Out Of Touch – Page 97 – Hear Our Voices

June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

Catholic School Teacher Fired Because Abusive Ex-Husband Posed Threat to Students

File under: Ya gotta admire those Gospel-Lovin’ Catholics!

By Neetzan Zimmerman
A domestic violence victim has come forward this week after being fired from her teaching job at a San Diego Catholic school because she was deemed a liability for having an abusive ex-husband.

Earlier this year, Carie Charlesworth and her four children were removed from Holy Trinity School after she gathered up the courage to disclosed her struggles with domestic violence to the school’s principal.

After what the second-grade teacher’s called “a very bad weekend with [her ex-husband],” the unidentified man arrived outside the school, prompting a lockdown.

She was subsequently put on “an indefinite leave,” and then formally terminated three months later.

Charlesworth’s letter of termination read, in part:

We know from the most recent incident involving you and Mrs. Wright (the principal) while you were still physically at Holy Trinity School, that the temporary restraining order in effect were not a deterrent to him. Although we understand he is current incarcerated, we have no way of knowing how long or short a time he will actually serve and we understand from court files that he may be released as early as next fall. In the interest of the safety of the students, faculty and parents at Holy Trinity School, we simply cannot allow you to return to work there, or, unfortunately, at any other school in the Diocese.

“I mean that’s why women of domestic violence don’t come forward, because they’re afraid of the way people are going to see them, view them, perceive them, treat them,” said Charlesworth after being informed that several parents were planning to pull their children out of school if she returned.

The San Diego Diocese Office for Schools has said it would not comment publicly “about personnel issues.”

Meanwhile, Charlesworth says the entire ordeal has caused her to lose her religion. “I have not been back to a Catholic church since this happened,” she said.

Her ex-husband, who was jailed on two felony charges back in January, is due to be released this month.

Complete Article HERE!

June 11, 2013

The bishops’ big guns in Trenton

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

What if, during his recent travels with a couple of Catholic youth groups, the Rev. Michael Fugee had a relapse and groped another child? There’s no evidence that happened, but it’s a legitimate concern. There’s a reason prosecutors made him promise never to work with children again.

Years from now, what if a child says Fugee crossed a line?

As we speak, New Jersey’s Catholic leaders are spending big bucks to make sure the church, its bishops and, most importantly, its bank accounts can’t be held responsible for crimes committed on their watch.

Princeton Public Affairs Group is the most high-powered, high-priced lobbying outfit in Trenton. That’s whom the New Jersey Catholic Conference has hired to fight legislation meant to give victims of childhood sexual abuse the time they need to seek justice.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), extends the statute of limitations from two years to 30 years for victims to file suit against their abusers and the institutions that failed to protect them. That includes the Catholic Church, but it also covers all religious organizations, state and local governments, and schools.

The priest sex-abuse scandal has cost the Catholic Church $2.5 billion. Its interest in limiting the damages is obvious.

For some victims of childhood abuse, time is critical. It may take years before they can talk about it. When they’re finally ready, they should find a justice system that’s ready to listen.

If Catholic leaders get their way, many will be told they’re too late.

It’s not a new tactic. The church has lobbied states for stricter time limits for victims to sue their attackers and those who protected them. In New York, for example, the church helped stop legislation that opened “windows” for victims to sue for past abuse.

The priest sex-abuse scandal has cost the Catholic Church $2.5 billion since it broke a decade ago. The church’s interest is obvious. By hiring Princeton Public Affairs, it is pulling out the big guns. Vitale’s job just got harder.

Cutting costs might be good business, but trying to escape sins of the past by silencing victims is cowardly. Lawsuits are chances for those child victims, now grown, to have a voice. We have to be ready to hear them.

Complete Article HERE!

June 11, 2013June 11, 2013

New book alleges indiscretions in the Philippine Church

A book launched on Friday is set to send shockwaves through the Philippines Church, with serious allegations about the behavior of bishops and clergy.

“Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church,” describes an institution cloaked in secrecy.

It claims that Church leaders have been concealing wrongdoings committed by bishops and clergy, including sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement, and corruption, for many years.

Author Aries Rufo, who researched the book over 20 years of covering the institutional church as a journalist, said he does not intend to destroy the reputation of the country’s bishops and priests.

“Are we out to destroy the Church? Of course the answer is no. How can one book destroy a Church that has been in existence for more than two thousand years?” Rufo said.

He said he has dedicated the book to “those who remain steadfast in their faith yet ache for reforms within the Holy Mother Church.”

Among its revelations, the book recounts how protégés of the late Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila committed “indiscretions involving the opposite sex.”

Former Manila auxiliary bishops Teodoro Bacani and Crisostomo Yalung were both promising prelates before their fall from grace.

Yalung, who was 47 when the scandal happened, fathered two children with a 23-year-old woman. He later escaped to the United States where he now resides, after failing to account for millions of pesos of Church funds.

Bacani resigned as Bishop of Novaliches in 2003 after being accused of sexual harassment by his personal secretary. He denied the accusations but admitted making an “inappropriate expression of affection.”

He retains his episcopal office and continues to say Mass in the Archdiocese of Manila.

“Their cases are a microcosm of how Church superiors handle cases of sexual dalliances involving prelates – a conspiracy of silence on the pretext of an internal Church investigation,” says Rufo in the book.

“They show a Church which put its blind trust on its erring members, amid the mounting evidence and calls by lay leaders for an immediate investigation; a Church that was more concerned in protecting the privacy of its erring members than the welfare of the victim or victims; and a Church that was quick to condemn the other party as guilty, yet just as fast to absolve its erring member.”

Marites Danguilan Vitug, publisher and editor of the book, called it “the first of its kind” in the country and an attempt “to bring some air and light into a musty place, where there’s so little circulation and transparency.”

Vitug noted that the Catholic Church is one of the most impenetrable and least scrutinized institutions in the Philippines.

“In raising these issues about the Church, we want to encourage an open discussion that, hopefully, will lead to a more discerning public,” he said.

Complete Article HERE!

May 27, 2013

Scandal fear led to sex abuse cover-up

Cardinal Pell apologises to inquiry for Catholic cover-up of child sex abuse and says church will pay compensation but not huge US sums.

By Genevieve Gannon

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, has admitted the fear of scandal led to cover-up in the church.

He said former Melbourne archbishop Sir Frank Little was involved in a cover-up and a former Ballarat archbishop destroyed documents.

He denied he personally covered up offending.

“No. Never,” he told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse on Monday.

He agreed under questioning that the fear of scandal led to a cover-up.

“The primary motivation would have been to respect the reputation of the church.

“There was a fear of scandal.”

Cardinal Pell, who is the Archbishop of Sydney and a former archbishop of Melbourne, has apologised for the abuse committed by clergy.

“I’m fully apologetic and absolutely sorry,” he told the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse.

“That is the basis for everything which I’ll say now.”

Cardinal Pell said the church had dealt with child sex abuse “imperfectly” and had not understood the damage being done to victims.

“I would agree that we’ve been slow to address the anguish of the victims and dealt with it very imperfectly,” he told the inquiry.

“I think a big factor in this was not simply to defend the name of the church.

“Many in the church did not understand just what damage was being done to the victims. We understand that better now.”

Cardinal Pell said the sodomy of children was always regarded as totally reprehensible.

“If we’d been gossips, which we weren’t … we would have realised earlier just how widespread this business was,” Cardinal Pell said.

He admitted lives had been ruined as a result of the cover-ups.

He agreed the systemic cover-up had allowed paedophile priests to prey on children.

“I would have to say there is significant truth in that,” Cardinal Pell said.

He did not believe there had been a culture of abuse.

“I think the bigger fault was that nobody would talk about it, nobody would mention it.

“I was certainly unaware of it.

“I don’t think many, if any, persons in the leadership of the Catholic Church knew what a horrendous widespread mess we were sitting on.”

Cardinal Pell agreed that placing paedophiles above the law and moving them to other parishes resulted in more heinous crimes being committed.

“There’s no doubt about it that lives have been blighted.

“There’s no about it that these crimes have contributed to too many suicides.”

Cardinal Pell said former Melbourne archbishop the late Sir Frank Little did cover up offences in one instance and spoke to nobody about the offending.

“Yes, Archbishop Little did cover up but he inherited a situation where there were no protocols and no procedures, and for some strange reason he never spoke to anybody about it,” he said.

Cardinal Pell said he had discovered “in the last few weeks” that former Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns had destroyed documents.

The inquiry has heard that Bishop Mulkearns was aware of child abuse accusations against paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale but simply moved him to a different parish.

“His actions were followed by disastrous consequences,” Cardinal Pell said.

But he said both men would never have intended to aid the offenders.

Cardinal Pell denied church assets were hidden in trusts.

“Our assets are not hidden in trusts,” he said.

“Church officials can be sued. Church officials have been sued.

“We have always met our obligations for compensation.”

He agreed the church’s assets in Australia would “certainly be very considerable”.

Cardinal Pell said the church is ready to pay victims whatever the law commands.

Australian compensation – a maximum of $75,000 – was low compared to the US but compared quite favourably with the vast majority of the world.

“We will pay whatever the law recommends is appropriate compensation.

“Many of the victims aren’t particularly interested in money. The more important thing is due process, justice and help with getting on with their lives.

“The church will continue to fulfil its obligations as they’re defined in Australian society and will continue to try to help victims.”

Cardinal Pell insisted a reduction in the number of offences suggested that the Catholic environment was very safe.

“I pray, and I think it’s reasonable to say and I hope, that the worst is behind us,” he said.

“We have implemented a massive cultural change.

“The crime is totally regrettable. The damage is enormous.”

Complete Article HERE!

May 23, 2013

Catholic Priest Hosting Gay “Sports Camp” To Convert Homosexuals Through Athletics

File under: What a brilliant idea! This same thing worked so well for all of us gay priests.

Me thinks this Father Paul Check guy just wants to be around a bunch of hot and sweaty homo jocks. Hey Fr. Paul, we can totally see right through you. You are scary creepy, just like your predecessor, Father john Harvey, OSFS.

After figuring out that electroshock therapy and gay conversion therapy didn’t really work, a Catholic seminary in Wynnewood, PA has come up with yet another suggestion on how to force grown men into changing their sexuality. You know, because they chose it in the first place.

same-sex atraction sports

The organization, run by Father Paul Check, is planning the 14th year of a weeklong Catholic “sports camp,” which will help men to shed their homosexual desires through playing contact sports with other barely-clothed, sweaty, and presumably sexy gay men.

Check believes the lack of contact sports at an early age can lead men to develop homosexual tendencie

Something smells fishy, and we’re not the only ones that think it. Ed Coffin, a member of Peace Advocacy Network, tells NewsWorks’ Elizabeth Fiedler he plans to protest the annual hookup mecca:s, and hopes to extract the “shame” gay men feel while playing sports with other men. Father Check may be on to something—there aren’t any gay men in major league sports, and if there are, they never win medals or feel accepted.

“It’s very clear what this organization does is focus on turning people who are homosexual–basically trying to change them into heterosexuals or at least get them to live a completely chaste lifestyle–which requires them to not act on any of their homosexual inclinations,” Coffin said. “It falls under the broader realm of conversion therapy. We do feel that this is very detrimental, that’s it’s psychologically damaging.”

And before you knock it, just listen to the satisfaction it brings men who are no longer interested in other men. This testimony, given by “Louis” on the sports camp’s website, proves there’s absolutely nothing homoerotic about sweaty men hugging other sweaty men:

“One time a teammate gave me a sweaty celebratory hug. He was humbly secure in himself, just as he was, selflessly and joyfully showing affection to others. I also liked when one man, whom I’d felt intimidated by, gave me a pat on my belly, meaning “way to go!” His touch made me feel accepted as one of the guys.”

Where do we sign up?

Complete Article HERE!