What is the Most Corrupt Catholic Diocese in the U.S.


There is a steady flow of cases of child abuse and missing money out of Catholic Church. Every other month the Freedom From Religion Foundation publishes news reports about cases pending and those settled for churches of all kinds. It seems fair to say that the raw number of child abuse cases involving priests is smaller since they are now being reported to law enforcement. It is sick that it took a scandal stop the common practice of shifting priests around instead of prosecuting them.

Of the dioceses scandals that still make the news, a few stand stand out to me. One is Chicago where fiscal and moral personnel management seem absent. Pennsylvania released a stunning number of abuse cases. Another is Buffalo, N.Y.

The Buffalo diocese has had a steady stream of allegations and counter allegations. Many of them have been between male adults but involved the powerful imposing their will on the less powerful.

The link accuses Bishop Richard Malone of hunkering down, stonewalling and believing he can ride out the controversies without resigning or taking these matter seriously. In a New York State senior position is none other than Cardinal Timothy Dolan, formerly of Milwaukee. During his time in Milwaukee, the Bishop Dolan hide money in a cemetery trust fund in order to shield it from sex abuse lawsuits. Courts in the end did not allow such a dishonest scheme. Don't expect much moral improvement from Dolan.

This past year, Pope Francis initiated a reform that was suppose to clean house. However, it left action up to the very people who have been the problem all along, the Bishops. If Bishops are determined not to make reforms there will be none.

The contest for most corrupt diocese has lots of competition.

Comments

  1. Ardy BSeptember 12, 2019 at 5:03 AM

    Apparently a component of the final solution to the scandals described as, “sanitizing the seminaries and some dioceses”, is still a work in progress. Mr. Noah also stated in that 09/08/2019 post, “The sex abuse problem in the Catholic Church is not so much a child molestation issue as it is a homosexual adult-adult problem.”. As an outsider I would have to take exception with that assessment and reply, oh yes it is very, very much a child molestation issue. I’m not overly concerned with two consenting adult males or females privately engaging in some hanky-panky even if one or both is violating an oath of celibacy. They say we are all “fallen”, priests and nuns included. However, “Sexual orientation is not a risk factor for crime.”, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-the-right-thing/201003/six-myths-about-clergy-sexual-abuse-in-the-catholic-church . Sexual abuse is about abuse of power. If nothing else the history of the Catholic Church, other denominations as well, is about power, divine or otherwise. “Religion is the last refuge of human savagery.”, A.N. Whitehead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt NoahSeptember 12, 2019 at 9:23 AM

      Since when am I worthy of being quoted twice by followers of this blog? No wonder my ears were burning this morning.

      Delete
  2. Jon LindgrenSeptember 12, 2019 at 7:05 AM

    Ardy B When Noah wrote that the priest "problem" had more to do with homosexuality between consenting adults than with child abuse I rolled my eyes. That was the upteenth eye roll--he is a man so out of touch he can't see it from here. Child abuse is a problem. Adult male romance is not. There is a theory, supported anecdotally, that homosexuality is over represented compared to the general population. We'll never know since we don't even know for certain how common it is outside of the clergy. We're back to the age old question, does religion accomplish more good than bad or visa versa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt NoahSeptember 12, 2019 at 9:20 AM

      Jon, you are running out of new material. How many times have you regurgitated the cemetery fund story?

      As for your, "Pennsylvania released a stunning number of abuse cases.", you really should be truthful. I believe the lingo of the day, is either credibly accused priests or or simply accused priests. The majority of those Pennsylvania "cases" will never go to trial as the priests are long dead. Of the remaining cases, those "stunning number" will probably see less than a handful go to trial. So, "stunning" goes to 3 or 4.

      Perhaps you will one day share the list of Pennsylvania priests who were found guilty of sexual crimes where their Bishop tried to cover up the crime. You can start now. Perhaps even one name?

      Delete
  3. Jon LindgrenSeptember 12, 2019 at 10:15 AM

    Matt--Are you running out of material. You keep justifying Cardinal Dolan's hiding money in a cemetery fund so it would not be available to sexual abuse victims. Pope Benedict thought this dirty trick was so great he promoted Dolan to Cardinal. I don't have the name of a living convicted child molester from among the priests in Pennsylvania. Most of them died after being moved from parish to parish. I should write a letter to Pope Benedict telling him of your unwavering defense of corruption in his church.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt NoahSeptember 12, 2019 at 8:01 PM

      Name one convicted priest, dead or alive. For that matter, can you even name one priest who was credibly accused?

      Nothing in my post above about Cardinal Dolan, justification or any what you accuse me of saying.

      Nothing in your last post is truthful except, "I don't have the name of a living convicted child molester from among the priests in Pennsylvania."

      Delete
    2. Jon LindgrenSeptember 12, 2019 at 8:37 PM

      Matt--My blog said, "Pennsylvania released a stunning number of abuse cases." That is a truthful statement. Apparently you do not believe there were an abuse cases in Pennsylvania. The New York Times reported at least 1,000 children were abused. If you have never heard about this and want to know about it you can read for yourself: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/catholic-church-sex-abuse-pennsylvania.html

      Delete
    3. shutupoprahJuly 13, 2020 at 7:56 PM

      If you both are not Catholics then we don’t care what yourtake is. Homosexual clergy are to blame for all the rot. They are not true shepherds. It’s not their money

      Delete
  4. shutupoprahJuly 13, 2020 at 7:58 PM

    Who cares what disgusting Jon Lindgren thinks?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more