News: Cardinal Law's Role in Rome Sparks Outrage in U.S.

[Bluebear]

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Vatican's decision to let Cardinal Bernard Law lead a funeral Mass for Pope John Paul in Rome has prompted outrage back home, where the ousted Boston archbishop is seen as a symbol of a pedophile priest scandal.

Victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergymen were particularly harsh in their reaction, saying the decision to give Law a prominent role in the pomp and circumstance surrounding the pope's death came as a slap in the face.

"I find it personally very insulting and one more instance of how the Roman Catholic hierarchy protects and promotes even the most egregious among them," said Ann Hagan Webb, a regional coordinator of the group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

"He (Law) protected priests at the expense of children over and over and over again, and this symbolically says: 'We don't care about these children; we'd rather honor him,"' Hagan Webb, a clergy abuse victim herself, told Reuters.....

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050408/us_nm/pope_usa_law_dc

[Arugula Latte]

1. I doubt this will be mentioned very much

on television -- wouldn't want to interrupt the fawning, slobbering coverage of the pope now, would we?

[gratuitous]

2. Last weekend on NPR

They were having live coverage that broke into regular programming to talk about the Pope dying. They had some fellow on who sounded fairly well-versed on the Catholic Church and the issues of relations between Rome and the U.S. segment of Catholocism. I didn't get his name, unfortunately.

I thought the guy jumped the tracks in his apology for the Pope when he said that the American Catholics were wrong about the Cardinal Law situation: He had been recalled to Rome not as a reward or to get him out of harm's way, but as a punishment. The woman interviewing him sounded a bit skeptical, but he was firm on the point that Cardinal Law's transfer to Rome should not be seen as a reward at all.

And now the Cardinal has been given a prime slot for speaking to the faithful during the mourning services. It sure looks like a reward to me -- I mean, I don't see Hans Küng or the Archbishop of Seattle getting this opportunity.

[cliss]

5. Punished?

Everyone, scroll back up and look at Law's face. Look closely at his mouth, on the right side. See the corner of his mouth turning up.

Cardinal Bernard Law is thinking "heh heh, looks like I won after all!" "You little fools back in the US thought you could lassoo me and hogtie me because of a few scrapes back in Boston. HA!"

For a while, things were looking bad for Law. I recall a very sweaty Cardinal when he was subpoenaed to court. The Judge considered him a "flight risk" and demanded that he surrender his American passport. They were afraid he would flee.

Looks like the Old crony did. And he got away with it, the fucker. Remember when he pulled out his Ace and declared, "I'm a citizen of the Vatican". Everyone was VERY surprised.

We'll see.........

[BlueEyedSon]

3. If he wasn't wearing a funny hat, wouldn't he be in jail? nt

[Warpy]

4. Yes, but this sort of thing is as old as the church, itself

No matter what Emperor or King held sway over the political life of the region, Mother Church always considered itself the First Estate, answerable only to itself as the highest authority.

This is about keeping that fiction intact, that the rule of law of men doesn't apply to gods ministers on earth.

That's why you get the foxes guarding the henhouse, and why a man who allowed pedophile priests to rape at will in parish after parish got rewarded, and the victims got the church thumbing its collective nose at them.

Yes, they had to pay damages to some of the victims. No, there will never be criminal charges against these guys as long as Vatican City is allowed to promote them into bureaucratic positions as rewards for a job well done.