Has there ever been a time in our society where people could actually say that they didn't know child molestation was a crime?

::speechless::

The archbishop probably got regularly buggered when he was an altar boy, so he didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

Ignorance of the is no excuse.

Your excuse is bullshit anyway.

I'm not sure what is worse - the moronic excuse that he "didn't know it was a crime," or the rationalization that they thought the kids "would not remember" or they "would grow out of it."

Weakland retired in 2002 after it became known that he paid $450,000 in 1998 to a man who had accused him of date rape years earlier.

nice

is the fact that he acknowledges this stuff happened and didnt think anything of it,ie aiding and abetting child molestation an admission of a crime? I suppose the statute of limitations has kicked in

Weakland retired in 2002 after it became known that he paid $450,000 in 1998 to a man who had accused him of date rape years earlier.

Things wrong with this sentance:

retired? jailed should have been the appropriate response
$450,000 from a priest? what about vows of poverty.
date rape? why is a priest on a date?

Weakland was famous locally for re-assigning priests after they were caught molesting children. There is a special place in hell for this man of the cloth.

I suppose the statute of limitations has kicked in

#6 | Posted by truthhurts

What a freakin' shame.....

The asswipe is just BEGGING to have his arm torn off, and to be beaten to death with the bloody stump.

"what about vows of poverty"

The money came from the archdiocese, which is almost worse.

"why is a priest on a date?"

Breaking the vows of celibacy are the least of this guy's problems. But now he's going to make money on a book because it was so hard for him to be a gay priest.

The asswipe is just BEGGING to have his arm torn off, and to be beaten to death with the bloody stump.

#9 | Posted by frankf55 at 2009-05-19 11:39 AM | Reply | Flag: Victim

We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature

I'm sorry, but BULLSHIT! A freaking Archbishop who considered sexual abuse of minors as a "moral evil" should have stopped there and not bothered themselves with if it was a crime or not. A moral evil is a crime against G-d, for Christ's sake!

So boning a alter boy in the ass isn't a crime,at least in his eyes?
This guy rose to the rank of Archbishop and he can't comprehend the illegal nature of sexual assualt.
What about morality, or just being wrong.
Love thy neighbor gone wild.
The Catholic Church is so fucked up in so many ways.

rwd

To be fair, unless they interview the victims, it's possible they were asking for it, with their oshkoshbigoshes and their tussled hair.
-Western Canadian Resident
Exit stage left

If they didn't want their sexuality altered, they never should have become Alter boys- Archbishop Weakland

The Bible says to "love thy neighbor," but is not clear on how or how often- Archbishop Weakland

If he didn't know it was a crime, why was it all conducted in secret?

If he thought he was being legal and moral, he could have taken them on dates to Chucky Cheese's, tanked 'em up on Jesus Juice and had sex in the park. Of course their painful screams of being de-virginized prematurely would have put off the other park-bound-sex-addicts (republicans), but it's the price you have to pay to get off when you are a FREAK.

They may have dressed inappropiately.

rwd

They may have dressed inappropiately.

rwd

#18 | Posted by rightwingdon

Gee, I'll bet 101 wishes HE'D thought of that!

It was okay for my priests to molest kids because I figured the kids would forget about it. I also allow molestation of senile old people, because they forget about it too.

-Weakland

That's a crime? News to me. Buy my book!

-Weakland

::speechless::

#2 | Posted by nanc

Keep it up!

mother to archbishop:

"i didn't know it was illegal to kill someone who was molesting my children!" BOOM!

He'll have plenty of free time in prison to read just how illegal it is in the taxpayer funded law library.

Every dollar this asshole licker makes on his book needs to go to the victims and back to the church to be used for what is was intended for by the donor!

The Archbishop has the biggest full sh!t statement ever. He didn't know raping children was illegal? There is something seriously wrong with the Catholic Church when people like this scumbag can rise to the rank of archbishop.

There should be a special place in hell for people like this.

Unfreackinbelievable!

What a profound disconnect.

And he admits that it is morally wrong to have done this.

If something is morally wrong--you don't always need a law to confirm it is wrong and unlawful!

And this is NOT the entire Catholic Church.

NO EXCUSE. HANG HIM. I didn't know that hanging Catholic leaders was so funny. I had no idea...

This is the kind of shit you get when you base your legal system on the Bible.

The next time I hear about some fool pushing to have a 10 Commandments monument put on a courthouse lawn, I'm going to counter that we have a monument to this jackass put next to it.

Somehow these people don't have a clue. WTF, how can you not know? This isn't delusional it is just old fashion lying. Even Arch Bishops and Poopies seem to suffer from it.

Well start writing your proposal because the 10 commandment-judge-asshole-
person, the honorable judge roy moore, is thinking about running for gov of the great state of alabama, since he don't have to spend his time judging anymore. (Odds are right now that charles barkley is gonna run too).

Not-A-Judge-Anymore Moore reckons that the political climate is just aching for an extreme right wing talibaptist asshole right now. He makes rush limplog seem reasonable and liberal by comparison.

Not-A-Judge-Anymore Moore reckons that the political climate is just aching for an extreme right wing talibaptist asshole right now. He makes rush limplog seem reasonable and liberal by comparison.

#31 | Posted by Lipzoidial at 2009-05-19 07:52 PM | Reply | Fl

He sounds perfect for Alabama. The place so uptight about sex that married couples can't even buy a sex-toy should they choose to.

The next time I hear about some fool pushing to have a 10 Commandments monument

#29 | Posted by valis

Whats wrong with the ten commandments?

rwd

Don't you get it - these guys LOVE that it's morally evil - otherwise where is the thrill?

"Whats wrong with the ten commandments? rwd"

Depends if someone's reading about 'em i(at the soshalist public library, Afka) or having a 100-ton monument to 'em built with YOUR tax bucks on YOUR courthouse lawn ... herm

His reward in heaven will be great!
-Takitez

#35 | Posted by herm

That's whats wrong with them?

rwd

I wonder if they'll hold a protest in his honor at Notre Dame?

I wonder if they'll hold a protest in his honor at Notre Dame?

I have to agree with Northguy. That makes twice in the last week.

WTF is going on?

We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature

An Archbishop called Weakland, sed THIS?

Damn, there are simply NOT enuff facepalm pix in ALL of cyberspace to express the magnitude of the STUPIDITY inherent in that statement.

He's named appropriately enuff cos that excuse was pretty fucking weak.

Seriously, that excuse was so lame that Jesus and Albert Schweider combined along with Rex Morgan MD would have a hard time saving it.

One of those dudes who serially moved pedo priests around after they got into a spot of trouble somewhere molesting other kids?

That's not an archbishop that's an arch enemy.

Be Well.

This is the line that blew my mind:

Weakland said he initially "accepted naively the common view that it was not necessary to worry about the effects on the youngsters: either they would not remember or they would 'grow out of it.' "

Where in hell was that the "common view"??

Welcome to the Catholic church and the leaders that run the church.

What is even more interesting and humorous is those so ignorant that they still support and attend this organization.

I think this is horrible. I think the guy justly deserves what he will get in hell. I also believe that in some states it is illegal to make a profit from an illegal act. If that is the case in his home state (where ever the sick ass-fuk lives), then someone should go after the profit from the book.

I just wonder, however, why groups that are pro pedo (like NAMBLA) doesn't engender the same levels of hatred?

"Weakland has declined to be interviewed by the Journal Sentinel. Weakland said in the book that he eventually came to question the notion that victims would forget or "grow out of" the trauma induced by abuse."

"My general reasoning was that there were probably some kids who 'grew out of it,' and then some who were deeply disturbed for life," he wrote."

Amazing. There are no words to accurately describe this mans mentality and the attempted defense of these priests.

The Catholic church protected and defended priests like that for many many years.

One priest in a suburb or Milwaukee was caught in a park naked and having sex with other men and kept his congregation...but some Catholic churchs refuse to allow gays to receive communion...if they are allowed in their church to begin with.

Go figure.

The Catholic church protected and defended priests like that for many many years.

What do you mean? They still protect them, they are still in the church.

"They still protect them, they are still in the church."

I know, dear. As I said...they've been doing it for many years.

"I just wonder, however, why groups that are pro pedo (like NAMBLA) doesn't engender the same levels of hatred?"

I had never considered that there might be other groups pursuing similar ends as NAMBLA, but now that I do, it makes perfect sense that there would be. Surely they engender revulsion on par with this bastard.

If we can assume Dante's description of Hell is based on humanity's dislike of various behaviors, consider this. The lustful or charnal were only in level 2. Homosexuals were in level 7. Level 8 starts to sound a lot more like our guy, containing (in order) seducers, users of the Church, evil counselors, and those who create scandal. And Level 9 (the lowest level, for the uninitiated) contained nothing but traitors to family, friend, benefactor, or country.

So if NAMBLA-ites go to the Seducers pit in Level 8, they're still not as deep in Hell as this guy.

we teach our children about "stranger danger", when in reality we should be teaching them to "question authority".

"I just wonder, however, why groups that are pro pedo (like NAMBLA) doesn't engender the same levels of hatred?"

I had never considered that there might be other groups pursuing similar ends as NAMBLA, but now that I do, it makes perfect sense that there would be. Surely they engender revulsion on par with this bastard.

If we can assume Dante's description of Hell is based on humanity's dislike of various behaviors, consider this. The lustful or charnal were only in level 2. Homosexuals were in level 7. Level 8 starts to sound a lot more like our guy, containing (in order) seducers, users of the Church, evil counselors, and those who create scandal. And Level 9 (the lowest level, for the uninitiated) contained nothing but traitors to family, friend, benefactor, or country.

So if NAMBLA-ites go to the Seducers pit in Level 8, they're still not as deep in Hell as this guy.

#47 | Posted by valis

Are you aware that present day revulsion towards pedophilia was once exhibited towards homosexuality? But now we're a more enlightened society and know better.

Now, current discussions on "hate crimes legislation" to protect the various minorities in this evil country of ours has included "pedophilia" under its umbrella. I guess we're moving towards laws which make it a penalty to inflict a hate crime on a pedophile??? WOW!!

My my my, our society seems to becoming more enlightened with each passing day. Isn't it wonderful? Maybe the Archbishop will one day be considered a trail-blazer for the poor pedophile minority in our land, and thus a marvelous exemplar in the fight against pedophobic discrimination in this oppressive land of ours!

Now, current discussions on "hate crimes legislation" to protect the various minorities in this evil country of ours has included "pedophilia" under its umbrella.

#49 | Posted by TheOneBS

May I refer you to Deut. 5:20.

Welcome to the Catholic church and the leaders that run the church.

What is even more interesting and humorous is those so ignorant that they still support and attend this organization.

#42 | Posted by moneywar

Nice of you to stereotype the entire membership. It's ok. I'll do the same thing in regards to the U.A.W.

"retired? jailed should have been the appropriate response
$450,000 from a priest? what about vows of poverty.
date rape? why is a priest on a date?"

As a Catholic Democrat, this needs my response. First, secular priests who work for a diocese do not take a vow of poverty. Monks and certain orders do.
Secondly, like almost every institution through the 60's and 70's, the Church had the delusion molesters could be treated and reacted accordingly. Now, when a recent Hofstra study shows children risk molestation almost 100-times more in public schools than parochial, the states are rushing to protect public schools from financial liability. Any outrage here?
Third: yes, most Catholics agree that someone like this bozo should have been drummed out years ago and, if the accusations against him were true, prosecuted. But payment of a settlement does not necessarily mean anything but that pursuing a defense might be more expensive.

I lifted this from the conservative leaning Catholic League website, just so that no one here gets the impression Weakland is some Church favorite. He has a history of supporting the gay agenda, something that is close to ruining my party:

Guidelines in dealing with priestly sexual abuse are important but they are no substitute for common sense and common decency. Consider, for example, what has happened in two archdioceses, that of Boston and that of Milwaukee.

In 1977, Rev. Paul Shanley, the Boston pedophile and homosexual, said that when an adult and child have sex, "the adult is not the seducerthe kid is the seducer." In 1988, Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland said that when an adult priest and an adolescent have sex, "sometimes not all adolescent victims are so innocent." In 1994, Weakland said when the teenagers get "a little older" that is when the "squealing comes in."

In 1981, a woman began complaining to the Archdiocese of Boston about the predatory behavior of Rev. Paul Shanley. The following year, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas V. Daily (now the Bishop of Brooklyn) wrote to Shanley advising him "not to speak at all when she calls but merely to leave her hanging until she hopefully gets discouraged."

In 1984, three Milwaukee parochial school teachers wrote to Archbishop Rembert Weakland about the predatory behavior of Rev. Dennis Pecore. Weakland wrote back saying that "any libelous material found in your letter will be scrutinized carefully by our lawyers." The teachers were then summarily fired. In 1988, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals chastised Weakland's response to the teachers as "cavalierly insensitive."

Here are some more disturbing parallels: both Shanley and Pecore were open advocates of homosexuality. In the 1970s, Shanley lectured on the merits of sodomy and sold tapes advocating homosexuality. In 1987, Pecore was named in a $3 million lawsuit (along with Weakland) for attempting to fire a priest as principal of a parochial school simply because the priest refused to condone the homosexual lifestyle. Under Cardinal Law, Shanley was moved from parish to parish. Under Archbishop Weakland, Pecore (twice convicted of sexual assault) was moved from parish to parish.

This is a problem no guidelines can resolve. What is needed is a Christian response to allegations and fidelity to the Church's teachings

Now, when a recent Hofstra study shows children risk molestation almost 100-times more in public schools than parochial, the states are rushing to protect public schools from financial liability. Any outrage here?
#52 | Posted by Diablo at 2009-05-20 10:09 AM | Reply | Flag:

You can't possibly believe that.

this is not unusual even in adults.
ask any teacher who has ever taught any length of time and they will tell you stories almost as bad as this one about adults AND children.

WHAT>...you mean its against the rules for my son walk across the street and explode that small bomb....

)almost verbatim from a parent about 10 years ago.

In Ireland, a court ruled that the perpetrators of abuse and sexual relations could not be identified and prosecuted.

This certainly sounds as if it emerges from a medieval mindset.

Homosexuality has apparently been endemic in the Catholic Church, which has provided a refuge for homosexual pedophiles. Yet, the homosexuals deny the extent of pedophilia as an incentive for themselves. In a venue where homosexuals can give full rise to their predilections, this is what occurred.

The Church may be well-advised to retreat from its insistence upon "celibacy," which in actuality provides cover for rampant homosexuality. The reviewing of priorities and employing heterosexual men, married and with families, would normalize the Church. Celibacy was introduced to enable the Church to keep more money, but it seems to have been a deal with the Devil, and here money is the root of evil.

The Irish story provides examples of blatant and protracted depravity.

You need to wonder as to the extent that a self-promoting homosexual clique has insulated itself into Church leadership positions. It's like an informal organization within an organization that favors people similarly afflicted.

The vindictiveness that characterizes homosexuals was demonstrated in the recent assault on Miss California for merely iterating the societal consensus outlook that the oxymoronic concept of gay marriage was something that she did not believe should receive the imprimatur of the state. Hatefulness. Spitefulness. And the determination to inflict their life-style with all of its aberrations on everyone else is relentless. Will it ever produce a response that is just as mean-spirited?

*this is the sound of my jaw dropping and hitting the floor*

Weakland said he initially "accepted naively the common view that it was not necessary to worry about the effects on the youngsters: either they would not remember or they would 'grow out of it.'

Tell that to the now-adults who have all kinds of complexes built up around the initial abusive episode(s). It may be true that some of them don't (consciously) remember, but that frightening incident is constantly turning over just beneath consciousness, causing problems in many areas of life (this is why the talking cure looks to integrate acknowledgement of abuse with the rest of one's consciousness).

This is just staggering. If I were in charge, the GODDAMN churches (the catholics would be first up to bat) would emptying their coffers to help with the financial situation, and as restitution to the rest of us for the greater part of the last 2000 years. Fuck 'em!!

What is even more interesting and humorous is those so ignorant that they still support and attend this organization. -- #42 | Posted by moneywar

A close friend from college days is as disgusted as I am, but believes he has a better chance of effecting change from within the Church than outside of it.

I love the way Johnson manages to blame homosexuals for there being homosexuals in the Catholic church.

Wasn't the church's fault at all. They didn't know about it.

Right.

The homosexuals controlled positions in the Church. The homosexuals took over the Church apparatus and used it for their "satisfaction." The Church is at fault for promoting these people to positions of authority and power. But then, "discrimination" was a "no no" for quite sometime regardless of the evil not discriminating spawned. The depravity that was commonplace infected the Church. It's one thing not to harm people gratuitously because they suffer an unfortunate impairment, but to ignore it and the consequences of its acceptance results in harm to innocents.

Even now, homosexuals are at war with the Boy Scouts of America with weak governmental entities and courts and others compliant with homosexual demands that the Boy Scouts not be permitted to use public facilities or participate in fundraising such as United Way because of their refusal to permit known homosexuals to be put in positions where they can sexually exploit boys.

The Church experience demonstrates the wisdom of excluding homosexuals from situations in which they would serve as role models despite their deviant behavior, and positions which would enable them to be the authority figures in such activities as overnight camping trips, and even in regular functions where they would have otherwise unsupervised access to objects of their lust.

So, not all homosexuals are pedophiles. But those that are, are drawn to just such situations where vulnerable youth can be harmed by homosexual sexual predators.

The "delicate sensibilities" of homosexuals do not merit consideration, when the well-being of our young boys is at stake.

Society as a whole has changed its attitude toward deviants seeking to be considered "mainstream." There are consequences. The idea of "homosexual marriage," which is an exercise in insanity, now has currency. Deviance needs to be recognized as deviant and different, and not commanding special entitlement. If homosexuals pose a threat to an organization, or compromise its function, then keep them out. Society should again support the Boy Scouts and not marginalize them in an attempt to coerce them to make their young charges vulnerable to homosexuals with their proclivities. The dereliction of the Church in this regard should alert us all to the dangers of homosexual predation exploiting youth, and cause us to be firm in avoiding compromising our young people to placate homosexuals.

About a year or so ago PBS had a documentary about priest sex abuse in Boston. The film maker was chronicling his brother's story of molestation at
the hands of the clergy. Two thoughts emerged from
this production. The first was that the clergy did not think that what they were doing was wrong. The
second was that priests saw themselves as being inherently superior to the laity they were supposed to be serving. This second point is particularly scary.
Perhaps, they believed that this superiority gave them license to abuse.

This just in: Dick Cheney did not know that torture is a crime.

Here is a story regarding homosexual sexual misconduct worldwide by functionaries of the Catholic Church. The involvement of Archbishops as malefactors illustrates the infiltration of the Church and ascension to positions of authority and power in the Church. The homosexuals have used the Church for their own purposes, betraying it. And the Church is reciprocally complicit by being an enabler providing sanctuary for homosexuals at the expense of their congregants.

When Jesus said, "Suffer the little children, come unto me", that's NOT what he was talking about!

- George Carlin

The Church will never lift the celibacy requirement.
They do not want to become financially responsible for a priest's spouse and offspring. If they would allow women to enter the priesthood they could maintain celibacy and end much of this deviant behavior.

The problem, Johnson, may be that what you call "normal people" may be too "normal" to even think about going into the clergy.

The Roman Catholic priesthood is clearly the world's greatest Closet. And now that closet too, like so many others, is being opened and dusted out a bit, and you think it's the "abnormal" homosexuals' fault, for infiltrating the Church! You can't quite see the wood for the trees, can you?

"can't quite see the wood"

ff!

How perfect is it that this archbishop's name is
Weakland? A bit of literary license at work?

Zat you get one for spotting it...

It's apparent that the usual suspects are just thrilled to have a target in the Catholic Church's abuse scandal who has come out as being gay. It lets them direct the blame at gay people, as opposed to directing the blame at the Church hierarchy and at society at large.

I wonder how many folks expressing outrage at the Archbishop's comment ever bother to look back at the history of prosecution of abuse of children in this country. What the Archbishop is honest enough to say out-loud is borne out by facts.

Look back at the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Where were the prosecutions of molestation back then? There were hardly any. It was a societal failure. Abuse by strangers was sometimes prosecuted but largely because it involved kidnapping. Abuse by family members? By neighbors? By doctors? By priests? By rabbis? Swept under the rug with just the sort of nod to authority and ignorance of the harm that the Archbishop mentions. No doubt, some of these guys got quite the beatdown from fathers and brothers, but in most cases, that's all that happened. Even the family members who inflicted the retribution thought a beating resolved the issue. And they certainly didn't want to make a big deal of it. Scandal wasn't good for anybody.

How society looks at and deals with abuse has changed dramatically.

The "delicate sensibilities" of homosexuals do not merit consideration, when the well-being of our young boys is at stake.

The "delicate sensibilities" of pedophiles do not merit consideration, when the well-being of our young boys is at stake.

Fixed it for you, buddy.

I've kinda tried to stay out of this because Catholic misbehavior is not MY problem. Folks must be capable of some fairly weird mental gymnastics to stay with that "faith."

But the poster that calls him/herself "Johnson" uses the unspeakable acts of the Roman hierarchy to try to justify gay hatred by the internally ugly Ms. California and while at it, the homophpbia of the Boy Scouts and his/her own idiot views on same sex marriage.

"Johnson" would defend the indefensible via political deflection. It just won't work. herm

The vindictiveness that characterizes homosexuals was demonstrated in the recent assault on Miss California for merely iterating the societal consensus outlook that the oxymoronic concept of gay marriage was something that she did not believe should receive the imprimatur of the state. Hatefulness. Spitefulness. And the determination to inflict their life-style with all of its aberrations on everyone else is relentless. Will it ever produce a response that is just as mean-spirited?

#57 | Posted by Johnson

Precisely! Hence the biblical description of this evil:

"Bring out your men that we might know them!"