#archdiocese of allentown

[nazfam610]

Holy Family School - A Decline in Enrollment

In recent times at Holy Family School, our Catholic elementary and middle school in Nazareth, Pennsylvania has experienced a significant shift in its dynamics following the appointment of Mr. Derek Peiffer as the new principal. While every change in leadership brings about a period of adjustment, it's evident that Mr. Peiffer's time with us has left a mixed impact on the school community.

One of the most noticeable challenges has been Mr. Peiffer's communication style, which has been less effective than previous principals at Holy Family. Effective communication is crucial in any educational institution, but the staff, parents, and students have found it lacking under his leadership. This lack of transparent communication has led to uncertainty and frustration among parents and teachers alike.

Furthermore, there are concerns about the accountability of students. It seems that Mr. Peiffer's approach towards discipline and accountability has shifted, causing some to feel that students are not being held to the same standards as before. This shift has altered the positive culture that our small school once enjoyed, as a sense of responsibility and discipline were integral to our community.

The consequences of these changes have been felt deeply within our school. Many dedicated teachers have chosen to leave or are considering doing so, which not only affects the quality of education but also erodes the sense of continuity and stability. Morale among both the faculty and parents is notably low, creating a challenging environment for both teaching and learning.

In the face of declining enrollment and the risk of school closure, it's crucial that the concerns of the school community are heard and addressed. Meaningful dialogue, transparent communication, and a shared vision for the school's future are essential components in rebuilding the positive culture that our school once thrived upon. It's our hope that these issues can be addressed and resolved promptly to ensure the continued success and viability of our beloved Catholic school.

[confrontingbabble-on]

The only god that the church listens to...is money...! They have to be hit hard...in their bank account...! Stop funding immediately...institutionally protected child abusers...!

““The Grand Jury will never be able to determine how many boys Father Francis P. Rogers raped and sexually abused in his more than 50 years as a priest,” noted the earlier report on sexual assault committed by an unholy host of priests. “Nor, probably, will we or anyone else be able to calculate the number of boys the Archdiocese could have saved from sexual abuse had it investigated potential victims rather than protecting itself from scandal and shielding this sexually abusive priest. We have learned of at least three victims who we believe would not have been abused had the Archdiocese taken decisive action when it learned of Fr. Rogers’ “familiarity” with boys.

We find that the Archdiocese received a litany of verifiable reports beginning shortly after Fr. Rogers’ 1946 ordination and continuing for decades about his serious misconduct with, and abuse of, boys. ‘The report went on,” One of his victims described waking up intoxicated in the priest’s bed, opening his eyes to see Fr. Rogers, three other priests, and a seminarian surrounding him. Two of the priests ejaculated on him while Fr. Rogers masturbated himself.

Then Fr. Rogers sucked on the victim’s penis, pinched his nipples, kissed him, and rubbed his stubbly beard all over him. The former altar boy, whom Fr. Rogers began abusing when he was about 12 years old, remains haunted by memories of the abuse more than 35 years later. “The report concluded, “Father Rogers’ file demonstrates that the Archdiocese responded to reports of his crimes with a shameful half-century of transfers, excuses, and finger-wagging threats that did nothing to deter the priest from indulging his self-acknowledged ‘weakness’ and that exposed every boy in his path to the very real and horrible possibility of sexual abuse.”

At no point did a church official notify law enforcement about crimes that should have put Rogers behind bars for years. He instead remained at liberty and spent this final days in the comfort of Villa Saint Joseph, a diocesan residence for priests who are sidelined or retired as sexual predators.

“Father Rogers was never punished or held to account for his unchecked sexual predations or the devastation they caused,” the 2005 grand jury report notes. “He was permitted to retire in 1995, his ‘good name’ intact. The message clearly communicated by the Archdiocese’s actions—to victims and abusers alike—was that it would protect the reputation of its priests at all costs.”

Thanks to a life insurance policy and perhaps some modest savings, Rogers left $14,410 to the church. The money should have gone into an Archdiocese and Catholic Human Services account. Unbeknownst to the church, it was instead diverted along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and bequests into an account at the Sharon Savings Bank controlled by the rector at Villa Saint Joseph, Monsignor William Dombrow.

When the folks at Sharon Savings noticed a number of payments from what was supposedly a church account to Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack, they alerted the archdiocese.

The same archdiocese that never held Rogers and an unholy host of other monsters to account for “unchecked sexual predations,” was not about to let these bank checks go unchecked. A spokesman for the archdiocese described a response to stolen money such as had never been elicited by reports of raped children, including an assault in a confessional and forced oral sex followed by holy water as a mouth rinse.

“Last summer, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was alerted to irregularities concerning a bank account connected to Villa Saint Joseph in Darby, Pennsylvania,” the spokesman said. “At that time, the matter was referred to law enforcement by the Archdiocese and Monsignor William Dombrow’s faculties as well as his administrative responsibilities were restricted.”

Compare that to what the 2005 grand jury report says the archdiocese did upon receiving complaints about priests sexually assaulting youngsters:

“Not only did Church officials not report the crimes, they went even further, by persuading parents not to involve law enforcement.”

The church files contained allegations that had been lodged against 169 priests. Not all of the hundreds of victims were boys. A priest had arranged for an abortion for an 11-year-old girl he had repeatedly raped. Another girl had been sexually assaulted while in traction in the hospital.  

But those were just kids. Money was money.

In April of 2017, Dombrow was charged in federal court with multiple counts of wire fraud. The criminal complaint described the sin that had prompted the church to action:

“Defendant William A. Dombrow used these funds for his own personal use, knowing that the monies were owned by the Archdiocese and were intended for use by the Archdiocese. Dombrow did so without notifying the Archdiocese of any of his purchases or withdrawals, and without advising the Archdiocese that the Sharon Savings Bank account existed or that the funds had been deposited for the benefit of the Archdiocese as the intended recipient.”

Imagine what the judge might have said had he been sentencing the likes of Rogers for raping dozens of children. Imagine the sentence a predatory priest might have received considering that the judge gave a 78-year-old embezzling priest eight months in prison.

On February 20, Dombrow surrendered as ordered to begin serving his sentence. He remained Inmate 76001-066 at Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Kentucky this week, as the state of Pennsylvania released a grand jury report on predatory priests in six other dioceses. The new report significantly differed from the 2005 one on Philadelphia only in the larger number of perps and victims.

���We heard the testimony of dozens of witnesses concerning clergy sex abuse," the new report says. “We subpoenaed, and reviewed, half a million pages of internal diocesan documents. They contained credible allegations against over three hundred predator priests. Over one thousand child victims were identifiable, from the church’s own records. We believe that the real number—of children whose records were lost, or who were afraid ever to come forward—is in the thousands. “

One priest had taken it upon himself to resign in 1990 after three allegations of sexual abuse were filed against him. Church officials in Allentown wrote him a recommendation for a job at Disney World, where he worked for 18 years.

“Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing: they hid it all,” the new report says. “For decades.”

The 2015 reports notes that the higher-ups have never been held accountable for their inaction.

“Monsignors, auxiliary bishops, bishops, archbishops, cardinals have mostly been protected; many, including some named in this report, have been promoted,” the grand jury found, “Until that changes, we think it is too early to close the book on the Catholic Church sex scandal.”

The senior clerics may be seeking to protect not just the predator priests, but also themselves, for they could be held criminally responsible for failing to report child abuse.

If the Pope is as much on the side of the victims as the Vatican insisted in a belated statement condemning the assaults detailed in the latest grand jury report as “criminal and morally reprehensible,” he could order church officials in Pennsylvania to cease supporting the statute of limitations....“

https://www.thedailybeast.com/catholic-church-shielded-priests-who-raped-boys-but-it-helped-lock-up-a-priest-who-swiped-bucks

[kacydeneen]

Pa. Dioceses Outline Child Sex Abuse Victim Funds

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Thursday that it would pay financial reparations to victims of clergy sex abuse, even from years ago.

The Independent Reconciliation and Reparations effort will be funded by the archdiocese, which said it was not sure how much money would be required but that the financial commitment was "significant."

100s of 'Predator Priests' Lured Young Victims: Grand Jury

The archdiocese also announced the creation of an independent commission to review church policies, led by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.

Archbishop Charles Chaput made the announcement in his weekly column Thursday. The dioceses of Harrisburg, Scranton and Allentown also announced similar programs Thursday; the Erie Diocese said it would set up a fund, but it didn't disclose any details.

'Shame and Sorrow': Vatican Responds to Pa. Sex Abuse Scandal

"The damage done to innocent young people and their families by sexual abuse in the past is profound," Chaput wrote. "It can’t be erased by apologies, no matter how sincere. And money can’t buy back a wounded person’s wholeness. But what compensation can do is acknowledge the evil done and meaningfully assist survivors as they work to find greater peace in their lives."

Chaput stressed that money for the reparations would not come from donations to Catholic Charities, seminaries or donations made to parishes, ministries, and schools.

Young Catholics Urge Vatican to Issue Inclusive LGBT Message

The money may come from selling off church properties, Chaput said.

The abuse survivor's group SNAP said that other dioceses, including New York City, "feeling the heat" have started similar compensation programs.

But a spokesman questioned whether the program would be transparent.

Instead, the goal of some reparation programs is "to keep the secrets, secrets” and to "help stall legislative reform," said David G. Clohessy, director of the St. Louis chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priest. 

“Victims deserve the opportunity for relatively faster settlements, if they want it, but victims also deserve the right to go to court,” Clohessy said.

The Independent Reconciliation and Reparations program is also independent from survivor assistance efforts of the archdiocese’s Office of Child and Youth Protection, which has already paid out $18 million to victims. And it's separate from any legal settlements that the church may be ordered to make.

The confidential compensation will be determined by independent claim administrators, Chaput said. Lynn Shiner, who has served as director of the Pennsylvania Office of Victims’ Services, will represent victims as the program's victim support facilitator.

"The program is designed to help survivors come forward in an atmosphere where they are secure and respected, without the uncertainty, conflict and stress of litigation,” Chaput said.

The archdiocese consulted with violent crime survivors and advocates to form the program, Chaput said.

The announcement comes months after a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report exposed hundreds of instances of clergy abuse across the rest of Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia’s church had already been the focus of a 2005 grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse, which found former cardinals John Krol and Anthony Bevilacqua were involved in the cover-up of a sex scandal against accused priests throughout the archdiocese.

Another grand jury report in 2011 made new charges against priests still serving in the archdiocese.

In 2012, Philadelphia Monsignor William Lynn became the first Catholic church official to be convicted in the country of covering up sex abuse among priests in his charge.

Back in September, Chaput pledged to compensate sexual abuse survivors, he noted in his latest column.

“I deeply regret the pain that so many victims carry from the experience of sex abuse,” he said. “I hope this program will bring them a measure of peace.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

will come from our Catholic Charities Appeal, Seminary Appeal, other donor-designated funds or donations made to parishes, ministries, and schools.

Photo Credit: NBC10 Pa. Dioceses Outline Child Sex Abuse Victim Funds published first on Miami News

[theconservativebrief]

The Department of Justice has subpoenaed records from seven of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses as part of a wider investigation into clerical sex abuse.

The Archdiocese of Pennsylvania, as well as the dioceses of Scranton, Harrisburg, Greensburg, Erie, Allentown, and Pittsburgh, confirmed to several reporters on Thursday that they’d received federal subpoenas relating to documentary evidence of child sex abuse. It’s not yet clear whether the eighth diocese, Altoona-Johnstown, has also received a subpoena, as representatives there have not yet responded to reporters’ request for comment, according to the New York Times.

The new federal investigation represents one of the most significant attempts to address the scope and scale of the Catholic child sex abuse crisis at the national level. Historically, instances of clerical sex abuse have been handled internally, by the churches and dioceses themselves, or in some cases by state legal officials. A national investigation of this scope, however, is unprecedented, and appears to herald a new level of commitment on the part of federal law enforcement in seeking to hold churches and dioceses accountable for sexual abuse cases.

Some dioceses have publicly welcomed the investigation as an opportunity to reckon with the scope of historic abuse. In a statement, the Diocese of Greenberg said, “This subpoena is no surprise considering the horrific misconduct detailed in the statewide grand jury report. Survivors, parishioners and the public want to see proof that every diocese has taken sweeping, decisive and impactful action to make children safer.”

The investigation comes on the heels of an incendiary grand jury report released in August implicating at least 300 priests in the sexual abuse of at least 1,000 minors over the past few decades. Most of the cases cited in the report are alleged to have occurred in the 1970s and ’80s, placing them beyond the statute of limitations. Since the publication of that report, at least eight states have opened varying forms of state-level investigations into clerical sex abuse there, although efforts to replicate the scope of the Pennsylvania grand jury report have been stymied by a lack of consistency in states’ policies over who has the authority to convene an investigation, and how.

It’s unclear which documents are being subpoenaed, or what the legal ramifications could be, especially because many allegations fall outside the statute of limitations for pursuing criminal charges. A bill currently before the state legislature, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Scarnati (R), would allow victims of child sexual assault beyond the statute of limitations to sue their alleged attackers, but not the Catholic Church directly.

The Associated Press reports that any cases of cover-ups of sexual abuse — including payments made to victims and their families — occurring within the past five years could fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO: a law designed specifically to combat organized crime like the Mafia.

Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and frequent commentator on Catholic issues, expressed hope to the New York Times that the national probe would prompt churches to preemptively share their files with law enforcement. “I hope that this encourages church leaders at every level, and in every locale, to voluntarily open their files on all priests who have been credibly accused in past decades,” he said.

Original Source -> The DOJ is investigating clerical child sex abuse in Pennsylvania. Such an inquiry is unprecedented.

via The Conservative Brief

[investmart007]

HARRISBURG, Pa. | Prosecutor: Priests 'weaponized' the faith to abuse kids

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/h4kEgv

HARRISBURG, Pa. | Prosecutor: Priests 'weaponized' the faith to abuse kids

HARRISBURG, Pa.  — Roman Catholic priests across Pennsylvania used religious rituals, symbols of the faith and the threat of eternity in hell to groom, molest and rape children, a grand jury found, in what the state’s top prosecutor called the “weaponization of faith.”

An 884-page report on the statewide grand jury’s investigation, released Tuesday, detailed how “predator priests” used the children’s own religious faith and trust in them as religious leaders to victimize and then silence them.

One priest tied up a victim with rope in the confessional in a “praying position,” the grand jury wrote. When the victim refused to perform sex, the angered priest used a 7-inch crucifix to sexually assault him, the report said.

Another victim recounted how a priest used a metal cross to beat him.

At a parish rectory, the report said, four of the priests made a boy strip and pose as Jesus on the cross while they took photos.

“He stated that all of them giggled and stated that the pictures would be used as a reference for new religious statues for the parishes,” the jury wrote. Two of those priests later did jail time for sexually assaulting two altar boys.

Another priest told a boy he was fondling that it was OK because he was “an instrument of God.”

Priests also found in the sacrament of confession the opportunity to perpetrate acts against children, the report said.

The investigation of six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses— Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton — is the most extensive investigation of Catholic clergy abuse by any state, according to victims’ advocates. More than 1,000 children — and possibly many more — were molested since the 1940s, the report said.

The dioceses represent about 1.7 million Catholics.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese and the Johnstown-Altoona Diocese were not included in the probe because they have been the subject of three previous scathing grand jury investigations.

Diocese leaders on Tuesday expressed sorrow for the victims and unveiled, for the first time, a list of priests accused of some sort of sexual misconduct.

“Predators in every diocese weaponized the Catholic faith and used it as a tool of their abuse,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a news conference Tuesday unveiling the grand jury’s report, which documented allegations against 301 priests over seven decades.

Only two of the priests have been charged with crimes as a result of the grand jury investigation, though a number were prosecuted in years past. Over 100 have died, and many others have retired.

Church leaders say most of the offenses occurred some time in the past and note that major reforms were adopted starting in 2002 to safeguard children.

Terence McKiernan, president of the watchdog group BishopAccountability.org, said the ritualization of abuse was a fundamental part of how children were sexually exploited.

“Even when the Catholic rituals and doctrines are not specifically mobilized by the priest, they are in play,” he said.

Threats of eternal damnation were not uncommon, the grand jury found. Priests told children they would “go to hell” if they told anyone what happened and “nobody would believe a lying child over a man of God’s word.”

One priest was quoted as telling altar boys they should serve naked beneath their cassocks “because God did not want any man-made clothes to be worn next to their skin during Mass,” the jury wrote.

In one church, a priest told a boy who confided he had been gang-raped as a 7-year-old that he had to provide sex to get to heaven. He would then be molested for three years before the priest was transferred.

In a case highlighted on the day the grand jury report was made public, a priest rinsed a boy’s mouth with holy water after abusing him.

The predator priests used any opportunity they could to molest children while they had them alone, the investigation found. Several priests used hypnosis during counseling sessions to manipulate their victims. Helping a priest grade papers in his rectory somehow became a session of nude weightlifting. One boy was abused when he went to collect his report card from school.

When a bishop asked the Vatican to remove a priest who used physical force and threats to abuse children, the bishop noted the priest “invoked the name of God to justify his actions against his victims while using their faith and the priesthood to manipulate them and secure their silence.” Parishioners were never told why he was removed in 2006.

The grand jurors pointedly wrote that the investigation was not an attack on the faith, noting many are Catholics themselves.

“People of all faiths and of no faith want their children to be safe,” the grand jurors wrote. “But we were presented with a conspicuous concentration of child sex abuse cases that have come from the church.”

By MARK SCOLFORO , Associated Press

[currentbdnews]

https://ift.tt/2MqUUxc Catholic priests molested over 1,000 children: Reporthttps://ift.tt/2nH2YeU Pennsylvania Catholic priests molested over 1,000 children: Report For update news visit All Bd Newspaper

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A priest raped a 7-year-old girl while he was visiting her in the hospital after she’d had her tonsils removed. Another priest forced a 9-year-old boy into having oral sex, then rinsed out the boy’s mouth with holy water. One boy was forced to say confession to the priest who sexually abused him.

Those children are among the victims of roughly 300 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania who molested more than 1,000 children — and possibly many more — since the 1940s, according to a sweeping state grand jury report released Tuesday that accused senior church officials, including a clergyman who is now the archbishop of Washington, D.C., of systematically covering up complaints.

The “real number” of abused children and abusive priests might be higher since some secret church records were lost and some victims never came forward, the grand jury said.

U.S. bishops adopted sweeping reforms in 2002 when clergy abuse became a national crisis for the church, including stricter requirements for reporting accusations to law enforcement and a streamlined process for removing clerics who abuse children. But the grand jury said more changes are needed.

“Despite some institutional reform, individual leaders of the church have largely escaped public accountability,” the grand jury wrote in the roughly 900-page report. “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all.”

Top church officials have mostly been protected and many, including some named in the report, have been promoted, the grand jury said, concluding that “it is too early to close the book on the Catholic Church sex scandal.”

In nearly every case, prosecutors found that the statute of limitations has run out, meaning that criminal charges cannot be filed. More than 100 of the priests are dead. Many others are retired or have been dismissed from the priesthood or put on leave. Authorities charged just two as a result of the grand jury investigation, including a priest who has since pleaded guilty, though some of those named had been charged years ago.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the investigation is ongoing.

In this Dec. 12, 2010, photo, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, greets a woman after giving a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland neighbourhood of Pittsburgh. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

The investigation of six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses— Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton — is the most extensive investigation of Catholic clergy abuse by any state, according to victim advocates. The dioceses represent about 1.7 million Catholics.

Until now, there have been just nine investigations by a prosecutor or grand jury of a Catholic diocese or archdiocese in the United States, according to the Massachusetts-based research and advocacy organization, BishopAccountability.org.

The Philadelphia archdiocese and the Johnstown-Altoona diocese were not included in the investigation because they have been the subject of three previous scathing grand jury investigations.

The grand jury heard from dozens of witnesses and reviewed more than a half-million pages of internal diocesan documents, including reports by bishops to Vatican officials disclosing the details of abusive priests that they had not made public or reported to law enforcement.

The panel concluded that a succession of Catholic bishops and other diocesan leaders tried to shield the church from bad publicity and financial liability. They failed to report accused clergy to police, used confidentiality agreements to silence victims and sent abusive priests to so-called “treatment facilities,” which “laundered” the priests and “permitted hundreds of known offenders to return to ministry,” the report said.

The conspiracy of silence extended beyond church grounds: police or prosecutors sometimes did not investigate allegations out of deference to church officials or brushed off complaints as outside the statute of limitations, the grand jury said.

Victims of clergy sexual abuse, or their family members react as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Diocese leaders responded Tuesday by expressing sorrow for the victims, stressing how they’ve changed and unveiling, for the first time, a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct.

James VanSickle of Pittsburgh, who testified he was sexually attacked in 1981 by a priest in the Erie Diocese, called the report’s release “a major victory to get our voice out there, to get our stories told.”

The report is still the subject of an ongoing legal battle, with redactions shielding the identities of some current and former clergy named in the report while the state Supreme Court weighs their arguments that its wrongful accusations against them violates their constitutional rights. It also is expected to spark another fight by victim advocates to win changes in state law that lawmakers have resisted.

Its findings echoed many earlier church investigations around the country, describing widespread sexual abuse and church officials’ concealment of it. U.S. bishops have acknowledged that more than 17,000 people nationwide have reported being molested by priests and others in the church going back to 1950.

Pope accepts resignation of Cardinal McCarrick

The report comes at a time of fresh scandal at the highest levels of the U.S. Catholic Church. Pope Francis last month stripped 88-year-old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of his title amid allegations that McCarrick had for years sexually abused boys and committed sexual misconduct with adult seminarians.

One senior American church official named in the grand jury report is Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who leads the Washington archdiocese, for allegedly helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh’s bishop. Wuerl, who was bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese from 1988 to 2006, disputed the allegations.

Terry McKiernan of BishopAccountability.org said the report did a good job of highlighting the two crimes of church sex abuse scandals: the abuse of a child and the cover up by church officials that allows the abuse to continue.

“One thing this is going to do is put pressure on prosecutors elsewhere to take a look at what’s going on in their neck of the woods,” McKiernan said.

// from https://ift.tt/2KU1CGY https://ift.tt/2ODx66q

[ibloggingkits-blog]

New Post has been published on Blogging kits

New Post has been published on https://bloggingkits.org/the-brand-new-over-2-hundred-immigrants-others-rally-at-capitol/

The Brand new: Over 2 hundred immigrants, others, rally at Capitol

More than 2 hundred immigrants, immigration advocates and leaders of exertions unions and social and racial justice corporations gathered on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol for a May also Day demonstration.

Speakers at the rally Monday criticized President Donald Trump’s over his remarks and policies on immigrants. They stated immigrants assist People to prosper.

The Rev. Gregory Edwards of Allentown stated Trump’s “Make American Exquisite Again” slogan is code for “make The use white Again.” The 2016 Cause Rally: A Festival of Cause, Exuberance, and Liberty I attended the Purpose Rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. On June four, 2016. The day became warm and muggy but shade become ample and the program became pleasant, academic and encouraging. It became a Pageant, a mundane Woodstock with masses of the track, brief speeches, and sound thoughts. The commonplace decencies have been celebrated, superstition became denigrated and the Republican Party of Donald Trump became wittily excoriated. My sort of live performance.

There have been many themes, none emphasized More than the significance of numerous actions that ensure politicians recognize that secular People vote. In lieu of myth, miracle, thriller and metaphysics, Reason Rally celebrants just want to have fun, type, treat and be dealt with pretty and nicely and no longer ought to bear theocratic rituals, shows, policies and the like.

Besides the track and Speakers on the Lincoln Memorial, the four-day event blanketed two days of lobbying on the Capital, VIP events, and mini-conferences. Three of the four Real well-being dimensions, as, are related to mental nicely being – and the 3 (Motive, Exuberance, and Liberty) were explored and extolled as a great deal or Greater as ever passed off at a Countrywide health Conference. As for the alternative dimension – Athleticism, that was left to the individual attendees.

Motive Rally Functions

The Reason Rally became created to marshal the secular balloting bloc, to position Cause, that is, a systematic, evidence-based recognition, at the forefront of Yankee public and political discourse. This, of direction, is a stunningly obtrusive non-existent characteristic of U.S. Politics.

Rally Audio system advised all in attendance to speak up at every opportunity, to permit buddies, family, strangers in addition to politicians recognize that freedom from in addition to of faith is of same significance. The Constitutional provision that faith and kingdom be kept separate should be venerated, regardless of records of being not noted for so long in such a lot of methods. There are Extra secularists in this u. S . A . than Catholics – the non-spiritual comprise 20 to 25 percentage of the U.S. populace. We’re godless and happy with it; its time to commence wielding the untapped political energy available, given our numbers.

In step with Pew polling, approximately 1 / 4 of the population aren’t a part of any religion and a few 7 percent of the populace are atheists and agnostics – More than Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims blended. It’s a small however growing group, which is coalescing right into a political bloc. As noted, 300 Rally fanatics got here early and met at the Capitol with representatives of their senators and congresspersons. I expect some of them mentioned their dismay that Congress yearly spends $800,000 to guide the clergy who open each consultation with prayers.

We recognize too well the validity of what Robert Green Ingersoll discovered Extra than a century ago: There can be however little liberty on this planet at the same time as men worship a tyrant in heaven. Surely, there can be, however simplest if politicians and others did them worshiping in churches and other holy homes and otherwise amongst themselves – not in public faculties, at government functions or other public – and kept away from passing laws that impose religion-primarily based rules on all and sundry else. A Purpose Rally will no longer be important when the god phrase is long gone from the forex, courthouse, and Congress, while It is now not in the pledge and when religion is no longer privileged with tax subsidies and other preferred remedies. At gift, elements of theocracy cost all Americans, which includes those who locate no proof for gods or attractive in any religions.

The Rally changed into free and everyone become welcome. It was designed to celebrate the secular, atheist, agnostic, humanist, freethinking and other on-non-secular segments of us. The favored final results changed into to create conditions that lend power to the separation of church and country on the balloting booth, one of the high-quality approaches to delivering exact sense lower back to authorities. The Rally was something of a balloting bloc Celebration that captured a feeling of community and a shared commitment to growing political effect to reverse the slide towards theocracy.

Rally Highlights

Further to slowing and finally reversing the incursions of faith on the liberties of these folks who need freedom from it, many other causes had been promoted on the Rally, amongst them the following:

* LGBT Equality – religion ought to never be an excuse to deny public accommodation nor need to it be a justification for non-performance of responsibility with the aid of a government employee. Do not forget whilst a Kentucky county clerk refused to trouble marriage certificates to LGBT couples – even after being ordered to accomplish that by the courts, because, she insisted, doing so might violate her onsecular standards. A Greater consequential example is the Ideal Court case, delivered by the Little Sisters of the Terrible, joined with the aid of monks, a Catholic Archdiocese, and several universities, claiming the authorities is compelling a contravention in their ideals. How? because of the beginning control mandate of the Cheap Care Act locations a burden on their religious exercise, despite an accommodation from the authorities that allows a simple sign-off that excuses them from imparting birth control.

* Weather Change – An amazing range of scientists have raised the alarm approximately the disastrous impact Climate Alternate is having and will keep having. Yet, Climate Exchange deniers keep to shield the fossil-fuel enterprise and refuse to enforce guidelines to mitigate the results of Climate Trade. In 2015, the U.S. Senate voted 50-49 to deny that human beings cause Climate Change! This form of grotesque religiosity over democracy and the Charter became another poster case of unreasonable horror for Rally individuals.

* Women’s Reproductive Rights – The ideals of a minority of us citizens have restrained a female’s proper to select and get right of entry to beginning to manage – and, in the system, also have extensively reduced the fitness care available to Girls. If a female believes that start control is a sin, she would not have to use birth control however she surely does not have the proper to bar another lady from doing so. Those same politicians who vote in opposition to Planned Parenthood or coverage for birth control or the morning-after tablet might be appalled through a law that prohibited men from getting Viagra.

inside the days right away after the Rally, 3 curious information memories had been mentioned that gave similarly Motive to understand the need for Greater Purpose Rallies, no longer just in Washington but in each kingdom, town and community, for that count.

The first changed into about Terry Branstad, the governor of Iowa, who issued a reputable decree urging citizens of the state to participate in a bible reading marathon event in all ninety-nine Iowa courthouses and to accomplish that on a day by day basis till the Lord comes. This is not a comic story. The governor’s decree is loaded with theological declarations, together with that the bible is recognized as the only real revelation from God, showing the manner to salvation, reality and life and that it is God’s found out will for mankind. An FFRF lawyer pointed out that such statements violate the government’s duty to let residents worship, or not and is an egregious abuse of the governor’s office and electricity. In a letter to the governor, Andrew Seidel wrote:

That through issuing this intensely spiritual proclamation and encouraging bible-analyzing, you send a message that Iowa prefers religion over non-religion, and the Christian faith over every other religion and that the separation among country and church is some of the most essential concepts of our machine of government. Our founders valued this precept, and your proclamation betrays their sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my native land newspaper highlighted a tale, simply because the first tropical typhoon of the 12 months inundated elements of Florida, that former governor and cutting-edge U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist had not Yet had placed a prayer be aware in a crevice of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This is a ritual the previous country authorities reliable has carried out yearly because 2007. This is the message stuck inside the wall:

Pricey God: Please guard our Florida against storms and different problems. Charlie.

One More instance – did you recognize that NASA awarded $1.108 million in taxpayer price range to a Christian nonsecular institute, the Center for Theological Inquiry? Are we a theocracy Yet? To do what? To foster theology’s speak with astrobiology at the societal implications of future discoveries of extraterrestrial lifestyles, and how this might impact Christian theology and onsecular beliefs! FFRF and other secular groups have protested that That is patently unconstitutional. The Established order Clause of The primary Modification prohibits any ‘sponsorship, financial guide, and active involvement of the sovereign in nonsecular interest wrote FFRF Personnel legal professional Andrew Seidel. The government may not fund non-secular tasks, as diverse courts have dominated through the years. Although, NASA did it.

[judica-me]

For the commemoration of St Patrick, 17 March 2017, the following local churches are generally dispensed from Lenten abstinence by act of the respective (arch)bishop or the proper solemnity of the diocesan patron: All dioceses of Wisconsin and Georgia Archdioceses of Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dubuque, Galveston-Houston, Hartford, Indianapolis, Kansas City in Kansas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Miami, The Military Services USA, Mobile, Newark, New York, Omaha, Philadelphia, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC Dioceses of Albany, Allentown, Arlington, Belleville, Birmingham, Boise, Bridgeport, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Burlington, Camden, Charleston, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Davenport, Des Moines, Fall River, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Fort Worth, Gaylord, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Honolulu, Jackson, Jefferson City, Joliet, Kalamazoo, Kansas City-St Joseph, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Lexington, Manchester, Metuchen, Norwich, Oakland, Ogdensburg, Owensboro, Palm Beach, Paterson, Pensacola-Tallahassee, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (Maine), Providence, Raleigh, Rochester, Rockford, Rockville Centre, Sacramento, St Cloud, San Bernardino, Scranton, Spokane, Springfield (Mass.), Syracuse, Toledo, Tucson, Tyler, Venice (Florida), Victoria, Wilmington, Winona, Worcester, Yakima, Youngstown

A helpful list of the dioceses that have issued a public dispensation for Friday abstinence for Saint Patrick’s Day. If you’re not on the list consult your parish newsletter to see, since some dioceses have left it to the discretion of the parish pastor. 

[confrontingbabble-on]

Lawyers for current and former clergy in six Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses named in a pending grand jury report on child abuse have ripped the massive document as full of “gross mischaracterizations and falsities...

In their filings, the lawyers revealed new details of the extensive probe, including the disclosure that the report names at least 90 abusive clergy who officials suggest belonged to the Pittsburgh Diocese alone.

That’s more than the number named in the sweeping 2005 grand jury report on abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, an inquiry considered to be among the most thoroughly researched clergy-abuse reports nationwide.

In more than a dozen separate legal attacks, the lawyers question even the legal basis for the two-year grand jury investigation, which produced a report nearly 900 pages long chronicling abuses and cover-ups in six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses, including Pittsburgh and Scranton.

The lawyers...say the law establishing statewide grand juries limits them to going after mobsters and corrupt politicians, not clergy or church officials who harm children.

State prosecutors under Attorney General Josh Shapiro were “not permitted  to use grand juries as freewheeling instruments of reform. This is what legislatures are for,” the attorneys assert.

One lawyer, Efrem Grail, wrote that prosecutors “cannot use the grand jury process in a manner not authorized by statute, for publicity, or as a focus for elected officials’ pet” projects (!).

Joe Grace, spokesperson for Shapiro (the attorney general), fired back later Friday. “There isn’t a morsel of truth to their allegation,” he said in a statement. “Their desperate claim speaks volumes.”

The grand jury report, on ice pending the result of the state Supreme Court appeals,  explores abuse going back decades in the Allentown, Harrisburg, Erie, and Greensburg Dioceses, as well as Pittsburgh and Scranton.  In 2016, the Attorney General’s Office released a report on the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. Two tough reports on the Philadelphia Archdiocese came before that. Thus, the release of the new document would mean every diocese in Pennsylvania had been scrutinized.”

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/in-sharp-filings-lawyers-for-past-and-present-clergy-attack-grand-jury-report-20180713.html

“"There isn't a morsel of truth to their allegation," Grace said in a statement, the Inquirer reported. "Their desperate claim speaks volumes."Speaking earlier this month, Shapiro stood by the report as "accurate," and called the legal filings "nothing more than a desperate attempt to stop the public from learning the truth about their abhorrent conduct."  https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/07/priests_church_officials_named.html

“The current delay in the release of the long-awaited report has engendered outcry from victims many of whom charge that powerful forces, including the church, are trying to block the release of the report...” https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/07/priests_church_officials_named.html

[kacydeneen]

Pa. Priest Accused of Groping Teen, Sending Nude Pics Over Snapchat

A 30-year-old Roman Catholic priest in Allentown has been accused of sending nude texts to a teen girl last year and groping her behind, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced Tuesday afternoon.

It’s the latest in a wave of sexual abuse allegations tainting the Catholic Church and casting a shadow over the religious institution. 

Out of Church's Tainted Shadow Emerges New Kind of Catholic

Father Kevin Lonergan, who most recently served as assistant pastor at the Cathedral of St. Catherine Siena, is charged with one count of indecent assault and one count of corrupting a minor, the DA’s office said. He was arraigned Tuesday and released on $50,000 unsecured bail.

Lonergan allegedly met the 17-year-old victim before mass in August 2017 at Allentown’s St. Francis Assisi Church. Shortly after meeting her, Lonergan got the teen’s number from another church member, Martin said.

Facebook Uncovers New Global Misinformation Operations

The two communicated via SnapChat several times between December 2017 and January 2018, according to the DA’s investigation. Some of those messages included nude photos of the priest, Martin said.

Then, in February 2018, Lonergan hugged the victim and grabbed her buttocks when she tried to pull away, according to the DA’s office.

Back-to-Back Legal Blows in Trump Circle Jolt Presidency

The victim remained silent for several months after the assault, but she eventually came forward to officials at her high school. They reported the incident to the Archdiocese of Allentown, which banned Lonergan from ministry in June.

“Bishop [Alfred] Schlert wanted to act very quickly and transparently to report this and to inform the public of Lonergan’s removal from active ministry, but he held off doing so at my request in order not to compromise the investigation,” Martin said.

The arrest of Lonergan, who lives with his parents in Pottsville, adds to an already lengthy list of priests who have been accused of sexually assaulting minors. Last week, a Pennsylvania grand jury released a sweeping report that documented decades of abuse and subsequent cover-ups by clergy members across six dioceses in the state.

The charges against Lonergan were not a result of the landmark grand jury investigation but stemmed from a complaint filed in June, after the grand jury had finished its work, authorities said.

Pope Francis condemned those so-called “predator priests” and apologized for the Catholic Church’s sluggish response to the allegations.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly state where Lonergan lives.

Photo Credit: Lehigh County District Attorney's Office Pa. Priest Accused of Groping Teen, Sending Nude Pics Over Snapchat published first on Miami News

[investmart007]

HARRISBURG, Pa. | Bishops accused of brushing off sexual abuse complaints

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/bCU7xI

HARRISBURG, Pa. | Bishops accused of brushing off sexual abuse complaints

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A priest raped a 7-year-old girl while visiting her in the hospital after she had her tonsils removed. Another priest forced a 9-year-old boy into having oral sex, then rinsed out the youngster’s mouth with holy water. One boy was forced to say confession to the priest who sexually abused him.

An estimated 300 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania molested more than 1,000 children — and possibly many more — since the 1940s, according to a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report released Tuesday that accused senior church officials, including the man who is now archbishop of Washington, D.C., of systematically covering up complaints.

The “real number” of victimized children and abusive priests might be higher since some secret church records were lost and some victims never came forward, the grand jury said in the report that is the largest of its kind in the United States.

U.S. bishops adopted widespread reforms in 2002 when clergy abuse became a national crisis for the church, including stricter requirements for reporting accusations to law enforcement and a streamlined process for removing clerics. But the grand jury said more changes are needed.

“Despite some institutional reform, individual leaders of the church have largely escaped public accountability,” the grand jury wrote in the roughly 900-page report. “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all.”

Top church officials have mostly been protected, and many, including some named in the report, have been promoted, the grand jury said, concluding that “it is too early to close the book on the Catholic Church sex scandal.”

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, leader of the Washington Archdiocese, was accused in the report of helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh’s bishop from 1988 to 2006. Wuerl has disputed the allegations.

At a Mass held Wednesday in Washington on the feast of the Assumption of Mary, Wuerl did not address the accusations against himself, but urged parishioners not to lose confidence in the church over the “terrible plague” of abuse.

In nearly every case, the Pennsylvania grand jury said, prosecutors found that the statute of limitations has run out, meaning criminal charges cannot be filed. More than 100 of the priests are dead. Many others are retired or have been dismissed from the priesthood or put on leave.

Authorities charged just two as a result of the grand jury investigation, including a priest who has since pleaded guilty, though some of those named were prosecuted years ago.

The investigation of six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses— Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton — is the most extensive investigation of Catholic clergy abuse by any state, according to victims’ advocates. The dioceses represent about 1.7 million Catholics.

Until now, there have been nine investigations by a prosecutor or grand jury of a Catholic diocese or archdiocese in the U.S., according to the Massachusetts-based research and advocacy organization BishopAccountability.org.

“One thing this is going to do is put pressure on prosecutors elsewhere to take a look at what’s going on in their neck of the woods,” Terry McKiernan of BishopAccountability.org said.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese and the Johnstown-Altoona Diocese were not included in the probe because they have been the subject of three previous scathing grand jury investigations.

As church officials scrambled to defend themselves, the state attorney general’s office said its hotline for victims had lit up, fielding more than 150 calls within 24 hours of the report becoming public.

Calls to the hotline in 2016 spurred the grand jury investigation, and Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the investigation is still going on. The grand jury heard from dozens of witnesses and reviewed more than a half-million pages of internal diocesan documents, including reports by bishops to Vatican officials about the allegations against priests.

The panel concluded that a succession of bishops and other diocesan leaders tried to shield the church from bad publicity and financial liability. They failed to report accused clergy to police, used confidentiality agreements to silence victims and sent priests to “treatment facilities,” which “laundered” the clergymen and “permitted hundreds of known offenders to return to ministry,” the report said.

The conspiracy of silence extended beyond church grounds: Police or prosecutors sometimes did not investigate allegations out of deference to church officials or brushed off complaints as outside the statute of limitations, the grand jury said.

A former Pennsylvania county prosecutor was fired Wednesday from his job as an attorney for a county youth services office after the report showed that, as Beaver County’s elected district attorney in the 1960s, he stopped an investigation into alleged child abuse by a priest to gain political favor from the Pittsburgh Diocese.

Diocese leaders responded Tuesday by expressing sorrow for the victims, stressing how they’ve changed and unveiling, for the first time, a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct.

James VanSickle of Pittsburgh, who testified he was sexually attacked in 1981 by a priest in the Erie Diocese, called the report’s release “a major victory to get our voice out there, to get our stories told.”

The report is still the subject of a legal battle, with the identities of some current and former clergy blacked out while the state Supreme Court weighs their requests to remain anonymous.

The report comes at a time of fresh scandal at the highest levels of the U.S. Catholic Church. Pope Francis last month stripped 88-year-old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of his title amid allegations that McCarrick had for years sexually abused boys and committed sexual misconduct with adult seminarians.

The findings echoed many earlier church investigations around the country that found widespread sexual abuse and attempts to conceal it. U.S. bishops have acknowledged that more than 17,000 people nationwide have reported being molested by priests and others in the church going back to 1950.

By MARC LEVY and MARK SCOLFORO , Associated Press

[investmart007]

HARRISBURG, Pa | Report: Pennsylvania priests abused over 1,000 children

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/PszE0S

HARRISBURG, Pa | Report: Pennsylvania priests abused over 1,000 children

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A priest raped a 7-year-old girl while he was visiting her in the hospital after she’d had her tonsils removed. Another priest forced a 9-year-old boy into having oral sex, then rinsed out the boy’s mouth with holy water. One boy was forced to say confession to the priest who sexually abused him.

Those children are among the victims of roughly 300 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania who molested more than 1,000 children — and possibly many more — since the 1940s, according to a sweeping state grand jury report released Tuesday that accused senior church officials, including a man who is now the archbishop of Washington, D.C., of systematically covering up complaints.

The “real number” of abused children and abusive priests might be higher since some secret church records were lost and some victims never came forward, the grand jury said.

While the grand jury said dioceses have established internal processes and seem to refer complaints to law enforcement more promptly, it suggested that important changes are lacking.

“Despite some institutional reform, individual leaders of the church have largely escaped public accountability,” the grand jury wrote in the roughly 900-page report. “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all.”

Top church officials have mostly been protected and many, including some named in the report, have been promoted, the grand jury said, concluding that “it is too early to close the book on the Catholic Church sex scandal.”

In nearly every case, prosecutors found that the statute of limitations has run out, meaning that criminal charges cannot be filed. More than 100 of the priests are dead. Many others are retired or have been dismissed from the priesthood or put on leave. Authorities charged just two, including a priest who has since pleaded guilty.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the investigation is ongoing. The investigation of six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses— Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton — is the most extensive investigation of Catholic clergy abuse by any state, according to victim advocates. The dioceses represent about 1.7 million Catholics.

Until now, there have been just nine investigations by a prosecutor or grand jury of a Catholic diocese or archdiocese in the United States, according to the Massachusetts-based research and advocacy organization, BishopAccountability.org.

The Philadelphia archdiocese and the Johnstown-Altoona diocese were not included in the investigation because they have been the subject of three previous scathing grand jury investigations. The grand jury heard from dozens of witnesses and reviewed more than a half-million pages of internal diocesan documents, including reports by bishops to Vatican officials disclosing the details of abusive priests that they had not made public or reported to law enforcement.

The grand jury concluded that a succession of Catholic bishops and other diocesan leaders tried to shield the church from bad publicity and financial liability. They failed to report accused clergy to police, used confidentiality agreements to silence victims and sent abusive priests to so-called “treatment facilities,” which “laundered” the priests and “permitted hundreds of known offenders to return to ministry,” the report said.

The conspiracy of silence extended beyond church grounds: police or prosecutors sometimes did not investigate allegations out of deference to church officials or brushed off complaints as outside the statute of limitations, the grand jury said.

Diocese leaders responded Tuesday by expressing sorrow for the victims, stressing how they’ve changed and unveiling, for the first time, a list of priests accused of some sort of sexual misconduct. James VanSickle of Pittsburgh, who testified he was sexually attacked in 1981 by a priest in the Erie Diocese, called the report’s release “a major victory to get our voice out there, to get our stories told.”

The report is still the subject of an ongoing legal battle, with redactions shielding the identities of some current and former clergy named in the report while the state Supreme Court weighs their arguments that its wrongful accusations against them violates their constitutional rights. It also is expected to spark another fight by victim advocates to win changes in state law that lawmakers have resisted.

Its findings echoed many earlier church investigations around the country, describing widespread sexual abuse and church officials’ concealment of it. U.S. bishops have acknowledged that more than 17,000 people nationwide have reported being molested by priests and others in the church.

The report comes at a time of fresh scandal at the highest levels of the U.S. Catholic Church. Pope Francis last month stripped 88-year-old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of his title amid allegations that McCarrick had for years sexually abused boys and committed sexual misconduct with adult seminarians.

One senior American church official named in the grand jury report is Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who leads the Washington archdiocese, for allegedly helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh’s bishop. Wuerl, who was bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese from 1988 to 2006, disputed the allegations.

Terry McKiernan of BishopAccountability.org said the report did a good job of highlighting the two crimes of church sex abuse scandals: the abuse of a child and the cover up by church officials that allows the abuse to continue.

“One thing this is going to do is put pressure on prosecutors elsewhere to take a look at what’s going on in their neck of the woods,” McKiernan said.

By MARC LEVY and MARK SCOLFORO , Associated Press