Another day, another lie from a right-wing Catholic higher-up:
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee.
Questioned at the time about the news that one particularly notorious pedophile cleric had been given a “payoff” to leave the priesthood, Cardinal Dolan, then the archbishop, responded that such an inference was “false, preposterous and unjust.”
[….]A victims advocacy group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, sent a letter of protest to the current archbishop of Milwaukee on Wednesday asking, “In what other occupation, especially one working with families and operating schools and youth programs, is an employee given a cash bonus for raping and sexually assaulting children?”
The article goes on to say that Catholic priests are often given some kind of money or help when they leave the priesthood. Fair enough. But Dolan lied through his teeth here.
MattF
It’s fair to say that Dolan lies through any orifice that happens to be available.
Valdivia
I love this quote from the Pope “The shining light of pastoral charity and a unified heart is sacerdotal celibacy and enshrined virginity,” (h/t Sully)
Really? after all the scandals and the pay offs and the abuse? Gah.
Yutsano
RICO. Now. This is getting ridiculous. Turn the Church into a Third World only institution.
russ
many of the priests left the church to spend more time with their families…Oh?
gaz
I too, think it’s fair to give money to rapists when they leave the priesthood.
/snark
fergawdsake.
Why don’t they just buy them a house with a playground, too?
These assholes should have left on their way to a prison cell. No more, no less.
lacp
@Valdivia: Authentic papal gibberish.
Here’s something a bit cheerier:
philanthropy.com/blogs/philanthropytoday/catholic-donors-back-colo-immigrant-charity-cut-off-by-bish…
Mark S.
Do they also give cash payments to nuns they excommunicate for approving abortions to save the life of the mother? Or is that just for pedo priests?
jrg
This is infuriating… Did they have any controls in place at all to make sure none of that $20K was spent on birth control?
The Other Chuck
Seeing as how we have evidence aplenty that most of them weren’t even kicked out, but reassigned to new parishes where they could acquire new victims … well res ipsa loquitur, bitches.
Rosalita
Of course, money to pay off child molesters but contraception is against their moral convictions. It would be so nice if the proverbial asteroid landed right on the Vatican.
gaz
@Mark S.: Of course not! because that would go against God. Or something.
sick sick sick fucking institution. Yutsano is absolutely right. RICO
Valdivia
@lacp:
that truly warms my heart.
@Yutsano:
why punish the Third World? They have children too!
/hope you’re feeling better today
elmo
@jrg:
One shiny Internet is on its way.
Tokyokie
@Yutsano: Word. And doesn’t this make Dolan an accessory after the fact? Let him whimper about his martyrdom from a prison cell as he defends covering up for child molesters.
The Other Chuck
I get the impression the only thing that made the Illuminati so bad in Angels and Demons was that they made the bomb too big.
(Other than the objective awfulness of being depicted in anything written by Dan Brown of course)
Keith
$20k buys a nice van and lots of candy.
Svensker
@Keith:
Oh, eeps. Gah.
Bastards.
jrg
@Keith: That’s pure win.
Roger Moore
@Keith:
Maybe back then it did, but have you looked at van prices recently? Maybe you could get a decent late model used van and still have money left for candy, but I doubt you could get something anyone would consider “nice”.
grandpa john
@Roger Moore: Well all they need is something to throw a mattress in .
Gin & Tonic
@Valdivia:
Huh. And yet, the Eastern Rite Catholics allow married men to become priests, and they do just fine. Nobody has been struck dead, and there’s a lot less pedophilia (and a lot more understanding of family issues.) Ratso isn’t trying to throw them out. Odd, that.
shortstop
@jrg: Perfection.
Just the other day, Burns was demanding evidence that Dolan was somehow complicit in covering up for priests who rape children.
Burns, we’re going to give you a list of all the bishops also suspected of this, and we’d like you to read the names aloud and fretfully ask for evidence that anyone on it was involved while tearfully calling us anti-Catholic bigots and screaming at us to “STAY THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR LIFE.” With you assisting us in this fashion, said evidence will immediately materialize from somewhere and expose liars that much faster. Please also bloviate that the Supreme Court will overturn the PPACA — we really need that legislation to stand. Thanking you in advance for your cooperation!
Jay in Oregon
@jrg:
Elmo beat me to it; but I have to say, that is made of the purest-quality awesome.
The Red Pen
I wonder what it’s like to take confession from Cardinal Dolan.
Priest: In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dolan: Bless me Father, for I have sinned. My last confession was a week ago. I have committed the sin of scrupulousness by not having any sins.
Priest: Really?
Dolan: Yeah, another sinless week. I am so blessed.
Priest: You’re sticking with that?
Dolan: Yup.
Priest: Say three Hail Marys and that’ll be $1,000. Same time next week?
Linda Featheringill
Who would Jesus pay off?
What He actually is credited with saying was:
[English Standard Version]
But of course, that is written in red and therefore is optional.
eemom
Much more interesting news on this front today is that the Philadephia case has gone to the jury.
cat48
There was a NY State poll last week & Dolan had a 38% Approval Rating. He’s beginning to get on folks nerves in NY it seems. Also, too they don’t much like him trying to regulate their Birth Control. Only 38% approve of the lawsuits he’s filed on b/c.
Obama’s approval 58%. Obama 56% – Romney 31% Pres. Election
Darkrose
@Gin & Tonic:
The Vatican has extended open arms to Anglican priests who hate that the North Americans are ordaining women and non-celibate gay men and lesbians. Funny thing, though: the married Anglicans aren’t having their marriages annulled. If I were a Catholic priest–stop laughing!–I’d be seriously pissed about that.
El Cid
Tough love!
burnspbesq
@gaz:
No Catholic I know thinks otherwise. Any thoughts you might have about securing the evidence needed to obtain convictions would be appreciated.
What? You have no such thoughts? Imagine my surprise.
burnspbesq
@shortstop:
I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the statutes about obstruction of justice, and then explain how this fits within that statutory definition. Until you can do that, you’re just bloviating.
I have consistently, from the very beginning of this “conversation,” said that if crimes can be proven, the guilty should do time. For some reason, you prefer to pretend that I’ve said something else. Whatever.
Mike Lamb
@burnspbesq: Forget crimes for the time being, are you comfortable with Dolan allegedly paying off pedophile priests?
burnspbesq
@Mike Lamb:
No. I frankly don’t buy his explanation, and if it were the benign thing he claims it was, then lying about it makes no sense.
In a rational world, Dolan would have been relieved of his pastoral responsibilities a long time ago. I don’t know whether he’s guilty of obstruction of justice or not (that’s for prosecutors and juries to decide), but he has forfeited any moral authority he may ever have had.
eemom
@burnspbesq:
Can’t wait to see how shortie et al manage to spin it into a personal attack if/when there’s a conviction in Philadelphia.
It’ll take some doing, but I’ve got, um, faith.
gaz
@burnspbesq: That would require folks like Dolan to cooperate with the authorities.
Maybe you and your cohorts could withhold your financial support until they do. A few protests wouldn’t hurt either.
But because you are lazy and evil, I’m thinking this will happen around the time that hell freezes over.
gaz
@burnspbesq: If you put half as much time and energy into examining your faith that you do into defending and excusing the RCC you might end up being a better person. I won’t hold my breath.
karen
Ok, let me get this straight.
Pedophilia: good.
Birth control: bad.
One rewards priests for doing evil things. The other punishes nuns for not speaking out against enough and focussing on social justice instead.
gaz
@karen: You nailed it. And as long as they have a legion of apologists to support them, that will never change.
Ripley
Off-world deity-based belief systems would not exist. Alas.
jrg
@burnspbesq:
Take some responsibility for your own fucking church. Don’t try to drag the rest of us into it.
TenguPhule
TenguPhule
President Gore would be proudly planting the American flag in the smoking ruins of the Vatican, the Pope’s smoking skull proudly mounted on the spike tip point.