The Shocking Ways California Catholic Church Officials Protected a Priest Who Molested 26 Kids

[citizen blues]

Confidential letters between Los Angeles Catholic church officials that had been withheld for decades–despite long efforts by victims to obtain them and stonewalling by the Church–were released Monday after becoming part of a civil court case against a priest accused of molesting 26 Los Angeles children in the 1980s.


The notes from then-Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and Monsignor Thomas J. Curry, published by the Los Angeles Times, have provided even more insight as to how sexual- abuse accusations against priests have been covered up for years. The notes detail plans by the two men to keep police from discovering that children were being molested in Los Angeles parishes, with Curry suggesting the predator priestsnot see therapists who could then alert authorities; instead, he wanted to give priests out-of-state assignments to avoid criminal charges. Curry was the chief advisor to the Archbishop on sex-abuse cases at the time.


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The U.S. priest abuse scandal has now been going on for 20 years, and in more recent years revelations of abuse have been made in Europe as well. In May 2009 a report came out from Ireland showing cases of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of thousands of children over a 70-year period. It included testimonies from more than 2,000 people who attended some 200 Catholic schools. Belgium, Norway and Austria all experienced similar scandalous revelations in 2010. After such revelations broke in Germany in 2011, tens of thousands left the German Catholic Church.

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[link:http://www.alternet.org/shocking-ways-california-catholic-church-officials-protected-priest-who-molested-26-kids?paging=off|



Really shocking that more Catholics aren't fleeing the church. The church actively opposes women's access to contraceptives and then turns around and protects pedophiles. The Catholic Church's record on basic human rights is appalling! And they profess to teach a religion of love and of peace. Nothing could be further from the truth!

[rug]

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