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Uproar as Catholic Church asks parishioners to pay for sex abuse claims

By
DONAL THORNTON,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 7:39 AM
Updated Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 11:21 AM

 

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Bishop Denis Brennan

The Bishop of Ferns, Denis Brennan, has asked the parishioners of County Wexford to help pay the costs of compensating victims of clerical sex abuse.

The general public firmly believes that the Catholic Church should sell their assets to help pay the compensation and legal costs.

“It is absolutely disgusting, an insult to the people and an insult to the Catholic Church. All the money they have and the buildings they own, Rome is the place that should pay or it," said parishioner Peggy Kenny.

One unnamed parishioner said that she may give "a few extra bob" in the collections, but said the Vatican should pay the shortfall and should stop "rubbing people's noses in it."

In the church’s defense, a Eucharistic minister at St Aidan's Cathedral said, "I would give as there is no point looking back, we need to look forward.”

Eilish Dempsey said that she has become disillusioned with the Catholic Church since the revelations of clerical abuse in the Ferns diocese.

"The cheek of them. I am very surprised as the bishop is very well thought of. Rome and the bishops should sell off their assets to pay for it," said Dempsey.

Another unnamed member of the congregation said: " I'm a Mass-goer and I won't give money to this. This is the biggest disaster that has ever happened. It's absolutely crazy to ask people given the property they have and the state the town's economy is in."

Parishioner Paula Davis said: "It's disgraceful to expect the parish to pay for pedophile priests. They should sell off their assets to do this," she added, "It's like getting into debt and asking the priest to pay for something you'd done wrong."
 

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Posted by adfloatj23 on Mar 22, 2010, 10:09 AM EDT
I don`t know what you are all surprised about, Come on all you uneducated dumb Catholics the church is in trouble, Who cares if Rome has more gold than Fort Knox, The church needs more, You cant expect the church to pay for its mistakes that`s what you are there for, So pony up all you suckers, Their God will thank you, Oh yeah I forgot only the boys in skirts will go to heaven all you others if you don`t donate you ain`t getting there, Sounds like Evangelists don`t it!!!
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Posted by barneyjo on Mar 06, 2010, 09:00 PM EST
2beeornot2beeee!! heres something more for you to manufacture another saliva spitting rant over (in case you had nothing better to do) "A statue of Jesus Christ that sat on top of Killarney Community Hospital for over 70 years has been taken down for health and safety reasons." Lunatics are in charge of the asylum looks like!! From your friend in Christ, Barneyjo
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Posted by barneyjo on Mar 06, 2010, 08:52 PM EST
Oh, and 2beornottobe, I think that you are further from God than you even realise yourself. I pity you my friend!!
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Posted by barneyjo on Mar 06, 2010, 08:43 PM EST
2bornot2b - get a life, and then get your head out of the sand!! Who are you to judge me? You dont know me, nor have you walked in my shoes. Until you do, then keep your own counsel about your own faith and support for the church, and I'll keep mine. As a practicing (lifelong) Catholic I continue to practice my faith, and support the church in many ways (giving of my time in a voluntary capacity) but I will NOT CONTRIBUTE ONE PENNY (CENT) more until I know that my contributions are being put to proper use. NOT to fund retirment plans or homes for disgraced, defrocked, or just released from prison Clergy. I will NOT abandon the teachings of Jesus which have sustained me throughout my life. I WILL HAPPILY AND WITH A GLAD HEART AND CLEAR CONSCIENCE disassociate myself with the inherent dishonesty, insincerity and hypocracy that is prevalant within the Catholic Church today, the world over. Christ himself, gave us a lead to do this. He didnt think twice about throwing hawkers and moneychangers out of the holy places in the temple, because it was wrong in his eyes that they were there. What is good enough for Christ, is good enough for me. KEEP THE FAITH - CHANGE THE CHURCH!! "Oh Sacred heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you!!"
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Posted by kickstar on Mar 06, 2010, 08:09 AM EST
Amid all this kerfuffle has anyone noticed that all this church of Rome is about is hiding from the Law and raising Money?? I mean what does this effrontery of a church do by way of following the Instructions of God and the teaching of Jesus, It is lead by the devil has made an art out of devil worshiping.
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Posted by Eibhlín on Mar 05, 2010, 10:53 AM EST
It is an insult to the Irish people, by any Bishop, to even suggest that they should pay for the henious crimes that some members of their church visited on young innocent children who were committed to their care in the past. Even to those who were not in their care and were abused by those evil monsters... How dare any Bishop have the teremity to suggest such. The Catholic church are a law on to themselves, and were aware of what was going on. They sheltered and protected the transgressors. Even now that all those brave people have stepped forward and told their stories, the church is still in denial. Have they handed the evil perpetrators over to the Justice system ? No, instead the Pope calls the Bishops to Rome and extends a ring-bedecked-hand to be kissed... Such a disguisting show of pomposity, arrogance and affluence that was displayed, was, sickening to say the least and revolting at its worst. I know I was repulsed by it. The Bishops were like errant school boys reporting to a dictatorial headmaster who called them to his office. They were given their orders.... to stay quiet.... and sent packing, empty-handed to their Dioceses. It is he, The Pope who should be dipping into the riches of the Vatican to compensate the victims of those evil people. Afterall, it was his employees that perpetrated those crimes. It is said that 'out of evil comes some good' Maybe in this case it will be proven so. Has the tide turned? Have the people begun to see it for what it is, A male dominated, anti-woman, wealthy organisation who claim to be the 'one true church' Having voiced my opinion, I am also recognise that all priests are not to be tarred with the same brush. There are still some wonderfull priests out there. Thank God for them, ..
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Posted by MarySmith77 on Mar 05, 2010, 06:17 AM EST
2BorNot2B At least you church no longer cut’s the testicles off children in their choir to preserve their voices, but I notice that they still exploit them. The Italian press today reports yet another sex scandal in the Vatican. One of your “Papal Gentlemen” and chairman of the Holy See's Public Works Department has been using a chorister from the choir of St. Peter's Basilica to solicit young choristers and seminarians for prostitution. A government wiretap during a corruption investigation reveals the rules of engagement: "You'll get up to 2,000 euros ... Do not touch his balls. You need the money. Put on some music, take out the [inaudible], swallow the Viagra, and adelante!" It would be amusing if it we not for the fact that once again the desperate are being exploited for sexual gratification by Vatican officials. If you can read Italian, the original is at: http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Pones/musica/tragas/Viagra/adelante/elpepuint/20100303elpepuint_18/Tes An English translation is at: http://www.gaynewswatch.com/Page.cfm?PageID=22&SID=7864 Can’t wait to hear the excuses this time.
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Posted by trulyirish on Mar 04, 2010, 07:10 PM EST
What is blazingly lacking here is RESPONSIBILITY. It would cost the Catholic Church a tiny fraction of the wealth they have accumulated, much of it in raping and plundering from long ago to compensate the victims involved. By asking for the public to pay the financial price, already they are paying the spiritual, emotional, psychological and socialogicial price, they are saying, we refuse to take responsibility for our actions and also we want to "guilt trip" you into paying our debt for us, we control you, not overtly but yes we control you and you will do as we say. The Catholic Church for centuries have been playing the game of sovernity over souls, guilt tripping people, murdering those whom they saw as their competition, even going so far as to tell people what type of birth control to use!! And guess what you, or most of you have listened, and to what end I ask you. It is not the priest who brings up 8 hungry, screaming children, it was not the church who was there to comfort all the mothers when they were overburdened and stressed and now it is not the church who is stepping up again to offer the hand of peace, compassion and love to assist those in need. Yes the people also need to take responsibility for allowing this to happen, we all need to take full responsibility and that entails no longer running to a man in a skirt to ask for his advice, find the God within, look within your heart for the truth, you all know it, now listen to it and act on it.
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Posted by SarahTX2 on Mar 04, 2010, 07:00 PM EST
Thanks, Intercessor, I applaud the goals of VOTF, but not sure I'm aware of any actual results. Cardinal Law was promoted. The new Cardinal ... hmmm ... got dissed by the Pope on his visit to the U.S. Trying to reason with the church isn't going to get anywhere. Have to hit them in the pocketbook. The only changes that have taken place in the U.S. resulted from the civil justice system and lawsuits. I don't believe any group of parishioners has had any impact whatsoever in the U.S.
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Posted by Intercessor on Mar 04, 2010, 06:27 PM EST
HI, Sarah: I agree in part with what you are saying. Many of us grew up being, "Pay, Pray and Obey Catholics." Little did we think that we could challenge the Church and demand financial accountability. If a group like VOTF out of the Boston area has taught us anything, it has taught us to force our parishes and archdiocese to be open, transparent and accountable when it comes to issues of money and most of all issues which can compromise the spiritual integrity of the Church, like the acts of Pedophile priests and nuns. When there is a problem in a parish, the parish needs to know about it immediately, because in the end, it is the parishioners who end up paying for it. In Boston, when Cardinal Law was kicked out of his multi-million dollar digs, the new Cardinal, who took his place, opted to live in a less than palatial setting. The new Cardinal tried to win the trust and respect of members of the archdiocese (please note that I said, "tried,"), by not carrying on the airs of his exalted predecessor. Maybe the Church needs to go back to its roots, to a time when the Apostle didn't dress up like Medieval Monkeys in scarlet and lace, complete with matching yamulkes. Just a thought!
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Posted by SarahTX2 on Mar 04, 2010, 05:47 PM EST
I do know that the church ignored and moved pedophile priests around. And so does everyone else by now. The Ryan Report and the Murphy Report have made that clear in Ireland. The problem is, the institutional church is never going to stop doing it. They've done it for 2,000 years and have no reason to stop the practice. The parishioners fund the church. Only through de-funding can the practice be stopped. Contrary to popular belief, de-funding has not occurred for any length of time in the U.S. or Ireland. If the parishioners are going to continue funding the church, they need to fund the sex abuse settlements too. The parishioners are not innocent bystanders. They pay the salaries of the pedophiles.
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Posted by Intercessor on Mar 04, 2010, 05:26 PM EST
There's not a snowball's chance in hell that archbishop Brennan is going to ask the Pope to help his archdiocese out financially, to help cover the cost of 2 million in legal fees and who knows how many millions in payouts. Why? To do so would set a world-wide precedent, and then every other archbishop, who screwed up and covered up abuses would think that all he'd need to do is go to the Pope with his hand out. Archbishop Brennan would probably get more support if he said that he'd try to run the archdiocese on Hail Mary's. Aem Apluc, Aem Apluc, Aem Amixam Apluc!
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Posted by Intercessor on Mar 04, 2010, 05:06 PM EST
2bornot2b, written like a good catholic, you must have been one of those queer alter boys who liked getting buggered by the holy father. I read your whole rant, have no idea what you are talking about, and doubt you do either. In the absence of facts you make up shit and throw in insults, you're a pathetic looser, go back to your one room apartment, and beating yourself off looking at body building magazines.
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Posted by GuinnessGrrl on Mar 04, 2010, 04:24 PM EST
SarahTX2, I guess you don't realise that for decades the church's answer to complaints of abuse was to either ignore them or to move the priest to another parish, where he could start all over again. It is the church that is responsible & the church that should pay, not the parishoners. 2BorNot2B, perhaps I've missed it in your comments, but I haven't seen one condemnation from you regarding the abusive priests...I guess posters critizing the church are more objectionable to you than pedophile priests.
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Posted by SarahTX2 on Mar 04, 2010, 02:59 PM EST
I'm inclined to say it's appropriate. The parishioners are ultimately the church. The responsibility has to be placed on the parishioners to put a stop to the child abuse. If the parishioners aren't engaged in that effort, it's never gonna happen. Cough it up, parishioners. You owe the victims some very tidy sums. Pay up! And keep paying until you get off your duffs, take off your blinders, and start protecting your own children.
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Posted by ceciliag on Mar 04, 2010, 02:38 PM EST
Yes, we received the same type of, "Appeal" here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California. The Pastor or our local parish, Good Man That He Is, held a Community Parish Meeting and asked the Parishioners what they would like to do, his reasoning being that it was Parish Funds, and so they should have a say as to how the money is spent. The result was an absolute "NO". The rest of the meeting was taken up with the topic of why Boston was able to get rid of Cardinal Bernard Law, and yet our Archdiocese still suffered on with the presence Cardinal Roger Mahony. The Vatican has plenty of money and, if they are cash short, they can always sell something.
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Posted by 2BorNot2B on Mar 04, 2010, 02:36 PM EST
OK, barneyjo: One penny gone from the collection plate? What a big-hearted giver! And that's probably the extent of what you put into the till weekly, no?. Well... that will certainly be missed! And your parish was all set to begin construction on a new center for the terminally uncooperative, critical and mal-adjusted, all in your honor! With that much in contribution it would ONLY have taken something like a trillion years to see the final result of your generosity. And yet, you feel entitled to make demands as to policy matters? -- Looks like you follow the pattern of some 70% of those who call themselves Catholic: only so culturally, habitually and totally uninformed, yet supremely bitchy. They think that because they warm the pew at most once a week -if that much- that entitles them to dictate how the Church should be run. Fact is though, that if you were part of the 30% minority who actually take the tie to be committed, you'd know what actually goes on, and would not therefore be taken in by the swarm of inimical know-nothings and their tales of woe, whose cleverly unstated intent is nothing less than to bring the institution down. Well, good luck to all of them... and you. Better people have tried throughout 2000 years. Good news though.. contrary to the MO of those 'churches' that were invented at the time of the so called 'reform' and to this day continue to sprout at the rate of 2 per week by creating ever more amusing things to believe and styles of 'rockin' worship,' the faith has not, and will not ever change. It's the same one the Founder left us, and He's the boss. So, we'll miss you.
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Posted by 2BorNot2B on Mar 04, 2010, 02:23 PM EST
freeStinker: What..! You don't like your chosen handle? And, are you now turning into a shy, sensitive type, after asserting I'm 'getting my what kicked'? You should be so lucky as to hope you've left me speechless with your brilliant prose. You know, it does not become you to be so generous. But comic relief aside, wishful thinking is just that; don't give your kind a bad vibe by being an optimist, they might end up expelling you from their ranks. Hope is not a virtue that suits the style of those of your ilk who, without admitting it, live without it knowing you were ultimately born to become nothing more than worm food and/or manure, but I digress -- Point here is that your historical recollection seems to be a bit skewed, the excising of religion from schools was more of a consequence of the primary intent to excise faith in general from French life, simply because it constituted a barrier to the savage plans of the Rev leaders who would kill everyone who did not accept their imposed atheism. -- You also seem to prefer not recounting all the 'beneficial effects' of your hero's satirical philosophy, with its direct effect on Robespierre, Marat and Danton. Neither do you expound on why, when the world of infinite egalitarian possibilities they opened up for the truncheon and pitchfork set was so bright, they ended up either assassinating each other, or being done in by those who thought they were such wonderful role models; also, why they appointed such a kindly 'final solution czar' like Charlotte Corday to show to what extents progressive thinking advances the condition of man. -- Want to relate as well how murderous German Fascism and later Marxist/Communism grew out of their school of thought? Sigh.!! so many holes in your meager recollection, so little time, but I'm sure you'll come up with something, let's not despair, we'll be waiting....
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Posted by 2BorNot2B on Mar 04, 2010, 01:55 PM EST
Dear, dear MarySmith77 -- BTW, Is that number behind your name, your age? Figures! -- The number of books -besides Foxe's Book of Distortions- you've picked up at the local 'Christian' book shop, to increase your insatiable need for anti-Cath ammo? -- 77 warts on your body that need to be fed daily by tales of the horrid? -- But why speculate, got enough of that trying to divine what's behind your angry pretend-it's-not-anti-Cath charade. Maybe I should be as generous as you and dig up those tales of sweaty clerics of the proddie persuasion who not only subliminally screw their 'faithful' daily by forced tithing -according to what they proclaim is 'the word of the Lard'- but also do it literally, hiding behind the utter lack of media and public interest in their pathetically insignificant sects. -- No indeed, the only thing that holds their interest is the CC because she must be destroyed! -- Ever wonder why? Why would anyone bother to destroy what is already so fragmented that will eventually turn to dust? -- Why also would the devil rage against what is already his? Truth is, that despite a few bad apples, we must be doing something right, and isn't that plainly detailed in many of the lessons in the book you worship? "Scandals must come.. but woe to him by whom the scandals come.." it says. -- Also, I don't -like you- feel the need to get graphic, you can find out for yourself with a bit of ambition. Just google 'sexual and/or mental abuse by protestant sects' - there's long and detailed websites dedicated to describing the 'love of the Lawrd' as shown to women and children by countless 'men of the cloth,' who obviously un-cloth when they need to. Did you for instance hear about Tony Alamo who was just sent to his just deserts for raping and sodomizing something like 175 children, and those are only the ones they were able to count...
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Posted by 2BorNot2B on Mar 04, 2010, 12:19 PM EST
To 2BorNot2B, why to you resort to name calling? Is it because you don't have a valid argument.
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Posted by barneyjo on Mar 04, 2010, 07:16 AM EST
Not one penny (cent) ever again!! Keep the faith - change the church!!
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Posted by barneyjo on Mar 04, 2010, 06:45 AM EST
2BorNot2B - When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. In case you hadn't noticed your getting your ass kicked. Your big problem with the French revolution is that the first thing the French did was throw the Catholic church out of the schools. Gee, I wonder why they did that.
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Posted by MarySmith77 on Mar 04, 2010, 06:35 AM EST
2BorNot2B - You are mistaken in thinking that I am simply a Protestant engaged in Catholic bashing. As far as I'm concerned, all cults are sinister. Yours is simply the worst. Never in the history of mankind has one organisation raped and brutalised as many children. The latest government report mentions, among others, a priest using holy water in an altar bowl to wash the scent of a girl from his hands after assaulting her in a confessional. Another priest assaults a small girl by brutally inserting an object into her vagina and then her back passage. That object is his crucifix. This is the organisation you so vehemently defend. Don't you get that if your Jesus was a child today, chances are very high that he would have been raped by a priest. Your church is the largest collection of pedophiles ever to have existed. The Catholic Church is morally bankrupt, and the sooner the planet is rid of it the better. You are defending the indefensible.
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Posted by CelticPope on Mar 04, 2010, 06:16 AM EST
Poor Denis Brennan - I knew him well at St. Peter's. Not an intellectual giant but a decent man easily swayed. I can only blame the swayers. Poor Dennis. A bishop without a ric.
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Posted by 2BorNot2B on Mar 03, 2010, 10:17 PM EST
freeStinker: Wow, I'm... like... totally inspired by the quote from Voltaire you dug up for this occasion! Mainly because his toxic philosophy and writings were an inspiration to the brutes that brought about the French Revolution, with all its attending massacres. Whoopty-do! Now, there's a hero for ya! It is said that the streets radiating from the Place de la Concorde ran like crimson rivers with the blood of innocents, just because they had the misfortune to have been born into the noble class. Talk about class discrimination! -- François Marie Arouet, aka Voltaire, not only believed absurdities, he invented the genre and elevated it to an art form, by using a venomous sort of satire that 'amused' blood thirsty goons into making them believe they were helping society in general by killing those who had wealth. -- But it did not stop there, certainly the philosophy of those who brought to us the French Revolution also inspired generations of 'progressive, enlinghtened thinkers' who later assasinated millions under the 'high ideals' of anti-religionism. I'd mention the usual suspects.. but that's fodder for another conversation. -- So, indeed, you are right, both phrases you resucitated turn out to be true, and they fit like a glove to a string of 'freethinkers' who followed Voltaire's ideas of rank anti-religionism wich ended up in highly absurd acts of genocide. Freethinkers are people who not only stood by as attrocities were committed, but gloried in perpetrating them themselves in a savage and unthinkable scale. -- So, genocide... pedophilia... genocide...who's produced more victims... whose absurdities are more deadly?
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Posted by Aliciarose on Mar 03, 2010, 09:59 PM EST
Bishop Brennan, have you ever heard of Vatican City? Take a visit to your Pope and ask him for the money to pay the Victims of Pedophile Priests. The hide of him. Then you have a Eucharistic minister trying to tell people not to look back and go forward. What you want is for all this abuse to be forgotten. The Priests are still out there doing what they did years ago. Sex abuse.
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Posted by windrider48 on Mar 03, 2010, 09:26 PM EST
Okay...so let me get this straight. A criminal wants me to pay his prosecution costs because we know each other? My neighbor ribs a bank and I shoulde help pay his lawyer. Clever. Why don't more criminals think of that? Hey...there's an old saying...can't do the time; don't do the crime.
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Posted by windrider48 on Mar 03, 2010, 07:38 PM EST
Without the contributions of the people, the Catholic Church would have no wealth. The abuse should have been taken care of, instead of covered up, at the earliest time. The people did not cover it up. Many who covered up had taken vows of poverty and/or are deceased. The wealth of the Vatican seems lush, but liquidation probably wouldn't meet the financial needs of the judgements and then the people would have to contribute to new buildings for housing & offices & storage of records. Maybe a large highrise instead of the current Vatican City would signal a new approach, but no one since Peter & Paul has moved fast enough to imagine this and even they didn't run fast enough to escape "local justice."
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Posted by edwardkeating on Mar 03, 2010, 07:03 PM EST
ah !! the shame of it all, all pope benedict has to do is sell afew of michael angelio's paintings or statues and he could pay for all the wayward priests and what they done to all the young people throughout the world. and feed at least half the starving people in this world. "may the saints preserve us "


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