TURNING A BLIND EYE? The sexual abuse of children is by far the most heinous of crimes/sins. If hell exists, then I’m sure there is a special category for pedophiles. If the abusers are connected to a church, any church, then I’m almost certain they would be kept in solitary confinement in hell. Hell within hell. Former Roman Catholic Cardinal, Theodore McCarick, who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019, the most senior church official in modern times to be laicized, perfectly fits the bill.
– McCarrick was accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with adult male seminarians for decades. Multiple reports about McCarrick’s alleged conduct with adult seminarians were made to American bishops and the Holy See, but McCarrick vehemently and explicitly denied the allegations to the Vatican. Pope Francis was reportedly unaware of allegations of McCarrick’s sexual abuse against minors until 2018.
After a credible allegation of repeated sexual misconduct towards boys and seminarians was lodged with the Archdiocese of New York, McCarrick was removed from public ministry in 2018. The following month, The New York Times published a story detailing a pattern of sexual abuse of male seminarians and minors by McCarrick, leading him to resign from the College of Cardinals.
After a church investigation and trial, McCarrick was found guilty of sexual crimes against adults and minors and abuse of power and dismissed from the clerical state in 2019. He was the most senior church official in modern times to be laicized, and his was the first known case of a cardinal resigning from the College of Cardinals and being laicized for sexual abuse.
Several honors he had been awarded, such as honorary degrees, were rescinded. McCarrick’s case sparked demands for accountability and reform in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis ordered “a thorough study” of the Vatican’s records on McCarrick “to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them objectively”, which was published by the Secretariat of State in 2020. – Wiki –
There has certainly been a mixed reaction to Pope Francis passing away on Monday. Right wing Catholics celebrated as they believe Francis was too soft on immigration, the poor, LGBQT rights, and the Covid vaccine, and too hard on capitalism and free markets. He was basically a Woke Pope.
Non Catholics on the other hand celebrated his death and condemned him to hell. I’ve had tremendous pushback for saying nice things about Francis. The general theme is, he was Catholic, the Catholic Church covers up sexual crimes against children, they are evil, end of story. Life is generally a bit less black and white, with many subtle nuances one should consider taking into account before passing judgement.
Some have suggested Francis was the good cop version of a Pope, and now the church as a whole will revert to the bad cop version. The truth is that the Catholic Church has many skeletons in its closet, none more so than gay priests. Due to the strict laws regarding celibacy, priests either suppress their sexual urges, or express them in unhealthy ways that are not only damaging towards others, but also to themselves. Blaming gay priests for the rampant abuse of children is over simplifying a rather complex issue.
Most pedophiles do not care if their target ís a boy or a girl. To make it even more complicated, many cases of child abuse have been recorded in churches other than the Catholic Church. So celibacy is a problem, but why then are married priests in other denominations guilty of child abuse?
My biggest issue with all churches is the fact that they try to deal with the allegations in-house. Instead of reporting pedophile priests to the appropriate authorities, which any normal citizen would do, they don’t. It is more important to protect the image of the church than to protect the victims. Consider the recent resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican version of the Pope.
MAKIN REVIEW: – Justin Welby resigned as archbishop in January 2025, following the publication of a report into the Church of England’s handling of allegations of abuse committed by the barrister John Smyth that criticised Welby’s failure to investigate the allegations.
In November 2024, Welby faced calls to resign, including from members of the General Synod of the Church of England, following the publication of an independent review (the Makin Review) into the Church’s handling of allegations of physical and sexual abuse committed by the barrister John Smyth at Christian camps in the 1970s and 1980.
The report criticised Welby for failing to follow up on his subordinates’ claims that they had passed on the matter to the police after he was informed of the allegations in 2013, and stated that it was “unlikely” Welby was not aware of concerns being reported about Smyth during the time of the alleged offences, as he had claimed. – Wiki –
I am of the opinion that the recent targeting of the trans community, and conspiracy theories like QAnon, Democrats run a child sacrifice pedophile ring, are designed to distract people from the hard hitting truth. People shouldn’t be protesting outside of drag clubs, they should be protesting outside of churches. How many people from the trans community have been found guilty of sex crimes against children? Now ask, how many priests have been found guilty of pedophilia? It is this disparity and turning a blind eye that infuriates normal people, whether they are secular, agnostic, or religious.
Do better, much much better. And not only because people are leaving the church in droves, thereby hurting the bottom line. Be sincere, be compassionate, and stop judging others for their supposed minor infringements, when the church itself has become a cesspool of unholy darkness. Jesus would drive them all out of the Temple as they do not represent the God of Love.
Theodore McCarrick.
Apr 24, 2025 1:17:44 pm