yet they have avoided admitting to or dealing with the problem consistently. Even now the Church is still trying to avoid accountability. Shameful.
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@Mr. SeaMonkey. This is one of the few comments I have written defending the church. Perhaps it is the only one. I will give the Pope a slight pass here because the Cardinal has appealed his guilty verdict. The Pope has gone with the the principle of innocent until proven guilty.
If, after appeal, the verdict is still guilty there will be no excuses that can be made for the Pope if he does not accept or demand the resignation of the Cardinal. And it to be hoped that the appeal will not be dragged out for years by the French courts or the Cardinal’s lawyers.
4
@Bashh
Fair enough. For what it's worth, I'm not even part of the Church. And yet I first learned about how pedophiles within the Church are covered up way back in 1989. That's 30 years ago and I can only guess how much earlier this problem existed. The Church has had a very, very long time to become a decent steward of its followers but has failed to do so. I'm not willing to cut them any slack at this point. But I do understand your perspective and, in my opinion, it is a valid one.
3
There is the also the question of Catholic parents who are knowing accessories to these crimes perpetuated upon their children. That is why the clergy pedophile scandal must not neglect the laity who place their offspring in blatant danger.
16
End tax status for religious organizations. They all peddle thinking from the dark ages. We need reality-based thinking.
169
Tax them at the standard rate for corporations, and use the revenue to teach ethics and critical-thinking in elementary schools, I.e., utilising church money to teach children that they don't need religion.
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@Mark
you are so right!
12
@Mark I agree, many places are in need of new tax dollars yet they allow religion's to go tax free. Here in NYC the Catholic Church sits on very valuable real estate, why should it be tax exempt?
10
This is going to be a costly lawsuit for the Catholic Church, as it should be. That said, I would be interested in knowing if the WV state attorney is going to pursue similar lawsuits against Protestant denominations and individual churches. Right now, it feels like there's a double standard when it comes to punishing religious institutions for allowing leaders to abuse of their positions.
14
@Tessa Jackson
I doubt there is a double standard. The complaints against the Catholic Church specifically and its hierarchies attempts to deflect and cover up go back decades.
11
@Tessa Jackson In most Protestant denominations, individual congregations investigate prospective pastors and hire the candidate they prefer. In Catholic parishes, a new pastor is appointed by the bishop, the congregation usually has nothing to say about it and generally knows little about the new pastor before he arrives. (There have been some efforts to change this practice, but without the support and cooperation of the bishop, nothing will change.)
12
@Tessa Jackson churches of all denominations have skirted their civic duties and tax responsibilities. All should be held accountable.
4
Good and good job West Virginia
68
If the church had married men and women as priests, and bishops this would have ended a long time ago. No Bishop who was also a parent would have simply shuffled a priest to another parish after hearing these tales or terror.
61
@Joe Barnett you hit the nail on the head
10
Who cares if the job description requires celibacy and people chose that profession? Irrelevant and between employer and employee. You molest a child, you go to jail. Let’s stop focus on celibacy and demand that complicit church members go to jail too, where the pedophiles belong.
7
@Joe Barnett Nah,I am going to call that the Mike Pence/Ross Douthat school of psychology - everything can be solved by promoting marriage. I think it is factually and intuitively wrong. But the catholic church did not need to keep hiding them, they needed to learn to prosecute them and turn them out of their ranks..They never did that, even today the Pope has refused to dismiss a cleric who covered up child abuse.
Religion is not just for weak minds, it is for deluded and sick minds, as far as I can tell.
7
In another story in today's NYT, a convicted French Cardinal handed his resignation to the Pope. The Pope refused the resignation, and the cardinal has 'stepped aside for awhile'.
It is truly sad that Rome will not take the measures that need to be taken to assure Catholics all over the world that The Roman Catholic Church is taking the problem of sexual molestation seriously. Since the Church will not clean it's own house, it is up to law enforcement around the world to do what is necessary. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and even France now must supply the moral compass that the Church seems unable to find.
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This is what happens when you let organizations police themselves. Yet Republicans continue to promote permitting polluters to police themselves. The results have devastated the planet, yet Republicans pursue their deregulatory agenda. President Trump and all republicans: Please distinguish, ON PRINCIPLE, the worldwide Catholic church child abuse scandal from the worldwide climate change disaster that engulfs us all in view of oil companies' lies about climate change, Volkswagen's lies about its cars' emissions, etc.
35
@M Hoberman
It is not just the "policing" that is questionable, it is the entire thrust of the effort to employ men who were not normal in a sexual sense. This is not to say that all gay men are pedophiles but there didn't seem to be any screening process. And mistakes were evidently made but then covered up instead of being corrected.
5
Like the military policing sex abuse which is rampant and unchanging.
4
They don’t police themselves. The US was founded on division of church and state. When did the government and prosecutors allow the church to police itself? It’s absurd.
4
Wonderful legal precedent!!!
45
There are certainly survivors in RI and Mass (& elsewhere) who deserve similar suits.
34
@Nomi One does not "get" a suit. One files a suit. He or she must take the initiative.
The Catholic Church is a disgrace to the teachings of the Rabbi from Nazareth from whom it claims to derive its authority, but suing Rome under a state consumer credit and protection statute?
This isn't a merchant adding improper hidden fees to your bill. This is a tax-exempt church's organizationally-sanctioned pedophilia.
This is nothing more than a grab for publicity by a state attorney general who just lost his bid to unseat Senator Joe Manchin. The attorney general has no jurisdiction in his state; so, he essentially sues for false advertising?
Mercy, it is stupid lawsuits like this that undermine those which actually can bring justice to victims.
9
@Didier - I would recommend pursuit of the Church under RICO. What other organization could be freely moving molesters around the country and putting them in close proximity to children and not be considered a criminal enterprise?
19
@Didier Okay, but how does it do the "undermining"?
4
@Didier Consider it more of a Consumer Protection idea where product safety was actually an issue since the services of the priests and nuns were paid for in not only tithes but charges for Private, Catholic Schooling, from very early ages, and too many of the Catholic Institutions had individuals in positions of power who would prey upon the poor, helpless or naive, in many various ways, as slave labor, as sex objects etc. Children, women, the sick and poor who looked to the Church for help, which was what was supposedly offered en mass with the Church for it's laity, and those in charge KNEW they were 'selling an unsafe product' by letting the rampant abuse continue.
The has been some consideration and musing, for a long time, that those in positions of power ONLY get there if they have something in their past that can be held over their head to control them, some sin of body or soul to bind them to the protection of the clergy, vs the protection of the flock.
At this point one HAS to wonder who is NOT involved, who has Not protected or covered up scandals? What politics are there that keep the entire college of cardinals from being arrested as complicit in not only the sexual abuse but the crimes against humanity with the Women's Work Houses, Orphanages, Poor Houses etc where people were virtually enslaved and abused for long periods.
If they cannot control their own priest's actions, why should they be trusted with anyone's children, male or female.
Trust Betrayed.
2
The diocese should “create” new policies to protect children?
That’s hilarious, isn’t it? The church has done nothing to protect anything but protect their assets, and they don’t include children as assets.
NYC Cardinal Tim Dolan protected the church not the victims in Milwaukee, then got promoted as the church moved him to do more dirty work in NYC. He even got to parade around with the Pope in NYC. Wow! All the time the victims in Milwaukee got barely anything because Dolan put that money in a “cemetery fund!” Now if that isn’t sinful......
132
Agree.
During his tenure in Milwaukee, Dolan proved to be a master of hiding behind civilian laws when it was in his interest (hard assets/property), but when it was time to be concerned with the interest of those being abused, he was the first one to point to scripture verses about "forgiveness" blah blah.
A con man.
4
Things are falling apart in the Catholic Church. I am not sure its center will hold. Beyond sad.
27
@Mark Siegel Good to remember that our Church is The People of God....all of us. The Hierarchy are just politicians who have made a career out of the Church. They are our servants. We can ignore them yet remain strong in our Faith.
3
@Philip W
Ignore them! As they ignored children being molested? Ignoring a crime is a crime.
We get to vote for our politicians and if we don't like their records we vote them right back out od office. Apparently priests are moved around like pawns on the chess board of the Vatican, free to do what THEY will and it's not the will of God.
All I see from the hierarchy is faith in money and power and a life time cushy job. All I see from any of the people of faith left in the church is that they are so brain washed they have turned their backs and ruined their own children's future.
4
@Sharon I mean ignoring their moral orders and recommendations etc. Lock them all up as far as I am concerned. Every Bishop Ordained prior to Francis is guilty of complicity and that includes mine "O'Malley" He knew what was happening.
Guess that whole "Doing God's Work" got put to the wayside.....
The Catholic Church needs a "Coming to Jesus" moment.
Do you as a leader of the Catholic Church, in your heart, and manifested through your actions, emulate Christ?
Or are you just dressing up men in robes and allowing a fair number of them to sexually molest children without consequence?
69
They are a criminal organization disguised as Christians.
4