Pope Benedict XVI is again being implicated in another abuse scandal, this time out of the state of Wisconsin. Reverend Lawrence C. Murphy worked in a school for deaf children, and while Benny was alerted in two letters that the priest had been suspected of molesting dozens of children, he failed to do anything at all. Unsurprisingly, Murphy was transferred from the school when the heat got too high to another parish where he continued to have unfettered access to young children. In all, it’s estimated he may have molested over 200 young boys.

I have to wonder what kind of spin the Vatican is going to try to put on this story; it’s yet another clear example of Ratzinger’s complete indifference towards the plight of abused children by the hands of his own employees. If he was a manager at a Denny’s he would not only have already been fired, he would also have gone to jail for failing to report such serious crimes to the police. But no; since he’s a religious figure living in his own tiny country, no one can touch him. I have to agree with Hitchens on this and say there’s a serious stink of evil coming from the new Pope (even though I hate this kind of rhetoric). We can only hope his failures as both a cardinal and a Pope are enough to make his sheep realize they’ve put their trust in the wrong man. I won’t hold my breath…

The aspect I find the most disturbing of the Catholic faith (and there are many things, let me assure you) is their singular obsession with sin. Since Jesus is supposedly commissioned with forgiving us and, in ritual consumption of his flesh and blood, absorb these supposed sins, it’s a cottage industry of suffering and redemption.

Their obsession with salvation is like a giant set of blinders that makes even the most well-meaning priest unable to see the very corruption and villainy of his own institution. In some cases, the need to defend this organization stretches the limits of imagination, and more particularly, sanity. The National Post (perhaps my least favorite Canadian newspaper) has a resident man of the cloth, Father Raymond D’Souza, that they call upon every once in a while to try and explain away the ludicrous actions and behavior of the world’s single biggest religious organization. As you would expect, it’s a bunch of apologetic nonsense:

Aside from the sins themselves, the principal failing of the scandals is that those who should have been seized with moral outrage reacted instead as bureaucratic managers seeking damage control. The Lord Jesus willed the Church to be governed by bishops, not bureaucrats.

So is “bureaucracy” his way of explaining away the rape of children and the subsequent cover-up of this “boy’s club”? I can assure you in even the most corrupt non-religious organization, it’s doubtful anyone would knowingly protect known child molesters (can you imagine any major corporation surviving such a scandal?). Even in fucking prisons (a place bustling in “sin”), it’s understood child molesters need to be kept separate from the general population, otherwise there’s a chance their stay might be “cut” a little short. But wait, it gets better:

If the Church should be the place where more cases are exposed rather than fewer, that is for the good, for there is the possibility of grace and healing. Consequently, if the Church as a whole feels the pain of shame and disgrace, that can be an expiatory suffering for a sexually dissolute and depraved age. Expiatory suffering is, amongst other salvific things, what the Church exists for.

Let me tell you something: there is no amount of shame or pain the Church can feel that will ever fucking compare to what a child victimized by rape has to go through, not even by a long shot. Even if all guilty individuals were exposed and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, it does not change the fact the Catholic Church systematically protected these men and sheltered them from their crimes. If anything, these scandals have highlighted the fact they have lost all of their supposed ability to redeem anyone of sin. How dare D’Souza call this world “depraved” and sexually dissolute when these are problems in his own Church rather than society at large? The rest of us are not so morally blind as to shelter and protect those who would harm innocent children. So far I find the only thing depraved here is the indifference the author has over the fact that the very institution he is trying to defend is so corrupt as to be unable (and unwilling) to punish known child rapists. How much more scandal do believers need before they shake off their delusional bubble and finally say “enough is enough”?

I get emails from Catholics all the time asking me why I’m “picking” on their religion. It’s true they certainly aren’t the only game in town, but they are perhaps the most influential and financially wealthy religious organization in the world. It must be strange for them to hear so much criticism. It’s only been recently that any of us have actually been allowed to speak ill of the church without having to worry about being put on a rack, so my dear Catholic friends, you’ll forgive me if I take the opportunity to stretch my legs a little.

Of import is the latest report on clerical abuse straight out of what was perhaps the Church’s last great stronghold: Ireland. You might recall a few months ago the bombshell that was the Ryan report; it was only the tip of the iceberg, and now the Murphy report is outlining the exact extent of the conspiracy of silence and aid for pedophiles from both the Archdiocese of Dublin and the Vatican. Here’s one of the conclusions outlined in the report:

The Dublin Archdiocese pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets. All other considerations, including
the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities. The Archdiocese did not implement its own canon law rules and did its best to avoid any application of the law of the State.

Did you expect anything less? The Archdiocese actually took out insurance in the 80s expecting trouble, proving once more that they were more than aware something terrible was going on, and it’s doubtful everyone wasn’t aware at least on some level of the serious issue of pedophilia in their organization.

You might recall that the current Pope also wrote a secret memo (which has since been leaked) urging the Diocese to put the interest of the Church ahead of the welfare of children. He was also granted immunity from prosecution in the US by President Bush, so you can thank Dubya for that one too. The Catholic Church has never been particularly interested in stopping the plague of child abuse (or more specifically rape).

I don’t know about you, but I’m scared to death of religious cops. I get the feeling these devotees will put their faith before their duty. Take the case of Father Bernard Cloutier: back in 1983, he was being charged with the sexual assault of 5 boys. During the police investigation, his superior, Bishop Dionne, barged in and privately met with each boy while the police meekly waited for these “interviews” to be over. They seemed completely oblivious to the fact something fishy was going on when the charges were suddenly dropped, and the lead detective didn’t think any of this was unusual (he actually claims “it’s just the way things happen sometimes.”).

A little while later, Father Cloutier was quietly moved to another parish, and it wasn’t until 2007 that his victims again decided to seek justice for their abuse. A judge recently found Bishop Dionne had thwarted the investigation back in 1983, but considering this corrupt and evil old man is now 90 years old, it’s unlikely he’ll be facing much prison time.

I find it incredible no one is commenting on the fact this is not at all an isolated incident. How many times have these familiar events taken place? Hundreds of times, at the very least. How many lives ruined, how many families destroyed by these sick predators and the institution that endlessly protects them from justice? To you Catholics out there, can I ask you honestly how many raped kids it takes before you tell these religious scumbags to go fuck themselves? Is a few thousand not enough?