Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Case Study- The Philadephia Archidiocese: What is Happening? (Warning- Graphic)


In 2005, a grand jury indicted a 415-page report that uncovered years upon years of corruption within the archdiocese, specifically by cardinals John Krol and Anthony Bevilacqua. They too, like Mahoney, engaged in "recycling" priests to unsuspecting parishes where they would be able to do severe harm to young children. "The Grand Jury was able to document child sex abuse by at least 63 different priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese... Evidence also revealed hundreds of child victims of these sexual offenders." (Official Report of the District Attorney). Now to be a bit graphic to really get across my point... the priests didn't just participate in "inappropriate touching", they raped these young people, raped them orally, anally, and vaginally. Many were also molested, asked to participate in bondage practices, and asked to watch pornography. Here are a few specific cases that are elaborated upon within the report.

An 11-year-old girl was repeatedly raped by a priest who took her for an abortion when she became pregnant.

A fifth grader was molested by a priest inside a confessional.

A teenage girl was groped by a priest while she lay immobilized in traction in a hospital room.

A priest offered money to boys in exchange for sadomasochistic acts of bondage and wrote a letter asking a boy to make him his “slave.” The priest remains in ministry.

A sadistic priest enjoyed having children play the roles of Jesus and other biblical characters in parish Passion plays. He made them disrobe and whip each other until they had cuts, bruises and welts.

A priest falsely told a 12-year-old boy his mother knew of the assaults and consented to the rape of her son.

After reading these accounts, I'm sitting here, literally depressed and on the verge of tears. This is innocence lost at the hands of a selfish bastard priest. It's sick and disgusting to even think about, but people need to read about these perverted offenses committed against young people, so I will continue. Now you're probably asking yourself How did they cover this up? The church, cognizant of the abuse, chose not to investigate the alleged crimes. Parents were never alerted of the potential danger that their children could encounter. The church retailed against and intimidated those who threatened to come forward about the abuse. A false impression of action was created by manipulative "treatment" efforts.

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