Tag Archives: catholics

Ohio Priest Gave Opioids to addicted Children to Rape Them

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If you’re playing Catholic Rapist Bingo, then congratulations for those of you with Ohio on your card. You’re one step closer to the grand prize, which is a lifelong hatred of the church. I’ve won this prize long ago, so it’s up for grabs.

Yet another depraved human being operating under the watchful eye of the Catholic Church has been arrested and charged for the crime of sexually abusing his young flock. In this case, it sounds like the sort of dramatic fiction that belongs to serialized dramas, and not real life.

For 15 years, Rev. Michael Zacharias used his influence, and the power granted to him by his position to lure troubled kids into a life of drug addiction and sexual slavery.

Testimony and evidence at trial showed Zacharias developed relationships with the victims’ families when they were young to gain their trust, prosecutors said. As the victims got older, he exploited their fears, their housing instability and their criminal records to force them into commercial sex.

If you’ve ever wondered how these kinds of crimes can perpetuate for so long, look no further than the cult of secrecy that manages it. The Catholic Church is the master when it comes to covering up crimes. They make even the most terrifying drug lords look like rank amateurs. The fact is that reporting abuse has far reaching consequences to anyone with career aspirations. The internal “legal system” of the church allows pastors to sue each other for slander and libel if the charges are not proven (which given the timeframes of the crimes can be quite difficult). They also face excommunication in some cases, which to a believer is equivalent to being cast into the fiery pits of hell.

It angers me that even the news outlets that has covered this story didn’t publish any testimony from the victims, but allowed a guilty man to continue to preach his innocence, as though he had nothing to do with the decades of abuse he perpetuated. Every news organizations that report on priestly abuse tend to bend over backwards to publish the bullshit lies from the PR department of the Vatican, which pretends to give a crap about the abuse of children.

Zacharias had been moved several times during his career. These types of shuffles are not uncommon for priests who start getting complaints from upset parents. I’d like to hear impact statements from the victims, not the crocodile tears of the very institution that had this man on paid leave while the investigation into the abuse continued. They had access to the same information the police did, and no doubt more, and yet they chose to stand by him until he was found guilty.

Now if there is any credit to be given to the church (and very little should be), it’s that they quite literally invented the word for pedophilia. In their twisted view, they want credit for discouraging the practice societally. I would grant it except for the fact that there are plenty of other cultures that reject it, so it does not take a great deal of moral fortitude to be against the abuse of children. Given that I know from my own father’s experience in the Catholic educational system, I can assure you that sexual abuse was only one of the forms of torture visited upon children by this vile institution. Decrying something, and then performing these same actions in the safety of the worlds most secretive organization should impress no one. It only highlights the failings of the priestly class to live up to the most basic moral precepts. Who else but a group of sexless men would want to be congratulated with inventing the word for abusing kids? As this generation’s youth would say, that’s highly sus.

Church Punishes Priest that Exposed Abuse

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If you ever believed Church rhetoric that they’re working hard to purge abusers from among their ranks, than I have a bunch of magic beans I can sell you.

Take the case of a Portuguese priest named Joaquim Nazaré, who recently exposed a dozen of his colleagues by reporting them to an Independent Commission specifically set up to investigate priestly abuse. When his employer found out, they reacted the way you would expect: they punished him for it.

You see, the problem was that one of the priests, Nuno Aurélio, had committed his vile acts 19 years ago, which meant that it passed the statues of limitation (which I should stress, was the result of the Church pushing hard to impose these limits). As a result, Aurélio claimed that the accusations amounted to slander, which the church agreed:

“Given that the burden of proof is on the accuser, it is clear that the defendant’s statements are defamatory and slanderous”, the ruling, reached last summer, continued.

“Nazaré – who had never appeared before the court – was condemned in two forms: he had to apologize not simply “personally” to Nuno Aurélio, but “publicly through diocesan channels” as a form of “reparation for the scandal”, and pay a month’s salary out of his pocket..

So imagine that your coworker sexually abused a child to the point that this person later kills themselves, and when you tell a commission specifically created to expose this kind of monstrous behavior, you’re forced to apologize to the abuser, and pay a month of your salary in punishment. I’m sure you would be thrilled.

Luckily, Nazaré is a badass who refuses to back down. He’s been removed from any position of authority as punishment as a result. His career prospects are now dead, but in my opinion, its better for him this way. Who wants to work for such a corrupt organization anyways? He’s obviously too good for them.

Keep in mind that not a single priest has actually faced any justice as a result of this investigation that found that over 5,000 people has been abused since 1950. That’s the equivalent of one kid getting raped every week (with some change left).

Illinois Publishes report on Catholic sexual Abuse

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The Illinois Office of the Attorney General has just released it’s report of clerical abuse, and the numbers are staggering. Over 450 priests were found to have engaged in serious sexual abuses of almost 2000 children over the last 70 years (that’s an average of about 30 victims a year). This number was far higher than the paltry 103 the Illinois Diocese had self reported.

The investigation also revealed claims by at least 1,997 survivors who were sexually abused by the 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers who are now publicly disclosed in Illinois as substantiated child sex abusers, numbers far greater than those reported by the Pennsylvania grand jury

Since no one is actually going to be held accountable for the equivalent of raping a small town, the report instead has a number of “suggestions” that the church has absolutely zero legal obligation to follow. The most reasonable, and least likely to be followed, is the request to reform the way they report crime (which has been “don’t ask don’t tell”). Unless people start going to jail over this, then there really is nothing to force the Catholic church to make any significant changes.

So, the end result is this: zero arrests, a 600 page report that exposes serious sexual abuse that will most likely be ignored by the general population. What exactly was the whole point of it then?

New Pope elected and surprise, he’s a bigot

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After the first day of indecision, an old, antiquated bunch of clowns dressed in silly costumes finally elected their new infallible leader: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina. His new name, Francis the First, is in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, the guy who renounced wealth in order to feel more connected to the poor. Now you might think it’s a little ironic that a man sitting on 50 billion dollars and eating on gold plates should give himself such a name, but to be fair, Assisi did start out rich, so I’m sure this ‘humble’ servant of God will too, right?

Unsurprisingly, Cardinal Bergoglio is the kind of Pope you would expect a group of repressed, self-hating homosexuals to elect: despite his statements that gays should be treated with respect, he nevertheless is of the opinion that adoption by gay parents is child abuse. This kind of indefatigable respect notwithstanding, it was a brilliant move by the church to finally elect someone who comes from a country where people actually give a shit about Catholicism, and the Pope in general. Survey after survey in industrialized nations have shown no modern Catholic actually gives a flying fuck what the Pope says, since like every other religious believer, they simply pick and choose which parts of the Bible they like and want to follow.

As for the rest, we just need to wait a little longer until some other fucking scandal breaks and more insane news comes out, say, like the church owning one of Europe’s most prominent (and I’m assuming steamiest) bathhouses.

Mother Teresa confirmed as giant, twisted person

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How ahead of his time was Christopher Hitchens? Well, when he released his book, The Missionary Position in 1995, the notion that Mother Teresa was anything less than a saint was believed by the entire world. Even after his follow-up documentary, Hell’s Angel, it still seemed as though her reputation as a do-gooder would never truly be tarnished.

Slowly, over time, her insanity and cruelty has been exposed. In fact, a new Canadian study by the University of Montreal is shedding even more light on Teresa and her grim institution, appropriately called “Homes for the Dying”. These are squalid hellholes, with little to no hygiene, no pain medication, or even food. This was contrasted by her own medical care in American hospitals, where she enjoyed only the finest treatments available at the time.

All of these facts have been available to the rest of the world for a long time, but I suppose every once in a while, old information becomes new again. In this case, it’s how twisted and cruel this evil little dwarf was. With hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on these torture houses, one researcher thinks some good can still come out of all of this:

Larivee however signs off on a surprisingly positive note and says there could also be a positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth. “If the extraordinary image of Mother Teresa conveyed in the collective imagination has encouraged humanitarian initiatives that are genuinely engaged with those crushed by poverty, we can only rejoice,” they signed off.

I think the net result of Mother Teresa’s existence has been more suffering, more ignorance, more death and pain than would have otherwise have occurred if the old bitch had been run over by a bus in her youth. The fact that any delusional religious rube still quotes her as an example of charity truly cheapens the very meaning of the word. We would have all been better off without her.

Catholic Priest blames women for bringing violence on themselves

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Do I even need to continue to speak out against religion? Seems like these days, these guys are doing a better job convincing Catholics to leave in droves than I ever could, and all they need to do is speak openly about their shitty beliefs. Take the words of Father Piero Corsi, who during his Christmas address to his Italian congregation thought it would be the perfect time to accuse abused women of bringing violence and abuse on themselves for dressing immodestly and not doing enough housework. Here’s a sample from his pamphlet:

“How often do we see girls and mature women going around scantily dressed and in provocative clothes?” Piero Corsi said in a Christmas message posted on the door of his church in the small town of San Terenzio in northwest Italy.
“They provoke the worst instincts, which end in violence or sexual abuse. They should search their consciences and ask: did we bring this on ourselves?” it read.

See ladies? It’s your fault if your trusted male friend drugged and raped you (most sexual assaults are by people you know, sadly enough), because you were dressed in a miniskirt and didn’t do any housework, and we all know that’s an invitation for sexual abuse, girls! Why else would you wear it if not to provoke our pulsating male urges, which apparently are uncontrollable and totally not our fault?

Luckily, the whole town is rather shocked by his views, with the bishop even condemning him. For what, though? If one takes the Bible literally, it does seem to indicate that a) women are property, b) the crime for raping a woman is marrying her and paying off her father, and c) they should shut the fuck up and not hang around when they are on the rag.

Seems to me like Corsi actually believes the shit the Bible says. Everyone who acts surprised or shocked has obviously never read the book, have they? Remember, this is the same book that demands a woman be stoned to death because she was raped and didn’t scream loud enough to alert anyone.

Dutch Catholics desperate to jump ship after Pope speech

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The world is changing, but this isn’t a fact that pleases the Catholic Church too much. Concerned their ability to dictate the lives of their fellow human beings is waning, the Pope recently addressed his fellow Catholics to wish them a joyous Christmas, and attempted to convince the world that two dudes trying to marry one another was a threat to world peace, and goes against nature (kind of like celibacy, maybe?).

“People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being,” he said at the Vatican on Friday. “They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves.”

His hateful words have helped inspire thousands of Dutch Catholics to jump ship as a result. Unsure how to remove themselves from a roster which claims your immortal soul, their research typically leads them to this site, www.ontdopen.nl* where they can petition to have their names removed (whether or not this is done is impossible to tell). His site traffic jumped from a paltry 10 a day to over 10k, although it’s impossible to tell how many of these people actually bothered to do so (doesn’t seem like the webmaster can keep track). Considering the Netherlands was the first country to legalize gay marriage, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Dutch don’t share the Pope’s poisonous ideals.

Thank you Pope Benedict XVI for making my job easier.

*(Update: The site is no longer in operation)

The Good Atheist Podcast EP 289

In this lost episode, Ryan and I talk about Cardinal O’Connor, who claims that atheism is responsible for all conflict in the world.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast EP 289
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Pedophile priest blames God for making him this way

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I’ve heard a lot of tortured explanations from the Catholic Church over the years as to why so many priests are sexually abusing children. Pope Benedict XVI claimed it was increased secularization that somehow made their theists behave so immorally. Homosexuality has also been blamed, despite the fact that as many female children are abused as males. Finally, though, one pedophile priest by the name of David Edwin Rapson in Australia has finally used a novel defense I think makes a bit more sense: He blamed God for making him that way:

A former Catholic priest accused of molesting boys at a Victorian school said, “God made us this way and it’s his fault” when a fellow priest urged him to resist

When he was finally confronted by a fellow priest, he responded to his accuser with “You’re one to talk. You’re the same as me….You know what we do here”, prompting me to think this must be yet another way these bastards get away with abuse for so long. Who’s going to report them? Their fellow molesters? Yeah, that fucking seems likely.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has recently OK’d a royal commission to look into the abuse after a police detective named Peter Fox wrote a letter to his premier begging him to open up an investigation. Fox felt both the police department and the Church had actively sabotaged any investigation into the matter, and an independent body needed to look into the matter. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the government to spring into action (yeah, I know how weird it is to even write that down). Now we only need to sit back and watch the horror unfold before our eyes. I hope you have a strong stomach, Aussies, because you’re about to be put to the test in the coming months.

Italians want to finally tax the Catholic Church

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With all the belt tightening happening in Italy, the general population is putting into motion a plan to tax the Catholic Church’s many holdings and tax exempt businesses. The total amount of revenue this would generate for the country is estimated to be about a billion dollars annually.

Following their government’s latest austerity measure package, more than 130,000 people signed an online petition calling for the Church’s tax exempt status to be revoked. Since 2005, church-run groups and organizations have not been classed as official commercial bodies and have been exempt from paying property tax.

Now, before you go jumping for joy, keep in mind Italy would only be taxing property that doesn’t have a specific religious intent. Tax authorities will need to scrutinize all of the Church’s holdings to determine which category they fit in.

So, it’s still pretty weak-sauce, but it’s a step in the right direction. Here’s hoping Italy’s austerity measures (another nice way of saying “fuck the poor”) continue to drive the idea that the Church has been getting a free ride for way too long. Enjoy your privilege while you can, Vatican. Eventually, they’ll be coming for your gold plates and jewel encrusted cutlery.

Pope’s butler gets 18 months in jail for leaked memos

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So, what do you get for exposing the corruption of an organization like the Vatican? Well, how about an 18 month prison term handed down by the very institution you were trying to expose? Oh, and you can add the cost of the trial to the list of his expenses:

The pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, was convicted Saturday of aggravated theft for leaking confidential papal documents and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

He was also ordered to pay the costs of the trial at the Vatican City courthouse.

Well, he could have spent a full three years in jail, but the judge felt there were ‘extenuating circumstances’. Like what, the fact that your organization is so corrupt it would rather jail tattle-tales than actual child rapists? Or how about the fact you aren’t legally your own state, having achieved ‘independence’ from Italian fascists in the 1920′s?

I suppose you could argue that it’s Paolo’s fault for getting involved in a creepy cult that seems to be able to create its own laws, jail its own adherents for daring to expose corruption, and do so as the rest of the world watches on.

Rev. Benedict Groeschel apologizes for brief moment of honesty

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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?

Pope’s butler faces jail time for leaked memos

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OK, so remember how the US finally jailed their first priest for covering up sexual abuse? We all felt as though this was a positive sign of things to come, didn’t we? Well, as great as that felt, it seems as though justice is slow in coming to the Vatican. Jailing the Pope’s butler for leaking damning memos demonstrating the extent of corruption is a bigger priority for these fuckers.

Pope Benedict XVI’s butler will be tried on an aggravated theft charge over the leaking of hundreds of secret papers from the pope’s personal apartment to an Italian journalist, a Vatican spokesman said Monday.

The butler, Paolo Gabriele, acted out of a desire to combat “evil and corruption everywhere in the Church,” according to a prosecutor in the case.

And what kind of reward do you get for trying to fight corruption in one of the oldest organizations in the world? Why, a possible 6 years in jail, that’s what!

The Vatican has promised a ‘public trial’, but it’s already pretty messed up that as a semi-sovereign state (with no actual official status) it can send their own people to jail for having the guts to try and do something about all the evil shit the Vatican does.

I do hope it’s public, since these morons don’t seem to realize the rest of the world is taking Paolo’s side. I can’t wait until you jail this man and show the world what a corrupt, malignant organization you are…

Papacy finally OKs condom use

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It was only a matter of time before the millions of African men, women, and children slowly dying of AIDS would shame the Catholic Church into changing its stance on condom use. In a new book set to be released, based on conversations with the Pope, Benedict said in some cases, using a piece of rubber on your dick would not make God angry.

When he was asked if his church was against condom use, he said:

“It of course does not see it as a real and moral solution. In certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection, it can nevertheless be a first step on the way to another, more humane sexuality.”

If you’re wondering why a sexless adult should have anything to say about sexuality, remember that the ‘humane’ interpretation of sexuality usually involves not having any. St. Paul was famous for his hatred of sexuality. As far as he was concerned, it was far better never to have sex than procreate. He saw celibacy as more pure, more divine. This sick attitude towards sex has since infested our world and made masturbation, one of life’s few enjoyments, a sin.

All of this is coming way too late. The majority of Catholics have been pro-birth control for a while now, and as usual, it’s the top brass who are late to the reform party. How many millions of people died needlessly because of some bullshit interpretation of Onan jizzing on the ground? How many unwanted babies were aborted, with their mothers bleeding to death in back alleys because of the church’s stance on contraception? Fucking ridiculous.

But wait, there’s more!

His language in attacking the use of recreational drugs in the West and its impact on the rest of the world is particularly striking.

Do they have to ruin everything that’s fun?