The Diocese of Brooklyn has agreed to pay four individuals $27.5 million for sexual abuse. The boys were abused by a lay teacher Angelo Serrano, who worked at St. Lucy-St. Patrick Catholic Church in Clinton Hill from 2003 to 2009, according to a release. Serrano pleaded guilty in 2011 to inappropriate course of sexual conduct with a child and is serving a 15-year sentence. According to the NY Daily News, "A Brooklyn Supreme Court judge wrote that two priests at the small, now-shuttered … [Read more...]
Catholic Church’s #Me Too Movement and Bishops Waterloo
The news out of Pittsburgh last week was nothing new. It's the same news that's dominated headlines since 2002 when the Boston Globe started publishing articles about the priest abuse crisis in the Archdiocese of Boston. The stories have not let up since in spite of the Catholic Church's programs, policies, speeches, and cover-ups. Yet, the Grand Jury Report concerning six dioceses in Pennsylvania is different. It's different in scope and depth. The format of the report is similar to the … [Read more...]
Should the Confessional Be a Pedophile Safe Zone?
Devout Catholics have always believed in the inviolability of the confessional. In spite of the sacrament changing names over the years-Confession to Sacrament of Penance to Sacrament of Reconciliation (sounds like a Tinker to Evers to Chance), the fact that a Catholic can enter a confessional and tell his/her sins to a priest with absolute confidence that the priest will not ever divulge what is said has been a mainstay and a motivation for confession. The priest isn't even allowed to divulge … [Read more...]
Catholic Church-Protecting the Guilty While Harming the Innocent
The Catholic Church priest sex abuse scandal just doesn't quit, like a bad penny, it keeps coming back to headline the news cycle. This time, it's a high-ranking Vatican cardinal who has been charged with multiple sex abuse offenses in Australia. Why is this news and why should we care? Pope Francis has pledged time and time again to root out priests who sexually abuse children. However, this time the problem is in the Pontiff's own back yard. Cardinal George Pell, who was named in 2014 … [Read more...]
