Every once in while, a church leader will say something he actually thinks, and we’re given a snapshot into the mental lives of priests. As most of you can guess, it isn’t usually a pretty picture: religions are an old boys’ club that places fraternity over morality. This has allowed an institution like the Catholic Church to continue to harbor and defend child rapists. Even if you’ve never forced yourself on innocent kids, being part of this club warps your mind to such an extent, you actually try and defend the actions of these scumbags and instead try to blame the kids, who must have been seducing those poor priests all along, as was the case with Rev. Benedict Groeschel:

“Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer…Well, it’s not so hard to see — a kid looking for a father and didn’t have his own — and they won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing, perhaps sleeping but not having intercourse or anything like that…”

It’s those damn sexy kids: they can’t stop flaunting their under-developed asses in everyone’s face. Just like a girl wearing a revealing outfit in public, she’s obviously just asking to be assaulted. Why else would she dress like that?

Needless to say, when word got out that this dude was also trying to defend people who rape innocent kids, Groeschel did his best to appear apologetic. It didn’t go so well:

“I did not intend to blame the victim,” the Rev. Benedict Groeschel, of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said Thursday. “A priest (or anyone else) who abuses a minor is always wrong and is always responsible.”

Hard to trust a guy who comes to the defense of anyone who molests kids, isn’t it? Has anyone given any thought to the victims of this seduction? Who will defend the Sanduskys of the future? Groeschel sure has:

“Here’s this poor guy – Sandusky – it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice. Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn’t think of it in terms of legal things.”

See, the abuse didn’t get reported because all those sexy kids really just wanted it… but of course he’s not trying to blame the victim. No sir, not one bit. I totally buy your apology, asshole, and apparently so does the man who defends the indefensible, Bill Donohue. He blamed Groeschel’s age and a recent car accident. Not sure how any of these things make you a rape apologist, but what do I know?