Rudy Giuliani Accused of Having Close Ties With Catholic Priest Accused Of Molesting Children

[ariesgem]

http://telegram.com/article/20070722/NEWS/707220489/1116

Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani has close ties to a Catholic priest accused of sexually molesting boys and who also was the lawyer for a now-closed Whitinsville counseling house for troubled priests that has been described as the center of a pedophile sex ring.

Monsignor Alan J. Placa, who works for Mr. Giuliani’s consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, was legal adviser in the 1980s to the House of Affirmation, where priests accused of sexual abuse were sent for psychotherapy and other counseling services. The center closed in 1987 amid a financial scandal.

Monsignor Placa, who while an active priest arranged the annulment of Mr. Giuliani’s first marriage, baptized his two children and officiated at the funeral of his mother, is a childhood friend of Mr. Giuliani and they both attended Manhattanville College.


He was stripped of his duties as a priest, but not defrocked, after Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, published a story in 2002 about young men who alleged that Monsignor Placa abused them in the 1970s. He has been on administrative leave since and has worked for Mr. Giuliani for the past five years. Catholic activists who are fighting the church over the clergy sex abuse issue say Mr. Giuliani’s association with the monsignor raises serious questions about the former New York mayor’s candidacy.

“The White House should not be inhabited by a man whose closest friend is accused of being an abuser of young men,” said Ann Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org in Massachusetts. “Giuliani has a responsibility to account for his friendship with Alan Placa and I think he should speak with Alan Placa’s accusers and see how credible they are. “For Giuliani to turn a blind eye to these credible allegations raises questions about his judgment,” she said.

Jeffrey Barker, a spokesman for Mr. Giuliani’s campaign, declined comment, directing questions to Giuliani Partners, Mr. Giuliani’s security consulting firm. Mr. Giuliani leads all GOP presidential contenders in Massachusetts polls. “Rudy Giuliani believes Alan Placa has been unjustly accused,” Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a prepared statement. Monsignor Placa did not respond to a request for an interview.


....................snip

[pepperbear]

1. Well, Rudy was a cross dressing hooker in another life. n/t

[acmavm]

2. Name a sleezeball, it seems Rudy is associated with them. Or was at

one time.

[Dr.Phool]

3. It's geting to the point where sleazeballs are avoiding him.

They've got a reputation to maintain.

[NYC Liberal]

4. Yup. How much you wanna bet he's on the "Madam's List"?

[acmavm]

5. That would be hilarious. Not at all suprising, but hilarious all the same.

[defendandprotect]

6. Detest Guiliani's dictator-like governing . . .

The article raises a number of issues for me . . .

First, I'm concerned about the relationship of any government official with organized patriarchal religions --

And especially where we have a Vatican denying the full personhood of females as it acknowledges the full personhood of males --- certainly this has to impact the thinking of Catholics.

I've been extremely concerned about the sexual abuse within the Catholic Church which isn't something new but has probably existed since the inception of the "church."

And -- I do think that the hierarchy of the church must be held responsible --
in fact from the highest levels we know that the Pope encouraged protecting the church from scandal at the expense of the children and families who were suffering.

QUOTE: He was stripped of his duties as a priest, but not defrocked, after Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, published a story in 2002 about young men who alleged that Monsignor Placa abused them in the 1970s. He has been on administrative leave since and has worked for Mr. Giuliani for the past five years. Catholic activists who are fighting the church over the clergy sex abuse issue say Mr. Giuliani’s association with the monsignor raises serious questions about the former New York mayor’s candidacy.UNQUOTE

Additionally, the Franklin case points to the possibility of connections between sexual abuse of youths and Republicans at the highest levels of our government.

Just as an aside, of course, neither the press nor the Democrats ever really pursued the Jeff Gannon scandal -- which included many overnight stays at the White House!!!

Imagine if a male prostitute had been making regular overnight visits to the Clinton White House -- !!!

[JDPriestly]

7. Be sure to see Deliver us From Evil

This Oscar nominated documentary focuses on a priest out here in California who abused many, many children and the role Cardinal Mahoney played in transferring this known child abuser from parish to parish. Then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict II(?) was the individual in the Vatican who failed his responsibility to stop and prevent child abuse by priests. No evil without reward in some organizations I guess. The Church's failings on child abuse (and women's issues) are a terrible shame because the Catholic Church has an exemplary record on many other social issues.

You need to rent the video. For those of us interested in the history of the Christian church generally, there is a fascinating extra feature in which a theologian discusses the fact that Timothy suggested that in the early church, priests were married. Timothy states that to be the equivalent of a bishop, a man should not only be married, but have shown himself to be a father who gained the respect of his children. The theologian states that the Catholic Church eventually prohibited priests from marrying so that the Church would inherit the priest's property upon the priest's death. What a greedy institution.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Rudy is such toast.

I'll kinda miss him when he finally drops out.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. 'arranged the annulment of his first marriage'... that says it all.