Former priest accused of child sex abuse

To the poster who promised to pray for me, I will keep you in my prayers as well.

In the past, when we read the occasional news story of some cleric being credibly accused of the sexual abuse, rape, sodomizing or molestation of a child, most of us naively thought that such a horrific violation of a child's body and soul WAS handled with all due charity and pastoral concern FOR THE VICTIM by the bishop and other officials of a given diocese while JUSTICE was rendered by the courts.

We know now that the charity that should have been tendered to the children molested by predatory priests was not forthcoming. In most dioceses across the U.S. there was a pattern of deceit and duplicity, of collusion and cover-up, of protecting priests while attempting to intimidate and demean victims and their families.

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish

Mau (10/05/2009, 7:51 AM )

Please, do not attempt to minimize the failures of the leadership in the institutional RCC. Yes, there is sexual abuse society-wide but in no other public or private institution, religious or otherwise, has there been such a well documented history of systemic problems that put untold numbers of children in harm's way; children who, if the bishops had done the job they were enjoined by the Lord Jesus Christ to do, would never have been sexually abused by those particular priests.

Now we know that the church's systemic sexual abuse problems are interwoven with Clericalism which surely needs no definition.

I pray for all priests. I pray especially for my priest friends who are retired, whose only fault is that they are older and living in their communities' retirement home and who have no choice but to live with close to a dozen civilly convicted, known or credibly accused sexual predators. I consider that cruel and unusual punishment for a life of service to the Lord Jesus and his people and a failure of charity on the part of that community.

Mau (10/05/2009, 7:04 AM )

These are horrid evils and mortal sins. They are also crimes committed against children that cry out to God for Justice.

You will recall that Baltimore's Cardinal Keeler rightly called it Soul Murder.

I was invited to testify in Annapolis, Maryland in support of the recent proposed civil legislation until it became moot when Assemblyman Eric Bromwell withdrew the bill he had sponsored but I look forward to the day another bill is introduced to give access to justice to all victims of childhood sexual abuse, by anyone, because I believe there should be no accommodation in law that gives more protection to sexual predators, of any stripe, and any enabling individuals or institutions, then to the very real victims of childhood sexual abuse.

I think there is a great need for justice and repentance as well as charity.

As far as what Jesus would do I think he was very clear on that in his words of admonition in Matthew: 16:6 where he says, "If any of you puts a stumbling block before any of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better if a great millstone were fashioned around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea."

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims' Advocate
New Castle, Delaware
maureenpaulturlish@yahoo.com

Mau (10/05/2009, 6:59 AM )