Archbishop: Nobody Has Confronted Abuse Better than the Catholic Church.

New York Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan was praising more than God on Sunday. Asked about the Church's response to ongoing sex abuse scandals, the Archbishop was upbeat, saying, "Nobody nowhere has confronted this crisis... better than the Catholic Church."

Green Man: Yeah, sure and I suppose the sky is green as well? Their insulation to the scope and seriousness of this long-term scandal sexual abuse scandal is breath-taking. Everyday it's a new excuse and claim. It's like they are in a panic and throwing anything out there as a defense in hopes of something sticking but what ends up happening instead is a faith in arguments that clearly don't hold water to anyone but the most naive.

They aren't use to people questioning their authority, practices, and credibility. Inside their church, what they say goes and they don't know what to do with a public that can see straight through their screen of bullshit. And we're not afraid to doubt you and your flimsy excuses and defenses. Their public relations roll-out after this latest scandal has been horrible. That's what happens when you appoint one of your own insulated people to defend your cover-up tactics to a sophisticated secular world.

I found this well summarized comment on the abuse scandals at a comment forum:

I'm generating a list of rules they seem to follow:

1. Always play the victim card no matter how much you've victimized others: The Pope's Pastor claiming that anger at the church is like anti-Semitism.

2. Always blame others, never accept full responsibility: Blaming the media for the exposure.

3. Always stonewall. Never apologize: New York's Archbishop claiming that the Church is doing a great job dealing with the abuse.

4. Never hold one of your own accountable: Just keep moving him into new positions within the organization. In a pinch--promote him up.

5. Make every decision guided by how it will effect your image rather by what would constitute real governance.

Green Man: Another great related comment that I found:

The Archbishop meant to say that "Nobody nowhere has covered up this crisis... better than the Catholic Church." And in that clarification, I most definitely agree with the distinguished Archbishop.

~The Green Man has Spoken~

Easter Weekend Tainted as Catholic Abuse Scandal Continues.

US Cardinal William Levada, a staunch defender of Pope Benedict XVI in the paedophile priests scandal gripping the Vatican, reassigned a US priest and alleged child molester in the 1990s without warning his parishioners, court documents showed. Despite objections, Levada said he did not warn the parishioners about the priest's past because it could have impacted the man's work and caused him embarrassment.

Green Man: Embarrassed?!!! I think the parishioners deserved to know if a predator is in their ranks!!! A little embarrassment is the least that this priest should have to endure. The priests and cardinals--even the pope--are so out of touch with not just their parishioners but with the world at large. During Easter (which is named after a Pagan goddess by the way, Eostre) services today the beleaguered Pope was defended by his aides:

The remarks by the prelate, Angelo Sodano, a former secretary of state and the dean of the college of cardinals, came among a chorus of denunciations by church officials of what they have framed as a campaign of denigration of the church and its pontiff. Holy Father, the people of God are with you, and do not let themselves be impressed by the gossip of the moment, by the challenges that sometimes strike at the community of believers,” Cardinal Sodano said. Jesus spoke of courage in the face of tribulations, the cardinal continued.

Green Man: First of all, there is ample evidence that a wide spread cover-up has occurred in regards to molesting priests in countries world wide. What's so courageous about transferring abusive priests? And if they are facing tribulations it's their own damn fault. It's typical of isolated hierarchies to blame everyone but themselves because they believe the institution is more important than an individual--even if that individual is an abused child, or, for that matter--hundreds of children.

Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Paris, cited an “offensive that aims at destabilizing the pope, and through him, the church.”

Green Man: If this is destabilizing the church and the pope (again) it's the their own damn fault. People around the globe didn't criticize the pope on this until this scandal leaked out of the Vatican's tight walls of secrecy. As we say in America, "Where there's smoke there's fire." We are simply following the trail of smoke and if it leads to the pope then so be it. They are use to their priests and followers simply believing whatever they say and not asking questions but they can't just tell the rest of us non-Catholics to shut up and fall in line. The toothpaste is out of the tube, and we are all simply following the clues and stench of scandal where ever it may lead. The truth and defense of victims demands it. I don't care if this scrutiny riles up the usually secretive Vatican--they have failed to protect children and now it's time for the secular world to hold them accountable. If they can't stand the heat of an investigation then to me that's a sure sign that they are guilty.

~The Green Man has Spoken~

Pope Benedict the Enabler.

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican on Tuesday dismissed any notion that Pope Benedict XVI should take personal responsibility for the child sex abuse scandal rocking the church, defending his management of such cases and vowing the crisis would not interrupt what historians view as his conservative agenda for Catholics around the world. "This is not some multinational company where the chief executive is expected to take responsibility," Lombardi said. "The pope is not personally directing the actions of priests around the world. He is their spiritual leader, and he is one who has acted very clearly to confront this problem."

Green Man: So, the pope (Pope Benedict XXX-Rated) is the final word in everything in the church but somehow he doesn't direct what the actions of priests should be? That kind of explanation might work in a religious organization that demands unquestioning loyalty but not in the real world. And certainly not with the law in most countries. As Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC said today, "How is a religious institution exempted from the basic law that protects children from being raped?" How the pope doesn't have to take responsibility even though he personally presided over transferring some of these molesting monks to other places rather than punish them? Sounds to me like they are protecting their own over those poor deaf kids and others. I think Jesus would be siding with the deaf kids. Just a hunch.

~The Green Man has Spoken~

Pope Apologizes but Doesn't Punish in Latest Molestation Scandal.

"Pope Benedict XVI rebuked Irish bishops Saturday for 'grave errors of judgment' in handling clerical sex abuse cases. But he laid no blame for the problem on the Vatican's policies of keeping such cases secret."

Green Man: In what other organization would such actions to protect molesters without taking responsibility and meting out punishment, be allowed? Imagine if that was how a school dealt with abuse cases? It would be shut down immediately and the administrators put on trial but when it happens in religion we are more lenient? That's what you get with blind faith I guess.

~The Green Man has Spoken~