If you don't like thie post, please put your reasons in the comm box, and try to avoid profanity and ad hominem
attacks. I said try, because i know that this is an emotional issue.
First, Mr. Dreher has come out in favor of the indictment against Bishop Finn. I"m not sure that Mr. Dreher has any business commenting on the actions of a Catholic Bishop, simply because he has entered into formal schism, leaving the Church. He had his reasons--primarily the Gay Ephebephilia Scandal and the horrible way the bishops handled it. But his position is in itself the commentary. He can no lnger see the Catholic Church as a valid body.
However, Mr. Dreher has ignored certain pertinent facts. The biggest being that the indictment is less an expression of justice than an anti-catholic act of opportunism. Review the facts--Bishop Finn, when he first learned of the matter in December actually did notify Law Enforcement. The photographs on th lap top in question were shown to them, and they, the local prosecutor, and other decided that they were creepy as hell, but did not meet the legal standards for Child pornography. Bishops Finn removed the priest in question from work that would give him access to Children, and sent him to an isolated house, where he could be monitored. Even though there was nothing that could legally be prosecuted at the time.
In May, the priest was charged, because in spite of the precautions taken by the Diocese, he managed to attempt the molestation of a 12 year old girl, and take more photos of kids--this time that did meet the legal standards for prosecution. Bishop Finn, in fact, did more than the Prosecutors office or law enforcement.
This is a cautionary tale, especially for us who harbor injury from, or anger against, the Church and the individual Bishops for things they have done or left undone. One, we need to stay in the Church,otherwise our voices lose the credibility of a member of the Church. Two, we need to remember that gathering facts is more important than listening to opinions, even our own. Three, the sins of the Church are in many ways the result of the cumulative sins of the Faithful, and we ourselves need to be converted to solve the problems in the Church. Being converted does not include running away.
attacks. I said try, because i know that this is an emotional issue.
First, Mr. Dreher has come out in favor of the indictment against Bishop Finn. I"m not sure that Mr. Dreher has any business commenting on the actions of a Catholic Bishop, simply because he has entered into formal schism, leaving the Church. He had his reasons--primarily the Gay Ephebephilia Scandal and the horrible way the bishops handled it. But his position is in itself the commentary. He can no lnger see the Catholic Church as a valid body.
However, Mr. Dreher has ignored certain pertinent facts. The biggest being that the indictment is less an expression of justice than an anti-catholic act of opportunism. Review the facts--Bishop Finn, when he first learned of the matter in December actually did notify Law Enforcement. The photographs on th lap top in question were shown to them, and they, the local prosecutor, and other decided that they were creepy as hell, but did not meet the legal standards for Child pornography. Bishops Finn removed the priest in question from work that would give him access to Children, and sent him to an isolated house, where he could be monitored. Even though there was nothing that could legally be prosecuted at the time.
In May, the priest was charged, because in spite of the precautions taken by the Diocese, he managed to attempt the molestation of a 12 year old girl, and take more photos of kids--this time that did meet the legal standards for prosecution. Bishop Finn, in fact, did more than the Prosecutors office or law enforcement.
This is a cautionary tale, especially for us who harbor injury from, or anger against, the Church and the individual Bishops for things they have done or left undone. One, we need to stay in the Church,otherwise our voices lose the credibility of a member of the Church. Two, we need to remember that gathering facts is more important than listening to opinions, even our own. Three, the sins of the Church are in many ways the result of the cumulative sins of the Faithful, and we ourselves need to be converted to solve the problems in the Church. Being converted does not include running away.
6 comments:
Dreher is a hypocrite. He's still pointing the finger at real or accusations of sex abuse in the Catholic Church, but he won't do the same in his new orthodox chrch home.
Do you have a citation on that? I don't disbelieve you but everything I've seen says that he did NOT, in fact, inform authorities in December, and that is why charges were filed.
Arrrghhhhhh!!!! I read the article and references, and then let it go.
There seems to be a lot going on here, though. Not least is a power struggle within the Diocese and hostility to Bp Finn in the area.
But, as you say, we haven't seen much that confirms this in the press--Perhaps a trial is the best thing, because if I have misinformed on this--and it's possible, I've about ran out ot trust in any ecclesiastical matter, for any source, it will come out in testimony.
Yeah, I wouldn't have asked except even the articles I found in support of the Bishop didn't question those facts, only argued that there were others who were more culpable or argued that due to the case being the first of its kind it was retaliatory.
You aren't telling the truth, and God knows it. It may not be your fault, since you may have been lied to by other Catholics, especially the Catholic League and the $25,000 ad it tried to post in the KC Star.
Here is the truth, backed up by the Catholic church's own report:
- a school principal wrote a 4 page memo to Bishop Finn about Fr Ratigan's pedophile behavior in May 2010, and Finn ignored it. Readers would think the evidence started in Dec 2010
- the diocese didn't contact the police. Instead, they called a friend that is an off duty police officer and described one photo over the phone, asking if it was child porn. They didn't tell the truth, which is that the computer was filled with child porn.
- he described one photo over the phone and asked if it was child porn, saying it was a naked picture of a 2 year old child who was a relative. The cop said that wasn't porn
- the picture was not of a relative
- the picture was the last in a series of pictures of a 2 year old child doing a strip tease, incrementally removing a diaper, in which that last photo was one where the entire diaper was removed, exposing her vagina
- those pictures were just a few of HUNDREDS of child crotch pictures, at least some of which were taken by Ratigan. A fact deliberately omitted on the phone.
This is all in the Catholic-commissioned Todd Graves report, near page 90. Note that the truth is that Todd Graves is not an independent investigator. His firm’s specialty is "protecting the company brand name during an investigation", according to his firm's literature. Even while trying to protect the Catholic brand, he couldn’t hide this.
The truth will become more widely known eventually, despite a Catholic effort to hide it.
Thank God.
I'm afraid scotju's right. Dreher quietly changed his Orthodox Archdiocese when the reports of child abuse in his former OCA could no longer be contained, but he has said little about them. Nothing like the scorn he continues to heap upon the Church.
But now, since his writing depends so much on telling others how much more religious he is than them (is that really what the Church and Christ is all about? really?) he has no place left to go. He burned his Catholic bridges very publicly (some remember him blogging about 3 kids being enough) now he's stuck being Orthodox.
Sadly, though, Catholic bashing will still pay a writer's bills for some time to come, and Dreher like all of us has bills to pay.
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