John Paul II delayed punishing abusive priest: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100410/ts_alt_afp/vaticanreligionchildabuseuscalifornia;_ylt=Al7Sv5QolBMJXtaY_Zv7DY07Xs8F;_ylu=X3oDMTNkc2VoMTNkBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwMDQxMC92YXRpY2FucmVsaWdpb25jaGlsZGFidXNldXNjYWxpZm9ybmlhBHBvcwMxMgRzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNqb2hucGF1bGlpZGU- WASHINGTON (AFP) รข€“ Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor John Paul II both repeatedly delayed defrocking a priest who abused young boys and girls in California, The New York Times reported Saturday. A series of letters released by attorney Jeff Anderson to AFP Friday showed repeated misgivings concerning the conduct of California priest Stephen Kiesle raised by senior officials from the Oakland diocese during the early 1980s. John Cummins, the former bishop of Oakland, California asked that he be defrocked in 1981. But four years later, the future Pope Benedict XVI, then a top Vatican official, said the case needed more time and that the final decision should consider "the good of the Universal Church." Cummins said the Vatican was very reluctant at the time to dismiss priests because so many were abandoning the priesthood. The late pope John Paul II also "really slowed down the process and made it much more deliberate," Cummins told the Times. Cummins sent a letter to the Vatican in June 1981 petitioning his superiors to defrock Kiesle, citing a 1978 court case where he had pleaded no contest to abusing six children aged between 11 and 13, according to the court documents obtained by AFP. A further letter sent by Cummins in February 1982 to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- who at the time was responsible for enforcing Roman Catholic doctrine and went on to become Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 -- again urged Kiesle to be defrocked. "It is my conviction that there would be no scandal if this petition were granted," Cummins wrote, warning there "might be greater scandal to the community if Father Kiesle were allowed to return to the active ministry." Kiesle was eventually defrocked in 1987. He later worked as a youth coordinator at a parish in Pinole, northern California for eight months, said Anderson, who represented two of Kiesle's victims in a civil action against the Oakland Diocese. Are they digging their own grave or what?
Religion & Spirituality - 10 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Protestant propaganda
2 :
The old harlot is just rearing her ugly head again.
3 :
Same old, same old.
4 :
Would any responsible adult leave a child alone with a priest? Surely the answer must be NO!! And that illustrates the damage the Vatican is doing with it's cover ups and excuses!! The Pope and the vatican in trying to cover up and limit the damage are doing the exact opposite and whilst leading the catholic church into ridicule and derision but are harming christianity as a whole!!
5 :
Sadly, a lot of catholics will just get defensive and make excuses. I remember a TV news story when the scandal broke in Boston, I believe it was. A woman, sitting in a church pew, crying, was interviewed. The news person asked why she was in the church where her child had been "abused." The woman said she had no place else to go for "solace." The "Abrahamic" religions create a dependency that's hard for some to overcome. They're so used to being told what to think, how to act, what to eat, what to wear, who they can marry, when it's okay to have sex, with whom and how, etc., that they're incapable of thinking for themselves. .
6 :
Personally?? I'm convinced they're going down. I'm talking about the whole Catholic church. I don't mean Catholic people per say, but the church itself is corrupt.
7 :
Why does the media keep repeating the same story? Is it because they have run out of any more news about the church, the media has a lot to answer for
8 :
By The Associated Press A timeline of defrocked priest Stephen Kiesle: - 1972: Ordained at St. Francis De Sales, Oakland. - 1972-1975: Associate pastor at St. Joseph's Church in Pinole. - 1975-1978: Assigned to Our Lady of the Rosary in Union City. - August 1978: Kiesle is arrested and pleads no contest to lewd conduct, a misdemeanor, for tying up and molesting two boys. Sentenced to three years probation, record is later expunged. - 1978-1981: Takes extended leave of absence, attends counseling and reports regularly to probation officer. - July 1981: Oakland Bishop John Cummins sends Kiesle's file to the Vatican in support of the priest's petition for laicization. - November 1981: Vatican asks for more information. - 1982: Kiesle moves to Pinole. - February 1982: Cummins writes to Ratzinger providing additional information and warning of possible scandal if Kiesle is not defrocked. - September 1982: Oakland diocese official writes Ratzinger asking for update. - September 1983: Cummins visits Rome, discusses Kiesle case with Vatican officials. - December 1983: Vatican official writes Oakland to say Kiesle's file can't be found and they should resubmit materials. - January 1984: Cummins writes a Vatican official to inquire about status of Kiesle file. - 1985: Kiesle volunteers as a youth minister at St. Joseph's Church in Pinole. - September 1985: Cummins writes Ratzinger asking about status of Kiesle case. - November 1985: Ratzinger writes to Cummins about Kiesle case. - December 1985: A memo from diocese officials discusses writing to Ratzinger again to stress the risk of scandal if Kiesle's case is delayed. - 1987: Kiesle is defrocked. - 2002: Kiesle is arrested and charged with 13 counts of child molestation; all but two are thrown out after U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidates a California law extending statute of limitations. - 2004: Kiesle pleads no contest to felony charge of molesting a young girl in 1995 at his Truckee vacation home. - 2004: He is sentenced to six years in prison for the 1995 molestation. - 2010: Registered as a sex offender living in Walnut Creek. As You can clearly see the story you cited had been very loose with the facts. In 1978 he was accused of a misdemeanor of tying up two homosexual young men and abusing them and received probation which was later expunged. He was not charged with abusing children aged 11-13. The child molestation occurred 5 years after the Church had done all they could by lacitizing or defrocking him. God bless! In Christ Fr. Joseph
9 :
It's really rather pathetic how far the media is getting with their "coverage". So they decided that accusing Pope Benedict XVI was getting a tad old so now they accuse Pope John Paul II. Of course it makes a good story because people are like "What? He was such a good guy? Guess he's just like Ratzinger." But once again they are lacking FACTS. They have absolutely none in this artcle except this line, "[John Paul II] really slowed down the process and made it much more deliberate." -> notice how they don't say how he slowed it down or specified more on the matter. Now if it's such a big deal to them, why don't they talk more about it? Simple answer: they don't know because they have no proof. The media is so one-sided. The reporters almost never interview a Catholic on the matter. They just accuse without any solid proof. That is why no webpage, newsclip or story is factual as a whole. The media likes to add things in to blow things up and make viewers want to see their crummy 2 min. piece. Besides, what's a better storyline? The Pope MAY be involved with covering up a sex scandal but there's no proof yet, or The Pope HAS covered up a sex scandal. The media is fed by what the people want to hear. And it seems that most people enjoy seeing the Catholic Church fall. Newsflash for you and anti-Catholic haters...the Church isn't going anywhere. For 2000 years we have endured persecutions and various schisms. We are the oldest Christian religion in the world with more than 1 billion members.
10 :
"Are they digging their own grave or what?" They dug the grave for Valid Catholicism in 1958, with the election of the Freemason Roncalli. The burial took place ten years later when the Sacramental matter and form was invalidated. But when infiltration is gradual, over ten or more years, one generation at least grows up in the "new" morality and have no clue as to the disaster, in fact they will vehemently deny it and fight those who defend Catholic Truth and the True Sacraments. The "new" generation get lots of support from priests who have apostatized and have been "retrained" to "understand the doctrine differently." All priests in the 1980's were compelled to attend "retraining". Er, make that brainwashing. "Digging" is not the correct word. Obliterating is what is being done. Was done. Look up the excommunicant Marxist Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., the vehicle of the Jesuits who promoted the infiltration of the seminaries with undoctrinal teachings, thereby violating every papal predecessor. Also it shouldn't be too hard for anyone to read original papal encyclicals and modern ones and see the shocking difference. TraditionalMass.org HuttonGibson.org GerryMatatics.org MostHolyFamilyMonastery.org (also see youtube)
