Posted by
Jason on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 12:07:36 PM
Disclaimer: I'm just an average guy...
Here's what I think anyway... A $660 million settlement was reached this week between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and alleged victims of clergy sex abuse. Cardinal Roger Mahoney, head of the L.A. Archdiocese had nothing to say during the hearing, but did offer an apology afterward, and said he would spend the rest of his day praying for those who were claiming to be abused. I'm sure they all found that very comforting.
Honestly... who does this guy think he is? He's the one who has allegedly been covering up these scandals for years in order to protect the Catholic Church. He'll never have to testify about it though, as $660 million can buy a lot of forgiveness. Consider it a modern-day "indulgence" (indulgences, while now associated with doing good works in order to atone for sin, used to be a fee that a lay person had to pay the Catholic Church in order to be "forgiven").
Mahoney's never been a big fan of abiding by civil law though... this is the same guy who, last year, told his priests to ignore immigration measures and hide illegal aliens. The New York Times loved his "courageous" call for "civil disobedience," but I'm somewhat less than impressed.
The bottom line here is that a lot of sex offenders (Priests) and their abettors (i.e. Mahoney) are getting off pretty easy here. The $660 million is coming from the pockets of Catholic lay people, who have given faithfully to the church. What penalty is there for the law-breaking Mahoney and his ilk? None. He walks out of the courtroom and goes to "pray" for the victims.
But more importantly, the priests who abused their position in order to abuse children are walking free, and still sporting their clerical collars nonetheless! These are men who are not suited to be ministering to people in a local parish. They are better suited to prison ministry... as a fellow inmate.
Articles to Reference:
1. "Judge OKs $660M Clergy Abuse Settlement" http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jul17/0,4670,
ChurchAbuse,00.html
2. "The Gospel vs. H.R. 4437" http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/opinion/03fri1.html?ex=1299042000&en=4a4ce46ec2e0337d&ei=
5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
3. "Abuses of Indulgences"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuses_of_Indulgences