Bill Donohue: Catholic Church the real victim
Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 12:08 PM
Larger Text
Print
E-mail
135 Comments
RSS 
Recent Posts
- Violent attacks on gays in New York up 70 percent in 2013
- Will New York Senator Chuck Schumer ditch gay couples for an immigration deal?
- If nobody's happy, it's working – the abortion debate and Irish politics of stalemate
- Conservative news entertainment complex claim Barack Obama leader of Al Qaeda
- Why Irish grudges are passed on - a long tradition of never forgetting
Archives
The Church is being unfairly attacked and demonized by the media, the survivors of abuse groups, victims rights groups, and of course the gays, Donohue says.
In fact, Donohue claims, the Church hasn't had a pedophilia problem at all - they have a homosexual one.
Really? How does Donohue reconcile that claim to the fact that half of the victims of sexual abuse in the Church are female, according to the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests?
Doesn't Donohue realize that gaining access to boys and winning their parents trust was an easier proposition when the child was male? Does that mean that it was a matter of orientation or opportunity?
By refusing to examine these difficult questions Donohue reminds us that the top levels of the hierarchy are looking for scapegoats not solutions.
And lets not forget that not only did a truly staggering number of Catholic priests sexually abused children (male and female), the Church then attempted to cover it up and avoid all responsibility (a crime almost as bad in many people's view).
Attempting to whitewash a clear scandal in the Catholic Church in this manner is self-defeating, wrong headed and indefinsible at this point.
Rather than stand up for the abused, Donohue has decided his real job is to prevent the Church from suffering any further embarrassment. But he's too late. When the Church decided, time and time again, to cover up what happened they lost the moral authority and the right to accuse anyone of anything, frankly.
135 Comments
15 - 135 | See all comments
thomasotoole | Apr 23, 2011, 05:49 PM EDT
Ed......this is O'Toole I am awaiting a call from Ralph but I thought i would make a comment or two or perhaps even more .First you seem to act as a BULLY-BOY calling the Ladies names as you do ,is that something your catholic church /priests have taught you to do ??? On your very next post you should really apologize to both of them OK ? be the man you should be .Now then your remark that this is site is not about images on a pc NOT SO! If you take your head out from the sand you will find the the habit of the sexual abusers of children "the priests " have a habit of not only abusing little children but taking pictures and sharing them with the other priests that engage in this perverted practice so no Mr, ed as you are referred to here at this site you are again on the wrong side of "RIGHT ""Now your statement that only a few abuses have occurred last year is entirely wrong unless you are making reference to perhaps the town that you reside in..If you and the readers at this site want to get a handle on just how many abuses occur worldwide use this as a formula. Go to Google, then type in .....sexual abuse cases committed by catholic priests in ______then add the city,town and country ...you and the readers get to decide where ! The amount of hits that you will find is enough to make anyone sick .now you MR ed apologize to the ladies then go Google.......when I here from Ralph I will return with his message .
Thomas O 'Toole
Report abuse
edmicca | Apr 23, 2011, 01:01 PM EDT
Thomasotoole - just the same, we were discussing child abuse, not images on computers. pls feel free to start a new discussion. just so you know, law enforcement agencies found a total of 8 credible allegations of abuse committed by priests nationwide in 2010. compare that with any other religious or non-religious group. JuneAnnette - you are a liar and a deceiver.
Report abuse
JuneAnnette | Apr 22, 2011, 04:56 PM EDT
A masterful response to Wm. Donahue by Vinnie Nauheimer, a victim of priest abuse***Article: 'The Spinmeister' An opinion on Straight talk about the Catholic Church by William Donohue / May, 2011 / Another EXCERPT: Who could possibly deny the brilliance of framing his argument as a dalliance among priests? A mere touch, a palpable touch nevertheless. “Minimization of the act” is the operative mandate. The acts of raping, sodomizing and molesting minors are considered felony crimes in most countries, Donohue never goes there. He avoids the criminal aspect like the plague for it would not do well to have anyone associate the Catholic Church with criminal activity or see the words criminal priest in a sentence. . . . Donohue utilizes his command of language to justify the unjustifiable acts of priests who abused children and the hierarchy who covered up these acts. He has the traits of a lap dog and a pit bull: blind allegiance to his church and the tenacity to never let go. Bringing in teachers and other organizations says to the public: yes, we have a few problems, but there are other groups such as the schools, other religions, etc that have problems too. “Its not only our problem” is another minimization tactic that is hard to rebuff. To his credit, Donohue cleverly avoids the global scale of Roman Catholic Clergy Abuse because it serves no purpose to let people know that there are credibly abused priests in over thirty countries around the world. Schools aren’t global and don’t move priests, bishops and cardinals around the world at will so Donohue localizes the issue to minimize it.
Report abuse
JuneAnnette | Apr 22, 2011, 04:41 PM EDT
A masterful response to Wm. Donahue by Vinnie Nauheimer, a victim of priest abuse***Article: 'The Spinmeister' An opinion on Straight talk about the Catholic Church by William Donohue / May, 2011 / EXCERPT:Mr. Donohue recently published a brilliant PR piece in the form of a paid advertisement in the NY Times. This is right out of Goebbels’ playbook, “Goebbels’ Principles of Propaganda” Number 6: “To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium.” thus the paid advertisement in the NY Times.Consider the outlandish proposition that the victims are not children! In this case Mr. Donohue makes a blanket statement that would make both Goebbels and Squealer turn green with envy. “let’s get it straight—they weren’t children and they weren’t raped” This statement is made with authority.The spinmeister speaks as if he is the first and last word on what constitutes a child; speaking from authority is a benchmark of a great spin doctor. Without saying what they were, he implies that the abused weren’t children. Notice how the propaganda leaves out ages. The readers say to themselves well if they weren’t children, they must have been older. Does older mean its okay? Does it make a difference if a child was ten, thirteen or fifteen when they were assaulted by their priest? Though the former may be termed a child and the latter an adolescent among those who utilize psychobabble (Spinmeisters) to make the act more palatable to their audience, does the rape, sodomization or molestation make the crime any less heinous? A good propagandist knows it does and employs the tactic every chance they get.
Report abuse
JuneAnnette | Apr 22, 2011, 04:01 PM EDT
The systematic abuse of children by R.C. Clerics which has providentially come to light in our day makes it no less outrageous and unspeakable. The time is come for the RCC hierarchy to hold their collective peace and compassionately listen to the voices of the Victims they oppressed over decades and confined to a prison of silence, and those who advocate for them!*** Article: Speak Your Piece: Silence No More / Source: the Daily Yonder / 04/22/2011 /***EXCERPT: Finally people are listening to us. Now we can stop carrying this terrible silent burden alone within our families. The Silence, a film reported and narrated by my friend and colleague Mark Trahant, was tough for me to watch when it aired this week on the Public Broadcasting System's Frontline series. As Trahant tells the story, beginning in 1968 and ending in 1983, a Catholic priest, George Endal, and his assistant, Deacon Joseph Lundowski, sexually abused 80 percent of the village’s children. Initially, church leaders denied any knowledge of the abuse by these men who were “revered and above suspicion.” When the victims' attorney was able to build a case using internal church documents, the church finally stopped denying knowledge of the abuse. The 2009 court settlement required that Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler meet in person with victims and apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church. (He was not bishop at the time the abuse took place.) In watching The Silence and, to me, the disingenuous apologies by Bishop Kettler to the victims of abuse, the experience underscored the fact that now, finally people are listening to us. Now we can stop carrying this terrible silent burden alone within our families.
Report abuse
JuneAnnette | Apr 22, 2011, 12:37 PM EDT
Edmicca . . Re: Patrick Doyle & Jeff Anderson . . There would be no need for lawyers like Jeff Anderson, nor priests like Patrick Doyle to represent and advocate for VICTIMS of clergy sex abuse, were there not credible and compelling evidence that as children they were sexually abused by R.C. Priests and their criminal acts covered up by R.C. Bishops and Cardinals in matters which the Vatican has itself denounced as the “Worst Crime”.***Title V of Crimens Sollicitationis is subtitled: “The Worst Crime” as seen from this excerpt: Title V / The Worst Crime / 73.) “To have the worst crime, for the penal effects, one must do the equivalent of the following: any obscene, external act, gravely sinful, perpetrated in any way by a cleric or attempted by him with youths of either sex or with brute animals (bestiality)”.*** Both Catholics and non-Catholics alike who know the Victims from the Vilians do not share your disdain for Patrick Doyle & Jeff Anderson.***" Patrick Doyle may yet stand trial in the CANON LAW COURT of the RCC, but there is coming a day . . the Day of Judgment when the "Judge of all the earth" will judge the pope and his minions for their criminal conduct and miscarriage of justice in these solemn matters.***"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt. 18:6) God's law trumps canon law!
Report abuse
thomasotoole | Apr 22, 2011, 10:17 AM EDT
Oh Ed,So you know I'm the neighbor of Ralph Norman he asked me to send this for him .He is traveling at the moment and was unable to respond.But I to am very aware of this case and "stuff" is going to fly when more hard drives are seized .It will be very interesting to see what cardinals stsrt to sing first.I do think if I remember the title of the somg correctely is "SPILLING THE BEANS .
Report abuse
thomasotoole | Apr 22, 2011, 10:07 AM EDT
?Why are you always on the "wrong" side of "RIGHT". Former Bishop of Antigonish's hearings begin May 4. .(CCN)--When Bishop Raymond Lahey goes to trial on chi... por..... charges May 4, the news coverage will reopen wounds caused by the worldwide clerical se...abu....... The former Bishop of Antigonish was charged with possession and distribution of chil.. po..... in October 2009. The charges followed the seizure of his laptop and other electronics upon his arrival in Ottawa airport in September 2009, upon his return from overseas. The bishop had recently completed a multi-million dollar settlement for ...
you know correct ?
Report abuse
thomasotoole | Apr 22, 2011, 09:51 AM EDT
?Why are you always on the "wrong" side of "RIGHT". Former Bishop of Antigonish's hearings begin May 4. .(CCN)--When Bishop Raymond Lahey goes to trial on child pornography charges May 4, the news coverage will reopen wounds caused by the worldwide clerical sexual abuse.... The former Bishop of Antigonish was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography in October 2009. The charges followed the seizure of his laptop and other electronics upon his arrival in Ottawa airport in September 2009, upon his return from overseas. The bishop had recently completed a multi-million dollar settlement for ...
you know correct ?
Report abuse
edmicca | Apr 22, 2011, 12:00 AM EDT
JuneAnnette, for every OLD allegation involving a priest you bring up I'll bring up 100 cases of public school abuse and more than that by your nice Uncle Lenny. These are NOT current cases. Your own words show you don't know what you're talking about ..."over 4 decades"..."more than 46 years". You have interesting bedfellows - Tommy Doyle, Jeff Anderson... I know these characters, you don't.
Report abuse
JuneAnnette | Apr 21, 2011, 09:31 PM EDT
More of the same . . Article: 'Chilean Police Seize Vatican Documents on Priest Abuse Case' / Source: Hispanicallyspeakingnews / April 19, 2011***EXCERPT: Files on the abuse case of Chilean priest, Fr. Fernando Karadima, have been seized by police after the Catholic Church refused to turn their files over on the case. Fr. Karadima was found guilty of sexual abuse by the Vatican and ordered to retire from the priesthood with punishment being a life of prayer and penance. The civil case on the matter was going nowhere until the Vatican’s case concluded.The Archdiocese of Santiago and Vatican refused to turn over files when local officials requested them claiming the Vatican to be a sovereign state not subject to Chilean law. Police seized them from the offices of Karadima’s attorney. Fr. Karadima was one of Chile’s most respected and influential priests for his work training new priests through his Catholic action youth movement and for his work amongst Chile’s most elite Catholics. It was during these training sessions that four men now accuse the 80 year old priest of sexual abuse.
Report abuse
JuneAnnette | Apr 21, 2011, 08:15 PM EDT
More CURRENT charges of R.C. Clergy abuse . .
Jeff Anderson, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based clergy abuse attorney, who along with Chicago attorney Marc Pearlman represents the Plaintiffs, said***Top Jesuit officials endangered children for over 4 decades and refused to cooperate with authorities in criminal investigation***“This is an appalling demonstration of top Jesuit officials choosing to endanger the children and protect themselves. These documents show that as recently as 2008, and for more than 46 years, Jesuit officials on three continent had at least 28 reports of suspicious behavior by McGuire. This is so current and comparable to the recent revelations of the Philadelphia Grand Jury that we are reminded once again that little has changed.” Anderson said. McGuire, who was indicted for his crimes in Wisconsin, Illinois and Arizona, is currently serving a 25 year sentence in federal prison.***Article: '70 never released documents reveal extent of cover-up from 1960’s through 2007' / Source: Jeff Anderson & Associates PA / Mar 28, 2011
Report abuse
edmicca | Apr 21, 2011, 03:36 PM EDT
Ralphnorman... you have an advantage over most mortals - you know the score without having to resort to the facts. Nothing came of this b.s. charge of crimes against humanity and nothing will. The Church has survived bigger crises in 2,000 years and will survive this, while professional naysayers like JuneAnnette and her demigod Thomas Doyle, himself under investigation, will be relegated to history's pile of the long-forgotten. She makes emotionally charged claims without a shred of credible supporting data and you gobble it up like a wimpy lapdog looking for a pat on the head. Then again, reliable data is not Mzzz JuneAnnette's long suit - she avoids looking at it like Dracula avoids the cross.
Report abuse
ralphnorman | Apr 21, 2011, 02:12 PM EDT
Good June Annette>>>it's about time someone took him to task>>>the “pope” has enjoyed immunity for far too long>>>no one is above the law. what will be more interesting is when the authorities raid the churches and confiscate the computer hard drives. And EVEN MORE interesting to see what they “turn up”>>>>>>I wonder if then >>>my dear mr.ed>>>>will say that he did not know>>>that he just fell off the turnip truck. Ralph Norman
Report abuse
Report abuse