CATHOLICS are on the defensive as never before as wave after wave of fresh clerical abuse details emerge from various parts of the world.
But they really shouldn’t be, says Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and author of four books, including Secular Sabotage: How Liberals are Destroying Religion and Culture in America.
Earlier this week, Donahue wrote:
The focus on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is far out of proportion to the attention given by the media to the sexual molestation of minors when committed by non-Catholic clergymen. According to a report by the New York Times in October, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office had filed charges in 26 cases of sexual abuse involving members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
Rabbi Lebovits faces a long prison term
Just this month, Rabbi Baruch Lebovits was found guilty on eight counts of sexually abusing a Brooklyn boy. Yet the Times, which has run several stories on the decades-old cases in Ireland and Germany, never reported it. And none of it merits the kind of attention given to priests. Catholics aren’t fooled.
At around the same time one of Pope Ratzinger’s closest aides used the word “conspiracy” in relation to the systematic global cover-up of child abuse by paedophile Catholic priests. Unfortunately, wrote Marina Hyde in yesterday’s Guardian:
Cardinal José Saraiva Martins believes the conspiracy is against the Catholic church, which is its victim.
The cardinal said:
We should not be too scandalised if some bishops knew about it [the abuse] but kept it secret. This is what happens in every family, you don’t wash your dirty laundry in public.
Today we learn that new cover-ups have come to light on the Pope’s own turf – Italy, which has the greatest concentration of Roman Catholic clerics.
The Church is now “terrified” as more victims stand up to be counted in Italy, according to Roberto Mirabile, head of La Caramella Buona, an Italian anti-abuse group.
With the scandals erupting abroad, we will see a huge growth in victims’ groups in Italy in coming weeks. We are likely to discover that the Vatican worked even harder in Italy with bishops than elsewhere to hide cases, simply because the contact was closer and the church is so powerful in Italy.
Sergio Cavaliere, an Italian lawyer who has documented 130 cases of clerical paedophilia, also believes that the Vatican’s backyard could follow Ireland, the United States and Germany in producing a wave of abuse revelations.
The cases I have found are just the tip of the iceberg given the reluctance of many victims to come forward until now. And in no single case did the local bishop alert police to the suspected abuse.
Another startling development is how recent most of the allegations are, unlike the decades-old cases in Munich and Milwaukee that Benedict was last week accused of failing to act on.
Here’s the inimitable Pat Condell asking:
Is Satan a Catholic?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKg4HLsu5gE[/youtube]
Hat tip: Broadsword (for the Italian report)
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 28th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Cardinal,
If the Catholic Church is a ‘family’, it’s a nasty, vicious dysfunctional one and with the most disgusting laundry.
March 28th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
How about the Muslim mullahs and the Hindu priests? While these fellows may not be the hypocritical celibates that the Catholic priests are, they are pedophiles and rapists nonetheless.
March 28th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Good old Bill Donahue I remember him explaining how the sexual torture by Priests of children in Ireland wasn’t really that at all. Good to see he is true to form
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the report today:
Reuters is reporting that Irish Priests Beat, Raped Children, yet the report does not justify this wild and irresponsible claim. Four types of abuse are noted: physical, sexual, neglect and emotional. Physical abuse includes being kicked; neglect includes inadequate heating; and emotional abuse includes lack of attachment and affection.
Not nice, to be sure, but hardly draconian, especially given the time line: fully 82% of the incidents took place before 1970. As the New York Times noted, many of them [are] now more than 70 years old. And quite frankly, corporal punishment was not exactly unknown in many homes during these times, and this is doubly true when dealing with miscreants.
http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1616
Anyway here he is getting the Hitch treatment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeS0MHl5xTM
March 28th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Just like those cowards – point the finger of blame outward: Tell the victims that it wasn’t so bad.. after all, others are even more at fault.
It’s time to consider the “vatican” as a non-state, raid the whole mess and let the jailings begin.
March 29th, 2010 at 2:00 am
Catholics blaming the Jews again? They just can’t stop, can they?
But truly, All religions are abusive in some form or other, especially the big three monotheistic ones; physically, sexually, and certainly psychologically. they ALL deserve intense secular scrutiny and relentless criticism. But the RCC is the world leader in abject child abuse, and as Pat Condell says, its history is long and poisonous. Protest the Pope!
March 29th, 2010 at 5:34 am
And, free-thinking atheist.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:15 am
After nearly two millennia of privilege, it is hard for them to accept that they are no longer inviolable.
They wear the medieval robes and live the lifestyle of the dark ages, a time when anyone saying anything to their detriment could be tortured at least.
Any mother complaining that her child has been raped would have been burnt at the stake for sacrilege. Beating one’s subordinates was normal practise.
It is not that they don’t know what they have done, they just don’t recognise secular laws as applying to them. This is true of most religious shamans.
This goes double for the mohammedans, who extend this privilege to all males.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:18 am
“Charles Ponzi did the same thing. So why are you picking on me?”
Bernard Maddoff
“Albert Anastasia did the same thing. So why are you picking on me?”
Al Capone
“Stalin did the same thing. So why are you picking on me?”
Adolf Hitler
“Ted Bundy did the same thing. So why are you picking on me?”
Charles Manson
“Rabbis and Baptist ministers and scoutmasters did the same thing. So why are you picking on me?”
Ratzinazi
March 29th, 2010 at 9:28 am
The Pope has spoken of the need not to be intimidated by critics, in a veiled reference to anger at the Catholic Church over past sex abuse scandals.
At a mass in Rome’s St Peter’s Square, he said his faith would help give him the courage to deflect “petty gossip”.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wor.....592111.stm
March 29th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Has anyone ever seen that episode of south park which rips into Bill Donahue?? I can’t remember the name of the episode but it ended up with Bill Donahue becoming pope and he dies a gruesome death when Jesus throws a ninja throwing star at him. Bill loved that episode and apparently has the south park picture of himself as pope up on his wall, this fuckwit really does miss the point with everything, but then you wouldn’t expect anything less of a fucking vile little bigot who says that victims of abuse by the church are gold diggers.
March 29th, 2010 at 10:24 am
You mean something akin to this, ZombieHunter?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3IXpEcBZk
It is the success of shows like The Simpsons and South Park that have restored my faith in the American public!
March 29th, 2010 at 10:25 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3IXpEcBZk
March 29th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Just to add to the catalogue of religious torture: what about Female Genital Mutilation? Little muslim girls held down screaming while some piece of shit witchdoctor presided over by a mullah slices her clitoris. Should Phony Tony Blair, and his equally holy new best friend Gordon Brown, having said something about this instead of supporting Faith Schools. Phony Tony, now a very wealthy arch Roman Catholic, is said to be ready to support Brown with “major” speeches in the election campaign.
Must have taken a detour round where he should have been: on trial for the illegal war with his nefarious “Blairite buddies” including Hoon. YUK!
March 29th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
I don’t know abut the Simpsons, BarrieJohn, in the last few episodes I’ve watched there seems to be a distinct Christian message coming through but maybe it’s just me.
March 29th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
In the video, “the inimitable Pat Condell” makes the very important point that the Catholic church has tremendous responsibility for anti-Semitism and its various manifestations over the millennia, not least for the Holocaust. But why does he stop there? What of the Protestant churches?
March 29th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
I see the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent (everyone is ignoring us ) Nichols has been defending Pope Ratty, praising him because the old nazi: “…changed the law so that sex offences committed with anyone under the age of 18 would be a crime in church law.”
So, by implication sex offences against anyone over 18 was okay then, Vince?
And is it just me, or isn’t this proof that the head of the catholic church thought that ANY crime of a sexual nature was above secular law? You know, the law that everybody is supposed to adhere to?
March 29th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
@Marcus You got it spot on; right on target. For an example of these paedo priests hordes being above the secular law look at Ireland. There the cops didn’t dare question them. What they said was, “Better keep an eye on Father Fuckwit who is fond of little boys.”
And what better exemplar of this is Sean Cary still top kick in Ireland.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/.....003292599/
What about the poor CofE?
March 29th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
@rog Right on. What about all the publicity they could have. We hardly ever hear about Rowan Williams whereas Ratzo is all over the papers. (I think I have become a Daily Mash fan.)
March 29th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
I’m pretty sure that the Simpsons dumped Matt Groenig from the writer’s and producer’s staffs a few seasons ago. Fox being owned by the right-wing nutjob, Rupert Murdoch, who has decided to poison the minds of as many people as possible with conspiracy theories and right-wing, xian bullshit, probably leaned on the network to make it more “American,” hypocritical Australian bastard that he is.
Funnily enough, for those who enjoy Futurama (“Is the space-pope reptilian?”), also by Matt Groenig, well, it’s coming back on the air to Comedy Central with new episodes. Gotta love Comedy Central. Between the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, Futurama, South Park, and a whole host of other great shows, they are one network not afraid to blast into religion at all.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Surely the RC church’s next step in self denial would be for the victims of the abuse to actually pay the priests for ‘services rendered’. Vile.
March 29th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
There are rumours that el Papa is considering making a ‘global apology’. Now, I guarantee it won’t be an untramelled debasement by the man. Nor can he be seen to blame other religions. So, on to whom will he shift the blame?
On to the non-religious of course. You read it here first…
March 30th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
I will be protesting when the Pope sets foot in the UK and will be throwing condoms along his holy path.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
“Between the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, Futurama, South Park, and a whole host of other great shows, they are one network not afraid to blast into religion at all.”
Actually Comedy Central didn’t dare to show Muhammed on South Park..
So you’re almost correct.