Priest sued over teenager’s pregnancy

A CATHOLIC high school chaplain in Reading, Pennsylvania, is being sued by a local couple for impregnating their 18-year-old daughter, who had mental health problems.

Rev Luis A Bonilla Margarito was secretly videotaped having sex with the couple’s daughter in the basement of their home.

A stranger to celibacy: Luis A Bonilla Margarito, who is no longer functioning as a priest. Photo: Richard J Patrick/Reading Eagle

The lawsuit, filed this week in Berks County Court, alleges that the priest carried on a sexual relationship with the teenager while he was chaplain of Reading Central Catholic High School and she was a senior there.

The girl’s parents became suspicious and installed a camera in their basement, where Bonilla and the teenager were spending large amounts of time. The camera recorded the couple having sex in November 2009, after she graduated, according to the suit.

Her parents took the video to the Diocese of Allentown, which removed Bonilla from his dual posts as chaplain and pastor of St Joseph Church in Reading when he acknowledged an “inappropriate relationship” with the teenager. Bonilla was sent to a treatment facility but:

Continued to have intimate contact with [the teenager] during this time period and ultimately impregnated her.

She recently gave birth to a girl.

Diocesan spokesman Matt Kerr said:

[Bonilla] has no assignment, and he has not functioned as a priest since November.

Bonilla was named chaplain of Central Catholic in 2008 and befriended the teenager, then 17, at the beginning of her senior year. He “began to groom [the teenager] for a sexual relationship,” the suit said, knowing that she had mental-health problems, had been abused sexually by an adult man, and was “susceptible to being manipulated.”

Her parents began to suspect a relationship and reported their concerns to administrators at Central Catholic. The suit alleges:

They were told their suspicions were unfounded and that nothing could be done to separate [the teenager] and Father Bonilla because he was her spiritual adviser and/or counsellor.

Bonilla also took steps to alienate the teenager from her parents, telling her that she was 18 and no longer had to obey them, the suit said.

The suit, filed by Wyomissing lawyer Jay Abramowitch, alleges that diocesan officials knew about the relationship but were:

So concerned about their own reputation and/or financial interests that they failed to protect [the teenager] from Father Bonilla.

The parents are seeking punitive damages for breach of fiduciary duty, infliction of emotional distress, and gross negligence. The suit names as defendants Bonilla, the diocese, the high school, Allentown Bishop John Barres, and former Bishop Edward Cullen.

WAY back in March of this year, Christian street preacher  and wannabe MP – Paul Shaw, of Duffield Drive, Colchester – appeared at Colchester magistrates’ court charged with using threatening words or behaviour towards gays, which he denied.

District judge David Cooper told him:

You said you were spreading God’s word and when interviewed you said children needed to be protected and basically, homosexuals and lesbians should repent and ask for God’s forgiveness.

The case was dismissed as the prosecution could offer no written evidence from complainants, and Shaw argued his right to free speech.

But Judge Cooper warned him that further complaints could land him back in court:

There are other sorts of ‘sins’. Do you think you could concentrate on those for a bit?

Sixty-something Shaw disagreed. He refused to be bound over to keep the peace, which itself is a criminal offence.

Instead, he said:

In four years, I’ve only dealt with homosexuality about twice. I have to act in good conscience, I’m afraid, and I think [homosexuality] is a particularly significant thing for this nation at this time.

Quite unable to contain his homophobia, Shaw used it again as a platform to seek election as an MP in the 2010 General Election. Standing as an independent, the imbecile came last out of nine candidates in the Colchester constituency, polling just 20 votes. This earned him a place in The Telegraph’s Top Ten General Election Losers.

The miserable loser found himself back before Judge Cooper on Thursday morning, August 26, as a result of a pre-election address he distributed in Colchester in May. In it, he called for a review of whether sodomy and other homosexual acts should remain legal.

Graham Weeks, the 'brains' behind 'The Christian Quoter'

“The Christian Quoter”, a lame fundie blog maintained by Presbyterian nutter Graham Weeks revealed:

It turns out that a couple of homosexual men complained to the police, leading to a completely over-the-top search of Paul’s flat and confiscation of his diaries in June.

Shaw had declared in his address:

I believe for example that homosexual and lesbian acts are immoral and that the law should reflect that; by making them unlawful as they once were; and so acting as a deterrent to such behaviour.

The semi-literate moron added:

The concept of homophobia is nonsense and a play on words; it is not and has never been a phobia! A phobia is an un-natural fear; whereas a rejection of perverse behaviour; is a righteous godly fear; that fears to do wrong because it knows that there are consequences and punishment otherwise! This is the most pronounced example of a nation that has lost its way …

Little wonder that Colchester voters gave him the bum’s rush.

Weeks reports that the latest case was adjourned at the request of the Crown Prosecutor. This was in order, the prosecution said, to consider the case in the light of freedom of speech.

Weeks – a fan of Britain’s funniest fundie, Stephen “Birdshit” Green – quotes Green as saying:

If you can, please come and support Paul at Colchester Magistrates Court, CO1 1FP on Thursday 23rd September 2010. The case is listed for 9.15am, but be prepared for it to be heard, as today’s case was, in the afternoon.

In all, seven brethren came along today [August 26] at a moment’s notice to support Paul and the Gospel, so let us pray for an even bigger witness in four weeks’ time!

Please continue to hold up our brother in prayer at this challenging time.

And please PRAY that justice is done and this attack on our historic freedom to preach the Gospel is defeated.

WHO is “BroJustin” and why is he so spitting mad?

Like so many in the UK, “BroJustin” is appalled at the forthcoming State visit of Pope Ratzinger – but at the heart this “saved” Christian wingnut’s objections, voiced in a YouTube video, no rational arguments exist, just  mindless – at time hilarious – howls  about the visit being a manifestation of the godlessness of the UK.

Referring to Ratzinger as  “His Prancing Putrescence the Prince of Perverts”, “BroJustin” declares:

Perhaps we should hope and pray that God will raise up some maniac to shoot the Pope.

The mad misogynist and homophobe then expands his diatribe to denounce “the ordination of wicked feminist sows”; laments the fact that “women are put in authority over men”, and that some churches are now ordaining “practitioners of anal lust and penis sucking”.

Why, they have even got “so far from God that they think that Catholics are Christians”.

Meanwhile, the Birmingham Post reports that a gang of Pope lovers from Ireland are giving local authorities – and the Catholic Church – a bit of a headache.

The Pope features on the cover of The New Humanist, which is now available at 1,300 outlets in the UK (click for details)

About 15 families moved onto a field behind Sarehole Mill, off Wake Green Lane, Hall Green, on Tuesday. When they were served with a police notice to leave, the convoy moved just yards across the road to the John Morris Jones Walk Way, at The Shire Country Park, in Cole Bank Road.

The group told local councillor Martin Mullaney that had come from Donegal, Ireland, to Birmingham, especially for Ratslinger’s visit to Cofton Park on September 19.

Mullaney (Lib Dem, Kings Heath and Moseley) said he was told by the group that they intended to return to Ireland after the Pontiff’s visit but had not purchased pilgrim passes, which cost £25 each, and guarantee entry to the park for the Mass.

In light of the move, Birmingham City Council officials, West Midlands Police, and a member of the Catholic Church were holding an emergency meeting to establish how they can get a clear message to other travellers who intend coming for the Pope’s visit, that they will be refused entry if they do not have a valid ticket.

Mullaney said:

We are having a meeting to get a press release or a leaflet which we can send out to the travelling community. We need to get a message to them that you need a ticket to go to the Mass and if you don’t have one, you won’t get in.

The travellers refused to comment.

Mullaney said the council was working with the travellers to see if they could find an alternative site. He said:

I asked why they keep picking parks and they said they want somewhere with short grass so that it’s safe for their children to run around. As there are four weeks to go to the Pope’s visit, I asked if they would be happy for the council to provide a temporary site and they said yes. It has to be acceptable with local residents.

Hat Tip: MarkB (for the YouTube link)

COLLEGE honours student Michael Enright, 21, a volunteer for an organisation called Intersections International, faces charges of attempted murder and hate crime assault following an attack on Tuesday on cabbie Ahmad Sharif, who suffered a serious neck and face wounds.

Michael Enright, right, confers with his attorney Jason Martin, during his arraignment in a New York City courtroom on charges that include attempted murder as a hate crime

According to this report, Enright hailed Sharif’s cab, then asked the driver if he was a Muslim. He replied yes.

After a few moments of silence, Enright, according to a statement issued by the Taxi Drivers’ Alliance:

Suddenly started cursing and screaming. He yelled ‘Assalamu Alaikum. Consider this a checkpoint,’ then slashed Mr Sharif across the neck. As Mr. Sharif went to knock the knife out, the perpetrator, continuing to scream loudly, cut the taxi driver in the face (from nose to upper lip), arm and hand.

Enright volunteered with Intersections International which is

A New York-based global initiative dedicated to promoting justice, reconciliation and peace across lines of faith, culture, ideology, race, class, national borders and other boundaries that divide humanity.

The group’s executive director, the Rev Robert Chase said in this report:

I am deeply distressed if this is the Mike Enright that we know. Especially, or sadly, ironic, is that our work is about building bridges between different faiths, different ethnicities, different cultures. This is exactly the opposite of what we stand for.”

If this is the Michael Enright who has worked with Intersections, this is totally out of his character and it’s really, in many ways, unfathomable to me.

Chase said he believes Enright “absolutely” held the same values as Intersections.

That’s why this is so out of character. He worked hours with us as a volunteer and I don’t think he would have done that if he didn’t believe in the mission.

Chase also described Enright as:

Cordial, very helpful, and he’s a really good guy.

In a statement, Intersections expressed condolences for the cab driver and called the violence “unacceptable”.

Grand Imam Sayyed Mohammed Musawi speaking last year in praise of the late 'human rights champion and man of justice' Ayatollah Khomeini

Intersections International is not to be confused with Interfaith International, the co-founder of which is the dotty UK-based “His Eminence” Sayyed Mohammed Musawi, President of the World Islamic League (WABIL) who has some pretty quirky views of human rights:

Human rights in Islam, as far as the Qur’an and the hadiths are concerned, cover all areas of life. If the government sets the rights, then they can be changed, be amended, be modified. The real human rights have been granted and given by the Creator of life, and these rights cannot be changed.

When these rights come from Allah as a religious responsibility, then the enforcement and implementation of them take root in the heart of every believer. In that case, we don’t need the police or the military or the government to en force them because they are already in the heart of every believer.

In 1998 Interfaith International received “special consultative status” with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

A SMALL gang of noisy Christian nitwits were given their marching orders by the residents of a Toronto neighbourhood after the unwelcome god-botherers were assumed to have targeted the home of a gay couple at the weekend.

A row erupted after members of the Highfield Road Gospel Hall in the east end of Toronto invaded the area for an “open-air prayer meeting”,  which several residents thought was an attempt to intimidate the couple.

But according to this report, the two men are nonplussed. They say they’ve been living on Highfield Road for a dozen years, have never felt targeted and are surprised at their neighbours’ attempts to defend them.

A member of the evangelical group added:

There was nothing targeted.

He declined to give his name but said he’d been with the group since 1982. He claimed they’ve “never seen anything like the vitriol that’s been posted” in response to Sunday’s encounter, which was shot on video and subsequently went viral.

I think somebody perhaps may have leapt to a conclusion that was simply false. And sometimes these things can snowball.

The gospel-hall member insisted the group was simply conducting a prayer session that’s a regular Sunday occurrence during the summer.

If [the allegation of homophobia] had been true, and it’s not, it would have been a dreadful thing. To stand in front of somebody’s house and to say things about that person would be shockingly inappropriate.

He added that the group would likely make a nuisance of themselves on that street again:

Not this year, but yeah, in future years … We certainly are not seeking confrontation with anybody. That’s not in the spirit of Christianity.

Kristen McKay heard the shouting and praying from her Highfield Road home shortly after 8 pm. She went outside and saw about a dozen parishioners, a couple of them with young children. She and several other residents claim their religious exhortations were directed at a house across the street belonging to a gay couple – one of several in the neighbourhood.

I didn’t think people should be degraded or made to feel disgraced or singled out. … And I don’t think they should be here: We’re having a nice, relaxing Sunday, everyone likes each other, we’re good neighbours.

She ran out, followed by her husband, James, and several other residents. The 90-second video shot by neighbour Geoffrey Skelding shows the parishioners in formal Sunday attire, several of them carrying Bibles, being confronted by half a dozen residents. It has since been viewed more than 12,000 times on YouTube, and re-posted on numerous local websites and blogs.

Says a woman in a brimmed hat and turquoise suit:

We have a right to be here.

A man beside her, wielding a Bible, adds that they have:

The authority to preach the gospel. … We’ve been doing this 70 years. In the will of God, next year, we’ll be here.

A resident counters:

We’re not arguing the importance [of your message]. We’re arguing that you’re yelling on the street that is shared by a bunch of neighbours that like each other.

A couple of residents called police about the disturbance, but by the time a pair of cars arrived, most of the group had gone. Toronto police spokeswoman Wendy Drummond said no report has been filed because no complaint has been made.

Residents say they’re considering taking further action if the group comes back.

Said Anna MacKay, who has seen the group on the street before:

To each their own; if somebody is having a sermon outside their house I’m not going to say anything. … [But] if I want to hear you preach, I’ll come to your church. I don’t go stand outside your church and tell you how to live your life. They were talking about blood of the lamb flowing down the street, [and that] we’ll have to pay for our sins.

Jesus on a pogo stick, after 2,000 years you’d think these cretins could come up with some crap we haven’t actually heard before!

Hat tip Sean R

DOMINATING the news in the last couple of days has been the Northern Ireland police ombudsman’s report which confirmed long-rumoured suspicions that a Catholic priest – Father Jim Chesney – had masterminded a terrorist atrocity: the 1972 Claudy bombing in County Derry which killed nine people, including an eight-year-old girl.

I shan’t go too deeply into this shocking report, as it has been so widely covered in the media, but I think it’s important to draw readers’ attention to a quote gleaned from a BBC report of December 23, 2002:

Fr Chesney, who died in 1980

It seems Cardinal Conway [then head of the Catholic Church in Ireland] simply moved Fr Chesney from his parish near Claudy to another area on the other side of the Irish border, a gesture which has unfortunate echoes of the way in which the Church handled allegations of paedophilia against priests in more recent times.

See more background to the case here.

The surfacing of this latest revelation makes the manner in which the BBC (and other mainsteam media) is reverentially reporting on the Pope’s costly “State” visit to the UK next month – and studiously avoiding mention of the groundswell of opposition to the visit – all the more annoying.

Yesterday, for example, the BBC revealed that the Catholic Church of England and Wales has published a guide for those attending events with the Pope during his visit to the UK next month.

There will be strict controls over what can and cannot be brought into the three large public gatherings in London, Glasgow and Birmingham.

Alcohol, barbecues, gazebos and musical instruments will all be banned as they “could pose a threat to others”. Other banned items include bicycles, whistles, candles and animals.

However, picnics, banners and flags will all be allowed.

Those attending are advised to make provision for all weather conditions, bring any medication they may need and emergency contact numbers.

Pilgrims should bring their wet weather gear but also hats and clothes to shield them in case of sun.

The advice reads:

Please be aware that sun can burn even on a cloudy day. Please remember that overnight temperatures may drop significantly at this time of year.

Picnics will be allowed on site but only plastic cutlery and non-breakable cups and plates should be used.

Hampers and cool boxes:

Should not exceed 20in x 13in x 8in (51cm x 33cm x 20cm.

In all cases, people should be prepared for “a very long and onerous journey” to and from the scheduled papal events due to the large numbers attending. These events will not be open to the general public on the day, and those wishing to attend must be attached in advance to a group from a Catholic parish.

Group members will be issued with a “pilgrim pack” containing the all-important “pilgrim pass”, allowing entry to the event. The pack will also include a 12-track CD featuring Britain’s Got Talent finalist Liam McNally.

About 80,000 people are expected to attend the evening vigil in Hyde Park on 18 September, with 65,000 expected the following day in Cofton Park, Birmingham.

The Cofton Park event will be the “culmination” of the Pope’s visit as he beatifies Cardinal Henry Newman, who is buried nearby.

In addition to the public events, there will be opportunities to see the Pope in London and Edinburgh as he travels the streets in the Popemobile.

Protests against the Pope and his UK visit started as early as March this year. (Click on pic for more details)

No mention, of course, is made in this report about the  thousands who are expected to demonstrate against the papal visit. However a “Protect the Pope” website, which appears to have been masterminded by Rev Nick Donnelly, a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Lancaster, and an author for the laughably-named Catholic Truth Society, has been set up.

It says:

When I talk to other Catholics about the Holy Father’s visit in September, most express concern about his safety. The unprecedented level of hostility, ridicule and ill-will from certain public figures and sections of the press has got some Catholics genuinely worried that Pope Benedict is going to be embarrassed or even hurt.

After centuries of institutionalised anti-Catholicism one thing Catholics in this country are sensitive about is religious hate, and there are plenty of signs that this is rearing its ugly head again.

One of the purposes of this website is to provide Catholics with information about the law concerning incitement of religious hatred.  The more of us that know about the protection the Law offers our Faith the better.

This site will also provide the addresses of local police forces so Catholics can report actions that offend and distress and may constitute incitement of religious hatred.

Its important to know that we no longer have to suffer this type of abuse in silence as we did in the past but can now call on the Law to protect us as religious believers.