The least surprising thing you will read all week:
The Catholic primate of all-Ireland has said that he will not resign as Church leader despite revelations in the BBC’s This World programme.
It found Cardinal Sean Brady had names and addresses of those being abused by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
However, he did not pass on those details to police or parents.
Cardinal Brady said he accepted he was part of “an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church”.
“With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence I gave them,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“However, I also accept that I was part of an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church, which thankfully is now a thing of the past.”
Can’t wait to hear his deep thoughts on contraception and abortion.
Steve in DC
Every time they quote one of these fucks I’m reminded of the line from The Departed. The priest is lecturing the mobster about something and he retorts with “so how’s it going, finding little boys, sucking on their peckers, enjoy your clams asshole”.
BGinCHI
To quote “Repo Man”: society made me do it.
Maude
In other words, it was the church, not me.
This won’t go over well in Ireland.
Cathyx
So he feels he is betrayed by himself?
schrodinger's cat
How about posting some pictures of the one whose authoritah we all respect. The one and only Tunch.
gex
Just like Penn State. Sure, I knew about it. But I *told* someone else in the institution. Not my fault if the cops never get called. /child rape enablers.
At some point these guys need to be charged with criminal negligence, aiding and abetting, or conspiracy. At least, according to my godless secular morals they should.
DFH no.6
Typical conserva-asshole “personal accountability” (religious or otherwise).
The Catholic Church ruled Ireland until very recently. Now it’s pretty much dead, and good riddance.
Diderot put it best:
“Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest”.
Running out of kings, but still too damn many priests (and “priest-like” creatures).
dmsilev
So, he’s saying that the Catholic Church now features a culture of openness and independence? Extraordinary claims, extraordinary evidence, etc.
srv
We must look forward, and not to the past.
Bill T.
The question is did the Cardinal pass out that list to other pedophile priests?
Catsy
This so-called church can’t be destroyed fast enough.
Exactly how many times does this story need to be told before people recognize that this is NOT just a few bad apples, and its leadership gets treated like any other criminal organization engaged in systematic, institutionalized obstruction of justice and conspiracy to cover up widespread child rape would be?
MattF
So, under the same circumstances, he’d do exactly what he did before.
Bunt
Is there any method for lay people to change church leadership outside of stop attending Mass or letter writing?
Mike in NC
Oh, right!
Uncle Cosmo
@gex: “Accessory after the fact” sounds good to me. I wonder if the decent people of Eire are fed up enough to have the sonofabitch frogmarched in his skirt.
Suffern ACE
I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those meddlesome teenagers who refuse to give me credit for the stealthy way I tried to handle things. Stealth in the face of unseemliness is no crime, but a virtue.
dollared
@Bill T.: Owwww. And sadly, could be correct. How else did the system work? Do you think they all did the recruiting part?
MD Rackham
@Bunt: There’s always the “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?” approach.
amk
Shorter padre – It’s all done and dusted. Now, when do I start again ?
Uncle Cosmo
@Bunt: No one’s talking about “Second Amendment solutions” yet. But that’s because the Second Amendment doesn’t apply on the Auld Sod* (or should that be, “to the old sod”…).
(* Then again, let us recall Yogi Berra’s famous reply to someone who informed him that the Lord Mayor of Dublin was Jewish: Only in America!)
Urza
Can we just have the nuns do a violent takeover and throw all the male leaders out of the Catholic church?
gbear
I read that and now I can’t get my brow to unfurrow. Too much disconnect to process…
geg6
@gex:
Well, it’s just like Penn State except that people with authority at Penn State have been arrested and charged and will go to trial. Unlike the criminals who populate the Vatican and the bishoprics of America, Ireland, Germany, etc. ad nauseum. Based on what happened under the auspices of the Church worldwide, Penn State’s scandal and the criminals who precipitated it are amateurs.
The only real similarities are that they both happened in closed systems, which allowed the crimes to happen. Otherwise, PSU’s shame and the consequences are exponentially larger than anything suffered so far by the Church.
pragmatism
Outstanding. Now that the culture of silence and deference is done with, how ’bout turning over to the public and authorities any and all other lists of victims and their abusers?
geg6
@Bunt:
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
You obviously know nothing about the Catholic Church or its current leadership. In the entire history of the Church, low attendance at mass or, hilarious, letter writing has never once made a differnce in who makes up the hierarchy. Add to that the notion of infallibility, and it’s even more laughable. And now that the current pope, former Nazi Youth and Head Inquisitor (yes, that office still exists within the Church), advocating for a smaller, more ideologically pure Church. And you see why this former victim and mortal enemy of that criminal syndicate can only laugh at your endearing and naive ignorance.
benmays
RICO. Its the right response.
gaz
@Urza:
That’d be the best thing for the church, at this point.
While reading that I pictured a bunch of nuns sitting around and trying to apply the Trolley Problem to this, and it made me grin.
Roger Moore
@geg6:
A smaller church, eh. Can we starve the Church until it’s small enough to drown in a bathtub? Pretty please?
gaz
@pragmatism:
A-fucking-men and hallelujah
ETA: Also, as benmays pointed out… RICO, bitches!
Hawes
At least the Irish people and Parliament seem pissed about this and are investigating.
We wouldn’t dare do that because religious freedom means rape or something.
catpal
I did not think I could be shocked anymore, but reading about the trial testimony of the Abuse and Cover-up by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is just freaking unbelievable. today’s installment –
Priest: Teen girls ‘were more than willing.
Joseph Nobles
I like to think of Jesus as the kind of person who would have gotten down off the cross if he’d known what these motherfuckers would use his death to justify.
Odie Hugh Manatee
What’s the prob? All he needs is a few Our Fathers and Hail Marys and all is forgiven. After all, he’s forgiven everyone else who has asked for forgiveness, right? He has to be truly repentant and it’s clear that he’s all that.
Isn’t Jeebus the greatest! Sin your ass off, be repentant afterward, jump through the proper prayer hoops and BAM!, you’re safe!
EnfantTerrible
So, “unhelpful” is the new “evil”.
The prophet Nostradumbass
Nice how he put “society” first, and the “Church” second in that sentence, as if the “Church” were junior partners.
Suffern ACE
@pragmatism: Well that was the past code of silence. Now that we know that it was there, there really isnt a need to mention it again. Understand.
the Conster
gaz
@catpal: I don’t even fucking know what to say. The man is clearly a sociopath.
skyryter
I vas only following orrrders…
Uncle Cosmo
@Roger Moore:
I’m holding out for a baptismal font, or ideally a holy water stoup. You’d need one hand free to tweet while the other’s holding it under.
gnomedad
You know who else was “unhelpful”?
muddy
@catpal:
Other popular phrases:
“Now those boys will have a black mark on their permanent record.”
“You’re just trying to pretend the handsome doctor is interested in you.”
“You deserved whatever happened for going to that party in the first place.”
“If your father found out the disgusting way you have behaved he would disown you.”
“Why would you marry such an abusive man? That sort of thing is just not done in our kind of family.”
etc etc etc
It doesn’t take a large institution to forge a cover-up. A single person can throw out such a dense cloud of unreality that it is like a black hole to actual reality. Children are easily manipulated.
The most special mothers include evidence that was denied at the time amongst the childhood artwork and school projects, like a landmine for the person clearing out the mother’s house after caring for her as she died of cancer.
She was very devout (psh), and at the end, demanded that she be put on a respirator. Someone knew she wasn’t going to heaven. I wish I could say that made me feel better, perhaps if I were a believer it would have.
muddy
@Joseph Nobles: I think he would have, also kicked their tables over.
lacp
“Unhelpful?” Seriously? Un-fucking-helpful? Sweet Genetically Modified Jesus. Why didn’t he go with “mistakes were made,” while he was at it. The blathering dishonesty of a Romney whisked together with the smarmy piety of a Santorum to produce this peculiarly Gaelic anal confection.
Amanda in the South Bay
Personal responsibility is for Protestants.
Jamey
Condescending Wonka, is that you?
pragmatism
@Suffern ACE: The 9:30 show is completely different than the 7:30 show. 2 communion minimum.
Erik Vanderhoff
@benmays:
Damn straight.
Yevgraf
And the colored girls go ” dododododododododododododododododo… Hey sugar, take a walk on the wild side….”
Yevgraf
And the colored girls go ” dododododododododododododododododo… Hey sugar, take a walk on the wild side….”
Mnemosyne
I knew this Morrissey song would come in handy very quickly:
“I Have Forgiven Jesus”
gaz
@gnomedad:
win. I never get tired of this meme.
muddy
@Mnemosyne: Thanks, I have not heard that before.
Mnemosyne
@muddy:
The man is in his early 50s and is starting to look like Fat Elvis, but he’s still making some damn good music.
Calouste
Well, I can only assume that the Cardinal has a position in the Vatican lined up and a ticket to Rome in his pocket, because he is going to need those.
Randy P
@gaz:
Didn’t it start in the right blogosphere somewhere? Does annyone remember?
Silver
@Amanda in the South Bay:
Not for Calvinists…
gex
@geg6: Yeah, well the part that I was discussing is just like Penn State, then. Feel free to disagree with me by adding on other stuff that I didn’t discuss.
gaz
@Randy P: I have absolutely no idea. I try to avoid getting out of the boat and wading the fever swamps.
gex
“The priest only then admitted molesting three boys, and explained earlier denials on the fact he had confessed and moved past it.”
Priest joked about abusing three boys
I would think that being able to cleanse yourself of your sins so very easily makes it easier for people to do bad things. I wish I could just clear my conscience by mumbling some words.
gaz
@gex: Anyone can misinterpret anything to rationalize and justify their actions.
While I insist that it’s a moral imperative for any christian to leave the catholic church, I don’t think that grace is inherently a bad thing. Grace is a great thing, and this world could use more of it. Grace is supposed to more or less lead to amends and repentance. I’ve seen it happen. When it works, it’s an awesome thing (think prodigal son). When a sociopath uses it as an excuse, it sort of defeats the whole point and purpose of jesus’ teachings. Paul wrote about this a little, IIRC.
gaz
@gex: It may help to think of it this way. Take Tookie Williams as an example. After years of bad acts, murder, etc – he found something – a way to influence people for the better. He started to rail against his past, and against gang violence. I *highly* doubt that he came to that thinking he’d be “let off the hook” for his actions. The little I’ve read from him, seems to belie that. He wasn’t looking for a pass.
How could a man that comes to recognize that he’s engaged in fundamentally evil acts throughout his life, put aside the guilt, and forgive himself, so that he can move forward and do his part to be a force for good in the world? Lee Atwater found grace I think, somewhere late in his life, when he was staring down death – I believe that in grace he found the courage to give an account for his actions in that famous interview. The point is NOT to undo the damage, for it is often far too late for that. But EVIL will always be with us. By embracing evil doers with grace, you can undermine the evil with good, and change the very hearts of those that engage in evil, so that they WANT to do good. For my part, I’ve seen it work. It’s genius. It’s also obscene to the uninitiated, particularly in extreme cases. I’ve had numerous arguments about the obscenity of grace with particularly orthodox born-agains. Forgiving hitler on his deathbead seems obscene to any human on first blush. But the underpinnings of grace that allow for such a thing are necessary for good and should be embraced. When Jesus said love your enemies, he meant it. And deep in the heart of humanity, there’s a reason. it’s a profound and awesome genius, grace. Love is more powerful than hate.
gaz
@gaz: gah… one more thing (freaking complicated, for all it’s simplicity)…
receiving grace is not easy. receiving grace requires humility. I’d argue that without hitting “rock bottom”, you may not be able to receive it. Many never do. Suffering tends to thrust the face of Jesus into stark relief. The people that really get it didn’t get there without being torn down by life first. mumbling words doesn’t achieve that.
Kathy in St. Louis
As an extremely annoyed quasi Catholic, let me say that the Cardinal not only has some gall, but the Church does as well. It really shouldn’t be a question of whether he is willing to resign. The moving van should be at the front door of his palatial residence and a pink slip in the mail. Why should he resign? He should be defrocked. If he isn’t being defrocked, it most certainly must be because the Vatican knew he had those addresses and instructed him not to share with the police. These guys are all in it together, but would rather bully the Catholic nuns in this country.
Kathy in St. Louis
@Bunt: No. And that doesn’t seem to working yet. Give it 10 years, when there are so few catholics that there will be one cardinal per.