JOSH RANTS

[Amppax]

8 minutes ago, Nihil Obstat said:

Meh. Ann Barnhardt did, writing for the Remnant. I like the Remnant; this is only Ann's second column. Not sure what I think of her yet.

Personally, I think she's a nutter. Not necessarily on religious matters (at least not all the time) but more generally.

[truthfinder]

9 minutes ago, Amppax said:

Personally, I think she's a nutter. Not necessarily on religious matters (at least not all the time) but more generally.

I've never heard of her before, but I just looked up her bio on her blog and there's several alarm bells ringing.

9 minutes ago, Amppax said:

Personally, I think she's a nutter. Not necessarily on religious matters (at least not all the time) but more generally.

I've never heard of her before, but I just looked up her bio on her blog and there's several alarm bells ringing.

[Nihil Obstat]

Her rhetoric reminds me of Ann Coulter. I hope she is more restrained moving forward... or that she does not move forward with the Remnant. 

[Guest]

Remnant agrees with her why wouldn't she move forward with them?

[Nihil Obstat]

10 minutes ago, Josh said:

Remnant agrees with her why wouldn't she move forward with them?

I must have missed a note from Michael Matt saying "This is the official editorial position of The Remnant Newspaper."

[Nihil Obstat]

In fact, their editorial position was made clear a couple months ago in the petition in which they asked Pope Francis "to either change course or renounce the Petrine Office." Agree with it or not, it is a more reliable indication of the official Remnant position on Pope Francis.

A direct quote, making no comment of my own:

A growing number of Catholics, including cardinals and bishops, are coming to recognize that your pontificate, also the result of an unexpected election, is likewise causing grave harm to the Church. It has become impossible to deny that you lack either the capacity or the will to do what your predecessor rightly observed a pope must do: “constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism.”

Quite the contrary, as shown in the annexed libellus, you have given many indications of an alarming hostility to the Church’s traditional teaching, discipline and customs, and the faithful who try to defend them, while being preoccupied with social and political questions beyond the competence of the Roman Pontiff. Consequently, the Church’s enemies continually delight in your pontificate, exalting you above all your predecessors. This appalling situation has no parallel in Church history.

Last year, speaking of Pope Benedict’s resignation, Your Holiness declared that if you felt incapable of exercising the papacy “I would do the same.” On the first anniversary of Benedict’s resignation, you called upon the faithful to “join me in prayer for His Holiness Benedict XVI, a man of great courage and humility.”

With no little trepidation, being under the gaze of the One who will judge us all on the Last Day, we your subjects respectfully petition Your Holiness to change course for the good of the Church and the welfare of souls. Failing this, would it not be better for Your Holiness to renounce the Petrine office than to preside over what threatens to be a catastrophic compromise of the Church’s integrity?

[Nihil Obstat]

Actually, from a subsequent post:

Editor’s Note: History assures us that there were saints on both sides of the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy in Avignon; so it should come as no surprise that men of good will and sound thinking may be at odds with one another over the best course of action to follow where Pope Francis the Great is concerned. The Remnant’s blog, Fetzen Fliegen, is a venue where our writers and friends can ‘have it out’, so to speak, on the issues of the day. We encourage lively debate here, a certain degree of informality, and the sharing of opinions that may differ with the editorial policy of this newspaper. When it comes to Pope Francis, our official editorial position is summed up in our Open Letter to Pope Francis which is posted at the very top of our homepage and subtitled: An Urgent Appeal to Pope Francis to Either Change Course or Renounce the Petrine Office.  The following conversation fits in nicely with the spirit, point and pupose of this blog. MJM 
 

[Guest]

Grand jury: Altoona-Johnstown priests sexually abused hundreds of children

By Debra Erdley 

ALTOONA — A secret archive kept locked in the bishop's office of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese revealed a far-reaching cover-up of decades of child sexual abuse by dozens of predator priests, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Tuesday.

 

Kane, who is Catholic, described a two-year statewide investigative grand jury reportthat documented hundreds of cases of sexual abuse of children by at least 50 priests over four decades from at least the 1960s that were kept quiet in part by two former bishops until as recently as 2011.

 

“As wolves disguised as the shepherds themselves — these men stole the innocence of children by sexually preying upon the most innocent and vulnerable members of our society and of the Catholic faith,” the 147-page report said.

 

“The heinous crimes these children endured are absolutely unconscionable,” said Kane, who addressed the media at a news conference at the Blair County Convention Center. “These predators desecrated a sacred trust and preyed upon their victims in the very places where they should have felt most safe.”

 

She said the abuses occurred in a number of settings, including orphanages, foster homes, campsites, confessionals and the cathedral in Altoona.

 

But none of the priests or their supervisors were charged criminally. Though their acts were criminal, they could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations for some of the crimes expired, some victims are too “deeply traumatized” to testify and some of the priests are deceased, the report said.

 

“This is a painful and difficult time in our Diocesan Church,” said the Most Rev. Mark L. Bartchak, bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. “I deeply regret any harm that has come to children, and I urge the faithful to join me in praying for all victims of abuse.”

 

Bartchak recently suspended several priests named as alleged abusers in the report, though the grand jury said it remains “concerned the purge of predators is taking too long.”

 

The diocese said it cooperated with the investigation and is reviewing the report.

 

The pattern outlined in the grand jury report isn't unique. Thousands of children have been abused in Pennsylvania cities, throughout the United States and in other countries over many decades, and the church continues to grapple with the consequences. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops estimates that American dioceses have paid nearly $4 billion since 1950 to settle claims with victims.

 

Using a complex diagram that detailed the service of priests in churches and schools, Kane recounted case after case, ranging from instances of fondling to rape of victims as young as 8 years old. In some cases, the grand jury learned that priests provided alcohol or pornography to children they molested.

 

“The offenders in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown knew what they were doing. They prepared their victims with the same devotion for which they prepared for Mass,” the grand jury said.

 

In some instances, victims said they stood together while they were abused. At least one victim committed suicide, and Kane said others attempted to take their own lives when they could no longer deal with their shame, anger and confusion.

 

In one instance, Kane recounted a victim reporting that the late Msgr. Harold Burkhart would ask the child he was abusing, “What do you think God would say?” And then he would take advantage of the child's silence to tell him, “God would approve.”

 

Although it could not recommend criminal charges, the grand jury recommended that the state eliminate all civil and criminal statutes of limitation in child sexual abuse cases.

 

“There should be no time limit to put on a child to say he or she should be strong enough to step forward,” Kane said, vowing to work with the Legislature to change the law.

 

She said documents showed those who came forward to the church and law enforcement were brushed aside. She credited local businessman George Foster, who wrote an op-ed piece in a newspaper and pursued complaints on his own, as being a hero for the victims.

 

The attorney general's investigation, however, did not begin until 2014 when Kane said her office took the case on a referral from Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan. A raid at the diocese office in August uncovered a “secret archive” with numerous files for priests accused of misconduct, the attorney general's office said. Obtained through a search warrant, the documents included victims' statements and documents showing two bishops were at the forefront of the cover-up.

 

The former bishops, James Hogan and Joseph Adamec, led the diocese of 94,000 Catholics in eight counties.

 

“They valued protecting the institution from scandal over protecting the victims,” Kane said.

 

Through his lawyer, Adamec, 80, who holds the title bishop emeritus and led the diocese until 2011, disputed the grand jury's conclusions.

 

“While in hindsight one might second-guess isolated actions taken by Bishop Adamec, there is simply no pattern or practice of putting the church's image or a priest's reputation above the protection of children,” attorney David Berardinelli wrote in response to the grand jury.

 

The grand jury, directed by Deputy Attorney General Dan Dye, cited how Hogan, who was bishop from 1966 to 1986 and is deceased, intervened in a state police investigation of Joseph Gaborek, a priest who was accused of sexually violating a 16-year-old boy he recruited to work at St. Michael's and St. Mary's churches in the 1980s. Hogan spoke to state police and assured authorities Gaborek would be sent to an institution, the grand jury said.

 

Instead, Gaborek, 70, was sent on sabbatical to a school for boys. No treatment was available there, and Gaborek was subsequently assigned to another parish in the diocese, records revealed.

 

Documents revealed Hogan reassigned James Bunn, another priest accused of abuse in 1984, and made him principal of Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown after repeated complaints of abuse, Kane said.

 

She said Adamec created a payout chart of settlements to be made to victims. The four levels of payouts varied by the severity of the alleged abuse and the duration and ranged from a low of $10,000 for fondling to $175,000 for rape.

 

Kane said the heretofore voiceless victims deserved to have their stories heard.

 

One of 15 boys who said he was abused by the late Msgr. Francis B. McCaa said he was abused during confession.

 

Kane, herself the subject of criminal charges for allegedly leaking grand jury documents, said the use of a grand jury and its subpoena power were key to unlocking more than 100,000 documents reviewed in the investigation.

 

Although none of the priests cited in the report is still serving the diocese, Kane said it was not until last year — at the demand of the Attorney General's Office — that priest Martin Cingle was removed from service. Allegations against Cingle dated back to 1979, and records showed he was sent for treatment after a victim came forward in 2002 but returned to service.

 

“The heinous crimes these children endured are absolutely unconscionable,” Kane said. “Just as troubling is the cover-up perpetrated by clergy leaders that allowed this abuse to continue for decades.”

 

 

 

[Guest]

"Although none of the priests cited in the report is still serving the diocese, Kane said it was not until last year — at the demand of the Attorney General's Office — that priest Martin Cingle was removed from service. Allegations against Cingle dated back to 1979, and records showed he was sent for treatment after a victim came forward in 2002 but returned to service."     Disgraceful

[Guest]

“They valued protecting the institution from scandal over protecting the victims,” Kane said.

[Guest]

@BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

Thank you for the nudge, Josh.  Found the article here http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/10063664-74/grand-jury-attorney

 

 

 

[BarbTherese]

8 hours ago, Josh said:

“They valued protecting the institution from scandal over protecting the victims,” Kane said.

The above is the type of expression that I personally find concerning.  It implies that "the institution" and "the victims" are two separate identities. 
They are not, they are the one identity.  In other words it was/is one identity preying on vulnerable parts of its own identity - or absolutely horrific in theological terms and why I find the language used by Cardinal Pell (Australian Royal Commission currently sitting) of concern and the language of Jesus in relation to children being scandalized so understandable.  Jesus made a quite prophetic statement - prophetic in its ancient meaning - to my way of thinking.  Quite possibly Pope Benedict has nailed it :

 

Quote

"Back in 1969 theologian Joseph Ratzinger made some comments about our Catholic future.  They were included in his 

Faith and the Future

published by Ignatius Press in 2009.

The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning.

She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes . . . she will lose many of her social privileges. . . As a small society, [the Church] will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members

It will be hard-going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek . . . The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution — when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain . . . But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.

And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/03/the-church-will-become-small-and-will-have-to-start-afresh/

 

 

We cannot have our secular understanding in one compartment and our theological understanding in another and take up one when we need it and the other when we need that and manipulate through life as it were between these two compartmentalized and separate understandings. (.......not cafeteria catholicism but convenience catholicism)

 

Edited March 3, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

I was to tough on him. He's a brave man. God bless him. I'm thankful he helped open my eyes to the huge homosexual problem in the Priesthood and higher on up. I didn't want to believe it. I will be paying a lot more attention to what he has to say and leaving any preconceived notions I had of him at the door. If you're reading this Mr. Voris thank you for getting the truth out. Even though it's really tough to take in and accept. I truly had my head buried in the sand.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Guest

[Guest]

https://youtu.be/cniWQj681W8