Child sexual abuse. Cover-up. The Catholic Church. Penn State. Families. How many times are we going to look the other way while the most innocent among us are hurt?
Memos unearthed from long-secret archives show the complaints were not just under lock and key — but guarded by locks, keys, alarms, safes and computer security programs.
One 1994 list shown to jurors Wednesday lists three diagnosed pedophile priests and 13 more deemed "guilty" of abuse, often because they had admitted it. Yet most remained active priests until the "zero tolerance" policy adopted by U.S. bishops in 2002. And some remained priests years later.
These are men of the cloth who, when faced with the most heinous of crimes against children, decided not to protect the innocents, but to instead hide evidence and place more children at risk. Locked up, alarmed, password protected - names of 35 priests who would abuse again. The church was more concerned with protecting the confessed pedophiles and the reputation of the Catholic Church than they were about protecting the lives of innocent little children.
Oh, and in their notes were there any concern for the innocent lives? No -
Other documents recovered from locked safes at the archdiocese contain handwritten notes about how to handle the mounting public relations crisis.
Perhaps they'll loan these to Penn State - to help deal with their PR crisis.
They did try to permanently cover their tracks
Bevilacqua ordered a top aide to shred Lynn's 1994 list of 35 problem priests, although a copy surfaced at the archdiocese this year, days after Bevilacqua died.
Perhaps someone in the archdiocese had a conscience...
Link to Story
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In a typical Tree Climbers diary, you might read of someone who survived the grooming (this does not mean hair brushing), the fondlings, the rapings, the beatings, the mutilations or the death threats perpetrated by a sadistic egocentric molester of an innocent. Criminals abuse their victims. For years. Families refuse to believe the victims. For years. Victims report being dead inside. For years. Families and society have stifled the voices of victims and magnified and perpetuated the abuse. For years. We weep. We rage. We heal. We inspire.
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• In Solidarity. There is No True Justice for a Crime That Lasts Forever by dear occupant, January 26, 2012.
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