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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Catholic Style

By Pat Racimora on April 1, 2010 at 7:00 AM in Current Affairs

How unfortunate that yet more sexual abuse scandals within Catholic Church, now threatening to taint the Pope himself, are dotting the news during this Holy week. As appalling as taking advantage of children towards whom owes both a spiritual and fiduciary duty is, the response to learning about such transgressions can be every bit as sinful as the actual violation.

According to Steven Brown, writing for Reuters out of Vatican City:

The church is reeling from a series of media reports this week that Pope Benedict, before being elected pontiff, may have looked the other way in the case of the abuse of hundreds of boys by a priest at an American school for the deaf.

The Vatican has denied any cover-up in the abuse of 200 deaf boys by Reverend Lawrence Murphy from the 1950s to the 1960s, after the New York Times reported he was not defrocked despite warnings sent to the Vatican and to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the church’s top doctrinal official, now Pope Benedict.

Such stories are, of course, not new. Nor is the attempt to cloak the truth. As Amy Goodman writes:

Like it or not, this new focus on the pope and his actions as an archbishop and Vatican official fits the distressing logic of this scandal. For those who have followed this tragedy over the years, the whole episode seems familiar: accusation, revelation, denial and obfuscation, with no bishop held accountable for actions taken on their watch.

Yes, there is a depressing madness to this story. Time after time, this is a story of institutional failure of the deepest kind, a failure to defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a failure to put compassion ahead of institutional decisions aimed at short-term benefits and avoiding public scandal.

The strategies employed so far — taking the legal path, obscuring the truth, and doing everything possible to protect perpetrators as well as the church’s reputation and treasury — have failed miserably.

I cannot imagine how parents felt when they learned what they thought was the unimaginable–that their child was telling the truth all along. When parents had to decide whether to believe their spiritual leader or their pubescent boy, many children were likley victimized a third time. All trust shattered, perhaps forever.

It will be interesting to see if Pope Benedict refers to the latest round of revelations during his Easter mass and whether the Church itself can redeem itself from a free-fall in credibility.

  • kristen-in-ohio

    My question is- why now, does the lame stream media bring up a 1950′s case.  This is not new- this is just to discredit a church that stands in defiance to their precious health care bill.  No one condones the horrors that children were exposed to.  I have a good friend that was molested by a teacher and was covered up and the teacher moved to another district to avoid punishment.  There is no news stories about the public school predators.  The way children are used all over the world in secret sex trade operations is horrendous but this story from 1950 is now splashed over the news.  Pope Benedict has called for prosecution of the priests- he’s led the charge for reform.  Before I volunteer at the church, I have to be fingerprinted and have a background check and take hours of mandatory classes.   I just think this to try to shame a church in a very holy week.  It is such a shame. 

  • karen for Clinton

    kristen, it isn’t related to the US alone, the WORLD is focusing on this problem, rightly so.  Enough blaming of the time and place of this discussion, it is very urgent and should be spoken of on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday and all the other 365 days of the year for years on end till the sex offender priests get the message that we are not going to allow it to be swept under a rug and that what they did and what they still DO all over the world, is criminal, sick and vile.  I have, and most people I know have, many stories about the morally superior facade of Catholic leaders.

    Who gives a damn when it is outed and discussed?  It isn’t just one 1950 story, it is rampant and it is horrific.   This is and should be front page news.

  • glennmcgahee

    We all owe Sinead O’Connor an apology on behalf of our media and public that condemned her when she tore the Pope’s picture in half on SNL. Remember the outrage? I’ve always hated the Catholic Church for their draconian view of women and the edict to obey “the man”, as they condemn homosexuality, birth control and abortion especially. They hate birth control because they need Catholics to produce more Catholics. The riches that the Vatican covets could feed the world yet is kept hidden from view. Then there is our own government that quakes with fear if The National Council of Bishops doesn’t approve and threatens politicos with the mobilization of the church against them if they pass a law of which they don’t agree. Tax exempt? Separation of church and state? National Prayer Breakfast? Its all too disgusting.

  • kristen-in-ohio

    Karen,
    I’m not saying this shouldn’t be news or discussed at all.  On the contrary, I think every priest who did this should be sent to rot in jail.  I think that the church has and IS dealing with this.  I just think the timing of this story from 1950 is really strange.  Anything to distract and vilify people who oppose this administration and it’s agenda is fair game.  Just like calling tea party members racists with no evidence.  To me the media is warped and it is hard to even read anything without skepticism now a days.  

  • politicsisdirty

    The more the church is divided the better it is for the Progressives. That is the reason why NYT is so vent on destroying the Catholic church.

    I am not condoning any shenanigans and I believe that if the Pope is culpable, he should resign his position as head of the Catholic church to add credibility to the church of Peter. The church is already divided as it is..priests and bishops who adhere to the teachings of Christ and those who selectively adhere to some teachings to  advance their Progressive ideology.

  • karen for Clinton

    Again, this is a world problem not a US problem and it has nothing to do with the gov’t of the US.  The following are quotes from the AP story today, but this is basically what has been reported since the latest eruption began:

    “Swiss bishops urged victims to consider filing criminal complaints. German bishops opened a hot line for victims. Danish bishops launched an inquiry into decades-old claims. And Austria’s senior cleric, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, admitted church guilt as he presided over a service for victims billed as a sign of repentance. ”

    “A week after Pope Benedict XVI excoriated Irish bishops for gross errors of judgment in handling cases of priests who rape children, European bishops one after another admitted to mistakes, reached out to victims and promised to act when they learn about abuse.”
    ”
    Their mea culpas and pledges to be more open and cooperative with police echoed American bishops’ initial responses when the U.S. priest-abuse scandal emerged in 2002. They come amid mounting public outrage over a new wave of abuse claims across Europe and what victims say has been a pattern of cover-up by bishops and the Vatican itself.”

    Catholics around the world are bringing this to the attention of the world.

    As it should be.  And yes, they are rapists, sex offenders, child abusers and they should be castrated as eunichs if they want to pretend they have their urges to be HUMAN under control.  Only a sick religion would make men attempt to deny they want to have sex.  They should be allowed to marry or cut their weenies off after they make the vow to be celibate. 

  • karen for Clinton

    Pat, great art, as always. 

    politicsisdirty – The NYT is not to blame, the catholics did it to themselves.

  • Pat Racimora

    Yes, I was going to hold this toon and story for after Easter, out of respect.  But it is correct that the story is fully international in scope and a hot topic this week.  I decided not to be late to the party,

    You have to remember also that many victims wait until they are adults to tell anyone (or anyone again, if no one believed them the first time).  So that can cause a delay in learning about it.

    Finally, I cannot blame the Catholic people.  They trusted their guides as they should have been able to do.  I am sure most priests deserve that trust (even though I always thought there would be trouble for any religion that deprived its leaders of human nature as that would either draw some of the wrong crowd into the leadership roles or cause enough frustration to act out).

    My sister is a Catholic by choice and a true saint as well.  She takes care of our aging mother in Tulsa in such a loving way.  I have a good feeling about Catholics in general. 

  • Craig Della Penna

    Hmmm… let’s see: they create an ethical matrix based on guilt and shame. They then create a secretive, intensely hierarchical, completely insular society, replete with an absurdly stringent set of moral precepts – including voluntary denial of the most basic of human instincts – which has absolute authority over all its adherents.
    Into this mess they introduce a cadre of single-sexed fanatics obssesed with repressing and shaming themselves and everyone around them in regards to this actual life in favor of some fantastical reward/membership in the ‘elect’ in a mythical ‘after-life’…
    and we’re ‘shocked, shocked’ when we’re informed (for the umpteenth time) that they’ve been abusing the weakest among them in the foulest ways imaginable.

    I’m with Diderot on this:
    “Man will not be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”

  • prime obot

    Brilliant post, Craig. Right on.

  • Required Reading

    Thank you for writing this, PiD; this is my feeling exactly.  The sexual abuse by some priests is absolutely horrendous and the Vatican and the Bishops have handled it horribly.  However, the US media seems to take absolute delight in bringing the Catholic Church and Catholics with it down.  I also believe that is more than outrage with the sexual abuse – that it is yet another attempt to destroy anything that reeks of tradition and what the leftists consider “conservative values.”

    I have enjoyed your toons and posts, Pat Racimora, but I’m disappointed that you felt you had to “join the party” – this is no party, it’s a smokescreen by the media to use the horrible fact of sexual abuse by a small minority of priests as a way to make a broader cultural and political “statement.” 

    Holy Week should, indeed, be “holy” and the sexual abuse outrages committed by the few should not be allowed to “overwrite” the message that those abuses are a terrible aberration and an assault against the message of universal love, caring, and redemption that Easter represents.

  • mamakay

    I am a convert and have always put my faith in the power of God and his son Jesus Christ more than in any man ie the Pope, which doesnt make me the best Catholic on the planet. My children have been raised in the church and we have been blessed with fabulous Priests in our church.  However our kids have taken a different path even with their positive expierence with the church.  This is partially because of the way the church has covered up all the mess of the past.  I dont know how this can be resolved, perhaps not in this world, but I hope and pray it never happens again.

  • clairtx

    Pat, I identify with your sister taking care of your mother.  My neice was raised a Catholic and cared for her aging mother in her home until she died.  My sister was not a kind person, and was overly strict with her girls when they were young, but my niece overcame all of that and cared for her in her old age.  She is a real saint also.

  • clairtx

    Let’s also not forget another religion that represses women.  I stopped believing in religious institutions a long time ago because they are self-serving to those in control.

  • Rich

    A wonderful cartoon!  I do not have much to say that has not already been said.  I do not have the ability to believe that any current human being can speak for God.  I do believe that sham and secrecy very often leads to bad acts and abuse of power.   

  • confused American

    Its not necessarily the person that is hurting the church in whole. In any organization, especially as large as the Catholic Church there will always be some weirdoes …It is the overall that cover-ups by the Catholic in Whole.  Instead of doing something constructive about the persons within  the Catholic Church that are violating ethnic and moral laws of the Church, religions and society they cover it up over and over.  Since the majority of the cover-ups are done from people at the top, one cannot help but condemn a church that could actually have some good ethical and moral principles.
     
    What is interesting is how this relates to our modern political world.  How many elected officials have been getting free rides on their moral, ethical and state/federal rule/law breakings: Democrats and Republicans. 
     
    Currently there is a large percentage of Obama advisors, and elected Democrats,  that broke tax laws, used bribery, and broke some other political/state/federal  laws, yet they still have their job with the majority of the elected Democrats and stanch Democrats condoning it.  Some have even admitted to their law breaking yet are still in office, with their party still condoning it, along turning a blind eye to the open law/rule breaking, with just maybe a slap on the wrist. Last year was the first year I voted for a Republican Presidential Candidate, would have voted Democrat if Hillary had been on the ticket.
     
    We all know that the Republicans have been known for their abuses too; with Watergate and Nixon being one of the biggest examples.  Oh wait didn’t Nixon end up resigning with  most of the Republicans involved getting jail terms. Lately it seems that if they just breathe wrong they get a huge slap on the wrist.

  • confused American

    It is not necessarily the person that is hurting the church in whole. In any organization, especially as large as the Catholic Church there will always be some weirdoes …It is the overall  cover-ups by the Catholic in Whole.  Instead of doing something constructive about the persons within  the Catholic Church that are violating ethnic and moral laws of the Church, religions and society they cover it up over and over, for how many years now.  Since the majority of the cover-ups are done from people at the top, one cannot help but condemn a church that could and does  actually have some good ethical and moral principles, along with the doing of many good activities.
     
    What is interesting is how this relates to our modern political world.  How many elected officials have been getting free rides on their moral, ethical and state/federal rule/law breakings: Democrats and Republicans. 
     
    Currently there is a large percentage of Obama advisors, and elected Democrats,  that broke tax laws, used bribery, and broke some other political/state/federal  laws, yet they still have their job with the majority of the elected Democrats and stanch Democrats condoning it.  Some have even admitted to their law breaking yet are still in office, with their party still condoning it, along turning a blind eye to the open law/rule breaking, with just maybe a slap on the wrist.
     
    We all know that the Republicans have been known for their abuses too; with Watergate and Nixon being one of the biggest examples.  Oh wait didn’t Nixon end up resigning with  most of the Republicans involved getting jail terms. Lately it seems that if they just breathe wrong they get a huge slap on the wrist.

  • confused American

    It is not necessarily the small % of the Catholic Order(priest, bishop, cardinal) that is hurting the church in whole. In any organization, especially as large as the Catholic Church there will always be some weirdoes …It is the overall  cover-ups by the Catholic in Whole.  Instead of doing something constructive about the persons within  the Catholic Church that are violating ethnic and moral laws of the Church, religions and society they cover it up over and over, for how many years now.  Since the majority of the cover-ups are done from people at the top, one cannot help but condemn a church that could and does  actually have some good ethical and moral principles, along with the doing of many good activities. The Church has apparently know about many of the sexual offenses for a very long time, with it really hitting the headlines in the late 20th century.  Even when it hit the headlines the Catholic Church continued to cover-up for the many cases they knew were out there, including the many in their order that could and were still doing such atrocities.
     
     What is interesting is how this relates to our modern political world.  How many elected officials have been getting free rides on their moral, ethical and state/federal rule/law breakings: Democrats and Republicans. 
     
    Currently there is a large percentage of Obama advisors, and elected Democrats,  that broke tax laws, used bribery, and broke some other political/state/federal  laws, yet they still have their job with the majority of the elected Democrats and stanch Democrats condoning it.  Some have even admitted to their law breaking yet are still in office, with their party still condoning it, along turning a blind eye to the open law/rule breaking, with just maybe a slap on the wrist.
     
    We all know that the Republicans have been known for their abuses too; with Watergate and Nixon being one of the biggest examples.  Oh wait didn’t Nixon end up resigning with  most of the Republicans involved getting jail terms. Lately it seems that if they just breathe wrong they get a huge slap on the wrist.

  • donx

    The denial and cover-up of these awful crimes against children attest to the fact that people often don’t see what they don’t want to see.  Also, officials in high places in government as well as in the Catholic Church often just transfer troublesome individuals to a different location where they can continue to cause trouble, but it may quell the local controversy.  Out of sight, out of mind.  They seem to think a transfer will make the problem go away. But people bring their impaired personalities and predilections to the new location where the behavior is likely to continue.

    Another thing that strikes me is that the denial that horrible offenses actually occurred against children is similar to the denial by the Iranian prime minister that the Holocaust ever happened.

    The problem is that unless things are dealt with and brought to light, history tends to repeat itself.  The memory of horrible events must be kept alive.  Children tend to be warned by parents not to trust strangers (offering candy or a ride).  They should also be warned not to trust priests or other adults in “high places” who invite them into their private quarters.

  • confused American

    This is a US problem just as much as it is a World Problem. Problem lays in the fact that the Catholic Church has basically condoned it by their inactions and cover-ups from the very top of its system for far too many years. A good majority of the perpetrators had numerous complaints against them for many years prior, and currently there are many more out there with a long list of complaints.  Though it is only a small % of the Catholic Diocese it is still a problem too long ignored.
     
    As pointed out in my post above, it is interesting how some of our political organizations are doing the same with their people in regards to the breaking of not only moral laws, but federal, state and congressional laws. The condoning and even hiring of moral, ethical, and civil rule/law breakers has become more and more prevalent, even those that have openly admitted to their crimes. When the head of an organization turns a blind eye or does nothing to violators they are in actuality condoning their actions.

  • EllenD

    When parents had to decide whether to believe their spiritual leader or their pubescent boy, many children were likley victimized a third time. All trust shattered, perhaps forever.

    Yes – the additional betrayal by the parents by not believing their kids will affect them the rest of their lives, along with the Church’s betrayal.

  • EllenD

    Great definition of a cult, Craig.

    I hear the Swiss Bishops are saying what I have been saying all along – don’t go to the Church, go to the cops.
    I am baffled why illegal acts are different when done under the mantle of religion.

  • EllenD

    My sister and I cared lovingly for our mother in our homes until she died.

    My sister is a non-church-going Protestant.
    I am an atheist.

    I am reluctant to ascribe doing the right thing as being a purely religious quality.

  • EllenD

    shenanigans

    These acts are illegal and the perpetrators should be in jail. Calling them “shenanigans” is like describing what was done to the Irish girl who hanged herself as simple “bullying”.
    What was done in both cases was illegal and colored and excused by the structure around these cases – Church and School.
    Try doing this outside, folks, without the protection of these institutions – it is ILLEGAL.

  • SAINTIXE

    If one believes in poetic justice- I do, it is fair that on the most significant week of the year for Christians, the lid is opn on the corruption of the shepherds. Now let it be clear, there are good shepherds and shepherdesses, very good ones, one s who must be so sad this week. But I dont think for a minute, those good people are so shocked by the revelations, they may wish all would go away.
    Any abcess must be lanced , So a dual abcess even more so.
    Paedophiles, priests or not must face the law and then the LAW of the Church an din that order. They failed their order and their flock. They cant hide from the secular management of paedophilia…
    As for the very ill-advised clerics of whatever ranks they hold in the wide Catholic Church, they have forgotten that the crime of paedophilia makes the criminal a subject of Caesar.
    Give to Caesar and give to God
    Obey to Caesart and obey to God
    Be punished by Caesar and God.
    If the Vatican , for one second, believes, the Church is above the Law,,the Vaican is deadly wrong.
    Retribution is coming and it will be relentless

  • Doc99

    The Anchoress responds: LONG
    http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/theanchoress/2010/03/31/cardinal-levada-responds-to-ny-times/

    Also, I find the timing more than curious.

  • EllenD

    When the head of an organization turns a blind eye or does nothing to violators they are in actuality condoning their actions.

    And encouraging new ones. Accessories after the fact, perhaps?

  • confused American

    But look what it took for the Catholic Church to finally start to do something

    Also look at who are still part of the Catholic Church organization that had/have problems and still nothing has been done.  Many are still out there within jobs with many children around.

    You don’t just take care of the problems that just became the most vocal, you take care of them all…
    Maybe from the outside it looks like they are working, but inside many many known cases are still being over looked due to the Catholic political policies….

    This is not much different than what happens and is happening  with our American Politicians and the party leaders.

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  • Doc99

    Just to add a little perspective, why isn’t the NY Times investigating this?
    http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconductreview/report.pdf

  • Tricia

    Thanks for this–another perspective for sure!  Yet the basic misdeeds remain to confront.

  • kristen-in-ohio

    Doc 99- I liked this- thanks for posting. 

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  • goldengrahme

    Agree…it never ceases to amaze me that rampant vice and inhuman conduct seem to be rewarded.  Case in point–a glaring example: who got the biggest
    bounce from our financial meltdown?  The very offenders who caused the
    debacle.  Want to see world wide child abuse in all its monstrous permutations,
    just research child pornography.  I did and came away sickened to the core.

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  • Captain Jack Sparrow

    This is pure bull! Yes the moral crisis within the Church is serious. Yes the Church needs to deal with it openly. But this is also an attack on the Catholic Church. PERIOD!

    To bad they don’t print all the good things the Church does. That would run them out of news print. Just Bull!

  • Captain Jack Sparrow

    “Retribution is coming and it will be relentless”

    And here I thought “retribution” was God’s domain…. So as the book says, “he who has no sin, cast the first stone”…..

  • Captain Jack Sparrow

    The Court Jester has spoken…

  • Captain Jack Sparrow

    ” I decided not to be late to the party, ”

    Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to miss the party. Especially when the party is all one sided. But hey morals….who needs them! Right?

  • Captain Jack Sparrow

    ‘The riches that the Vatican covets could feed the world yet is kept hidden from view.”

    Your an idiot…. Those riches are feeding the poor of the world. The Catholic Church does more to feed the poor than any other orgainization. To bad your hatred of the Church blinds you.

  • Armymom

    Jack I have to agree with you and I’m not catholic. However, punish those who knew and continued to do it, but don’t paint a whole religion with a broad brush. Isn’t that what we’re told to do when it comes to the Muslim religion?

  • Pat Racimora

    =-O Oooohhh Capt. Jack-I don’t like that charge (and you would apologize if you knew me).  Goes to show that people do make slurs when they don’t even know anything about the person they are sliming.

    The truth is–and I wish I had made it up but I didn’t–that the Catholic Church has a problem that the Pope himself acknowledges and has vowed to do something about.  It oozes out over the years now.  It’s not anything made up or one sided.

    This isn’t about Catholics either–it is about fiducuary duty and vigorously maintaining it at zero tolerance for any betrayal.

  • Solara 9

    I don’t think most people paint the whole religion–and especially not the people who worship as Catholics.  But there is a serious sestemic problem in the Catholic organzization that has been left to rot for way too long.  Centuries probably.  If this latest round gets something happening besides weekend workshops for priests, that will be a good thing.

    And here’s the thing–as unfair as it might be, if there is a terrible problem that remains unsolved, then every apple in that barrel is suspect.  It’s the way our barins go.  I had a friend who worked for Enron.  Low level job, but people threw barbs at him for the longest time.

  • Tricia
  • jiminycricket

    Amazingly well-done drawing, Tricia!

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